Response: Fan Fiction/Alt. Media As Literacy Catalyst

In the realm of media literacy, one of the big challenges to greater/egalitarian mastery of media is the under representation/stereotypical representation of certain groups. How can we expect members of such neglected cultural segments to gain literacy and mastery of both media message and delivery technology, when the only images portrayed to them are either of type cast stereotypes or middle to upper class white male dominance? It seems that this is indeed an important aspect to teachers in the media literacy sector. However, is it possible that participation in various facets of the fan community may be more affective in allowing students to co-opt characters and plot lines to create more accurate representations than those originally offered?

Aaliyah writes about the many powerful benefits of allowing younger fans to further explore and create new characters/stories within their fandom. One specific instance came to mind when Henry Jenkins writes about some feminists’ response to J.K. Rowling’s character Hermione as pandering to chauvinist depictions of women as dependent and nurturing. (Jenkins 2006, 175) When fan writers take such characters and alter them to be independent and capable of any role (nurturing or otherwise), it is possible that these depictions open up the canon to those left out. That is, the canon/alternative textual worlds of the media and alternative means of production are made more open to individuals who are part of under represented groups. Such possibilities seem evident from the fan fiction quotations Jenkins uses in the “Why Heather Can Write” chapter. (Ibid.)

This could hold true across all of the cultural landscape, obscured by mainstream media imagery. Consider Harry Potter slash fiction and how it could empower fans in the GLBT community with a positive representation, contrasting the stereotypes:



Also, consider how cultural aesthetics can influence fan texts, such as Wizzard Rap, which is clearly borrowing from the hip-hop vernacular:



Consider how complex social problems are often ignored/white-washed by mainstream culture. Fan fiction has allowed individuals to produce media addressing these images as well:

“…Annette Potter came from the ghettos of Long Beach, California. She and her five older brothers lived with their drunken mother and step-father, just trying to get by on a daily basis. They attended the run down public school just down the street from their brick complex apartment building. They walked everywhere they went because they couldn’t afford a car and couldn’t even afford to take the bus sometimes.” (WhtChoc, 2008)

Fan fiction/participatory production can thus be utilized as a powerful tool to re-create media portrayals in a positive way. This results in the empowering of individuals, the creation of a deeply diverse, transmedial text and the improved literacy of underrepresented cultural segments by the inclusiveness of alternative media.

Notes:
Jenkins, Henry Convergence Culture, New York: New York University Press, 2006.
WhtChoc, "Runaway Love" (2008) http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3327786/1/Runaway_Love (accessed February 16, 2009).