What reading 1,000 fan fictions in a year taught me (Part 2) by Nora Poggi
Coping with reality
I want to pause here to clarify a few things. First, reading that much Supernatural Destiel fanfiction is not a particularly noteworthy achievement, as there are some serious readers in all fandoms, and many people can’t read that much for a variety of reasons, so I am not trying to create a hierarchy. Second, I am not implying that reading fanfiction means disappearing entirely from the real world (but if that’s your jam, you do you!). I have tried my whole life to balance my real life with my imaginary one. Growing up, whether it was daydreaming, reading, watching TV shows, something always took me away. Some days, we manage reality more than others. And that’s okay. I have learned that it’s okay to struggle with reality and it’s not a weakness. What matters is finding that balance and knowing yourself.
I remember that my family got a little concerned when as a kid I would disappear inside my head, especially in public. I used to feel so ashamed of my trances but I saw recently that teenagers are now doing things like shifting and even talking about it on the radio, which I would never have done in a million years. Things are changing.
Over the past year, I started really studying the fan phenomenon, as fandom offers infinite analysis potential (and fans themselves are brilliant at meta-analysis). It suits my obsessive personality. More than that, fellow fans within my curated bubble taught me so much about life, creativity, and community.
Not just escapism – dare I say activism
It doesn’t hurt that fandom can lead to real-world activism. The Supernatural fandom actually often rallies to do good deeds, such as raising over $70K for the Trevor Project to channel the despair of Castiel’s ending into real-world impact for LGBTQ youth. Cue the shameless plug for my Creative Distribution podcast, in which I interviewed Shawn Taylor of The Nerds of Color and Katie Bowers of Fandom Forward on fan activism and civic engagement. They explain how fans can be mobilized for good, not for thoughtless escapism but for real-world action, and how fandom and pop culture are such powerful tools to create change because they provide the myths, shared language, and sense of identity and belonging we all crave in a post-modern, post-religious world. (listen here! they’re so brilliant.)
Liking fanfiction doesn’t mean you can’t criticize it
However, I don’t have rose-colored glasses about fandom and fanfiction anymore. Incredible experts such as Stitch, whose Teen Vogue column and personal analysis on racism in fandom are a must-read, scholar and author Rukmini Pande, expert Fangirl Jeanne, and more document toxic and racist fandom in spaces that claim to be progressive, left unchecked including on fanfiction platforms like Archives of Our Own (another thing we’ll explore on the Creative Distribution podcast). I would be remiss not to mention the excellent Fansplaining podcast, which did a few deep dives on race and fandom. Some fans have called for steps for fanfiction platforms like AO3 to become less toxic for fans of color but there’s still a lot of work to do.
Read more of Nora’s work at Nora’s Lens.
Producer, Director, Impact Producer / distribution consultant
Nora Poggi is a French journalist/filmmaker. She directed and produced SHE STARTED IT, an award-winning feature documentary about women tech entrepreneurs. She has interviewed key players in Silicon Valley for four years for publications including Examiner.com & Usine Nouvelle and previously worked at French social network Viadeo.com and award-winning production company Lucky Dragon Productions.
She is a TEDx speaker and has been featured in Inc, Forbes, Fast Company, Glamour, Huffington Post and others. She works as an Impact Producer and consultant on various film distribution campaigns.
Nora also has her own website - Nora’s Lens - where she writes on a variety of topics, including film, politics, and life.