A Portrait of the Auteur as Fanboy by Anastasia Salter Mel Stanfill

Author:Anastasia Salter, Mel Stanfill [Anastasia Salter, Mel Stanfill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Media Studies, Gender Studies, Performing Arts, Film, History & Criticism, Popular Culture, Literary Criticism, Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN: 9781496830500
Google: uTX7DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
Published: 2020-10-16T04:18:32+00:00

Leveraging Fandom: From Internet Intimacy to Labor

Whedon’s engagement on Whedonesque did more than burnish his fan credentials. It also helped cultivate his general relationship to his fans. During his membership on Whedonesque, Whedon posted thirty-four threads and 159 comments, with the most recent coming in 2016. While these are small absolute numbers, particularly compared to the average fan who might post daily or weekly, they are impressive given the apparent low return of participation on a fan site compared to other venues available to him such as the entertainment press. His continual presence on Whedonesque (albeit relatively limited when placed in the context of approximately thirteen years of use) allowed him to build an accessible online persona as he added comments further cementing his fandom of everything from How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 2005–2014) to the paperboy musical Newsies (1992). His participation, unsurprisingly, drew fan attention; the “joss” account’s presence as a commenter had the potential to disrupt and redirect any thread. While the interface distinguishes his presence from other contributors only minimally—his username changed from the default yellow to a bold purple, and, in a nod to his everyfan status. his name displays simply as “joss” and his bio makes no direct reference to his work—Whedon is nevertheless distinguished both by design and by practice. Indeed, his very presence on his own fan site elevated it as a subcultural hub, allowing Whedonesque to boast additional “insider” information drawn from this “fan-producer proximity” (Chin and Hills 2008).

This practice of internet intimacy continued into Whedon’s later use of Twitter. At the same time as he has gained broad fame and auteurist power, he has used Twitter to maintain his branding as an outsider. The association of Twitter and “authentic” celebrity disclosure has been attributed by Nick Muntean and Anne Helen Petersen (2009) to the “ostensible spontaneity” of the tweets, a descriptor of the apparent “extemporary intimacy” that fits well with Whedon’s style. Whedon joined Twitter in May 2013, well after early adopters: his initial account was called @JossActual, gaining 20,000 followers in two weeks. This wasn’t actually his first account (he claimed responsibility, at least, for the Much Ado About Nothing marketing account established a few months earlier in March), but it was the first marked with promises of political authenticity, as his first two tweets established. The first read: “It’s me! Joss! My own account! No more hiding under studio skirts! I’m FREE! @MuchAdoFilm @AgentsofSHIELD @Marvel @roadsidetweets #free.” The second read: “MY account! I got strong opinions! I’m gettin’ POLITICAL! (Heads up, LEMURS.) And making wry observations about mundane stuff!”5 Whedon’s rhetoric implied that the promotional emphasis he’d previously placed on Twitter (with the Much Ado About Nothing account) and his silence on recent political issues was a result of studio concerns, positioning himself as the “rebel” and the studios—whom he nevertheless tags in the tweet—as his silencers.

This performative rebellion has continued to be a staple of Whedon’s Twitter use. After a departure, he rejoined Twitter on September 14, 2016, using the handle @joss—the same handle he used on Whedonesque.

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