What role does Hills (2004) suggest the fans play in the construction of cult TV? How is new media central to this?
Hills (2004) suggests that the identification of a television show as ‘cult’ arises from an audiences devotion to the show. In this respect it is suggested that a ‘cult;’ television show is a reflection of an audiences wants rather than a producers work. A fan will expose their passion for a particular cult television series through lifestyle and identity (Hills, 2004); see any of the Buffy devotion websites. They will interact with other fans showing appreciation for their preferred ‘cult’ television series, and often expand on their passions by further developing on the genre with different modes such as graphic novels (see picture).
New media such as the internet and websites, give space for devoted fans to engage with one another in a quick fashion. New media plays a central role in this aspect of Hills (2004) definite of cult television as without it the fans would be reduced to snail mail, landline telephone calls etc and not be able to have huge groups engage at the same time.
New media such as the internet and websites, give space for devoted fans to engage with one another in a quick fashion. New media plays a central role in this aspect of Hills (2004) definite of cult television as without it the fans would be reduced to snail mail, landline telephone calls etc and not be able to have huge groups engage at the same time.
REFERENCE
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.
Jennifer - this is very brief. You really need to develop your responses further - for example, you could have explored the web to provide some information about the type of BtVS fan sites available and how these might relate to the types of ideas posited by Hill (2004). I would also add (and I think it is evident from Hill's text)that his article is now a little out of date -what more could you add to it??
ReplyDelete