Re: Anti-intellectualism in fandom

On Wed, 6 Feb 2008 12:49:47 -0800 (PST), trinlay
<trin1066@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

>
>>
>>      Any other opinions/observations?
>
>IMHO it depends on the fan and the microfandom.  For example, At
>Wiscon every year there are academic papers on BUFFY and the
>Buffyverse presented and the Buffans eat them up.
>
>At about 15 years old, I realized that the things I love, movies,
>comic books/graphic novels, novels, short stories, aren't just fun...
>they also resonate at another set of levels, they speak to me as
>mythology, among other things.   Some fans might recognize the
>resonance but also have a fear (Thanks to High School Lit courses) of
>seeing things they love dissected.  Haven't we all had a class where
>Chaucer or Shakespere became all about the metaphors and what was
>going to be on the test, rather than giving some of us just the chance
>to love the piece FIRST.
>
>Part of what makes things like 300 work for some of us is recognizing
>it's cultural context, as well as the historical context...  Though
>seeing the movie, having read, once upon a time, about the real
>Spartans, parts of the movie made me giggle.
>
>
>
>

Most or all of Harry Potter conventions are done in the form of
academic conferences with some of the papers presented from a real
world viewpoint describing or analyzing various aspects of the
Potterverse and how they impinge on the real world, or vice versa. And
some of the papers written as though the Potterverse were real.
(Technical analysis of flying brooms, for instance.)
-- 

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