Anti-fan

While fan studies, as part of media audience research has traditionally positioned the fan as one who engages with their text of choice to the extent of actively 'participating' in activities outside of classical consumption patterns, little research has been undertaken about those who engage just as obsessively with media texts they claim to loathe or find distasteful.

From laboriously constructed flash animations to extensive websites that extend beyond the limited scope of the work in question, Anti-fans spend a great deal of time, effort and considerable resources defiling, rallying against or applying methods of detournement to popular culture texts and celebrities.

To date research into this phenomenon has been very limited, but can be said to intersect with the work of Henry Jenkins of MIT fame (often cited as the source of the term participatory culture) and Matt Hills of the University of Cardiff.

=Against Other Fans= In the case of the "Danny Phantom" fandom, however, "Anti Fan" has adopted an entirely new meaning. The term "Anti Fan" is generally applied to a group of fans that create adult and erotic fanworks against Butch's own wishes. These fans are so called by the self-labeled "True Fans" who claim that such works harm the good reputation of the fandom and the show. The "Danny Phantom" "Anti Fans" do not consider themselves to be against the show or the rest of the fandom. They claim to be merely a splinter fandom similar to the adult and erotic fanwork creators that exist in nearly every other fandom. That the subject of the "Danny Phantom" fanworks is a minor and featured in a show targeted for children has encited a fervent outcry against the "Danny Phantom" "Anti Fans" by the "True Fans."

Further reading

Henry Jenkins - the original champion of fan culture

External links

An example of Anti-Fan communities.

* [http://www.teamflap.com/old/ FLAP] - Fanatical League Against Pokémon.
* [http://hazyskies.net/awi/ Anti-wizards Inc] - Harry Potter loathing.
* [http://www.jodiemush.co.uk/forum Jodie Mush ] - Jodie Marsh Anti-Fans