Fan Entitlement
| Synonyms: | entitlement |
| See also: | leecher, where?, Creator Entitlement |
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Fan Entitlement refers to words or actions by a fan that imply (or sometimes even outright state) that the creators of a canon or other fans owe that fan something. With canon, it generally refers to demands that creators follow the fan's preferences in their ongoing works[1] or make Word of God comments supporting the fan's position[2] (or retract comments denying that position[3]). With fanworks, common forms of entitlement include demanding that works in progress be updated, insisting that fanfiction endings be changed or that ongoing fics focus in a certain direction, requesting moderators change the rules of a community to suit their preferences, authors demanding a certain level of feedback before another chapter of a WiP is posted, etc.
Let us return to the idea of fan entitlement. As a fan, what exactly are we entitled to from other members of the fandom? Well, in my opinion, we are entitled to be respected, to be appreciated for our contributions, to be educated when we are being ignorant, and to be (gently) corrected when we are wrong. Beyond that? I don’t think we are entitled to anything else.[4]
Since some of the same actions can also be taken in a supportive or social justice context,[4] fan entitlement is often a question of tone and approach, rather than the base actions themselves. Therefore, whether or not a particular act or comment qualifies as fan entitlement is often a matter of opinion.
A common response to perceived fan entitlement is to suggest the fan do the work themselves (i.e., start their own challenge, create their own fanworks, translate their own fansubs, etc.).
Entitled behavior, or calling a fan's behavior entitled, can sometimes lead to wank.[5]
Meta & Further Reading
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
- Entitlement in fandom (2003 essay) by seperis (2003)
- What The Hell Is Wrong With Fans? by Peter David (2014)
- Ghostbusters, Frozen, and the strange entitlement of fan culture (May 2016)
- Fandom Is Broken (May 2016)
- About our "broken" fan culture by bookshop (June 2016)
- L'Affaire Potter by Scott Lynch (2005) (Blog post parodying entitlement on Archive.org)
References
- ^ Neil Gaiman's Journal: Entitlement issues... "George R.R. Martin is not your bitch." posted May 12, 2009. Accessed Nov. 27, 2012.
- ^ HP and BTVS, and fan entitlement., "There's this huge sense of entitlement amongst everyone, like they feel JKR owes them their pairing, and this one single line in an 850 page book proves it beyond all doubt." posted July 20, 2003. Accessed Nov. 27, 2012.
- ^ Vault #6: On Harry/Hermione, Shipping, Fan Entitlement, And More, posted Nov. 21, 2008. Accessed Nov. 27, 2012.
- ^ a b Rethinking Fandom Entitlement "The word "entitlement" gets thrown around an awful lot in this fandom. Often, it is used incorrectly, in the context of, “Look, we’ve already thrown you a bone, so why don’t you just bask in the fact that at least we’re oppressing you less than we were before?” (see: equal representation of queer couples on Glee)" posted March 3, 2012. Accessed Nov. 27, 2012.
- ^ Fandom Entitlement tag, Entitlement tag