2) What role does Hills (2004) suggest the fans play in the construction of cult TV? How is new media central to this?
Only a few decades ago, cult TV held clear-cut rules on what makes a show ‘cult’. Characteristics such as possessing an avid and dedicated fan following, traditionally of a smaller scale, with the show itself being mostly shunned by the mainstream population (Hills, 2004). Examples of these include Doctor Who, Star Trek, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer [BTVS]. A large part of the reason why shows garner this cult status is from the influence of fans (Hills, 2004). According to Hills (2004), fans do this in a number of ways, including transforming TV shows into an intertextual network meaning creating associations, relations, and references through other films, books, and popular mediums. Another quality of these cult fans is to organise themselves into ‘Appreciation Societies’ where they can attend events like annual conventions to share their interests. Hills (2004) states that the formation of these societies can happen long after the initial broadcast of a cult TV show implying that cult status can be gained overtime rather than on its "initial transmission" (p. 519). An example of this is BTVS which was initially a failed feature film that Lavery (2004) described as a “rare example of a bad movie that became a superior television series” (pp.31).
In contemporary times, due to the vast improvement of technology and the internet, television can be accessed virtually anywhere. Due to its easy accessibility, defining cult TV has become blurred. Thanks to new media, sites like Twitter and Tumblr allow fans to easily increase the popularity of shows. A relatively new, unknown show on Netflix can become an overnight sensation due to fans spreading the word on these social platforms. Hence fans’ influence have become even more powerful. It is not just about attending conventions like comic-con or writing fan-fiction online anymore, digital fan art can be produced into actual consumerable merchandise due to sites like DeviantArt and Society6. A show’s popularity can virtually extend forever simply from Twitter trends and ‘retweeting’, and Tumblr’s ‘reblog’ function showing anything from quotes of the show to images and gif animations of real or even potential love interests. Fans can also easily track or ‘follow’ their favourite character on their real life social media accounts, creating an even more personal connection to not only the show, but the actors themselves. Altogether, new media in the modern era, allows cult tv to have a wider reach among the masses.
References
Hills, M. (2004). Defining cult TV; texts, inter-texts and fan audiences, The Television Studies Reader, in R. C. Allen & A. Hill. London and New York: Routledge.
Lavery, D. (2004). Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Fifty Key Television Programmes, in G. Creeber (ed.) (pp. 31-35). London: Edward Arnold.
In contemporary times, due to the vast improvement of technology and the internet, television can be accessed virtually anywhere. Due to its easy accessibility, defining cult TV has become blurred. Thanks to new media, sites like Twitter and Tumblr allow fans to easily increase the popularity of shows. A relatively new, unknown show on Netflix can become an overnight sensation due to fans spreading the word on these social platforms. Hence fans’ influence have become even more powerful. It is not just about attending conventions like comic-con or writing fan-fiction online anymore, digital fan art can be produced into actual consumerable merchandise due to sites like DeviantArt and Society6. A show’s popularity can virtually extend forever simply from Twitter trends and ‘retweeting’, and Tumblr’s ‘reblog’ function showing anything from quotes of the show to images and gif animations of real or even potential love interests. Fans can also easily track or ‘follow’ their favourite character on their real life social media accounts, creating an even more personal connection to not only the show, but the actors themselves. Altogether, new media in the modern era, allows cult tv to have a wider reach among the masses.
Hills, M. (2004). Defining cult TV; texts, inter-texts and fan audiences, The Television Studies Reader, in R. C. Allen & A. Hill. London and New York: Routledge.
Fantastic post Shell. A great little discussion of current trends around social media and TV shows. I tend to agree that the line which defines çult status has indeed become blurred as fans of almost any (new) show can and do use social media platforms.
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