Galaxy Quest, and a Better Kind of Fandom
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|---|---|
| Title: | Galaxy Quest, and a Better Kind of Fandom |
| Creator: | aralias |
| Date(s): | January 10, 2016 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | Galaxy Quest |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | at AO3, Archived version originally posted at Dreamwidth |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Galaxy Quest, and a Better Kind of Fandom is an essay by aralias.
Summary
"A discussion of how Galaxy Quest depicts fandom as something good that inspires people to do good things/something that makes me (as a fan) feel respected by the industry, as well as affectionately mocked for what is certainly, also, a lot of very strange behaviour."
Some Topics Discussed
- Galaxy Quest
- the joy of fandom
- respecting fans
- the power of fans and fan campaigns
Excerpts
It's real, and it's OK to know a lot about something that is real/that's something that a normal person would do. In fact, normal people missed a trick here, by not believing.
Brandon and his friends (the fans) also very obviously save the day by being able to steer Jason and Gwen through the bowels of the ship, and by suggesting what the Omega 13 might do, and by coming out to the convention and guiding the ship into land. None of these things needed to happen for the plot to work (Jason could have used a map, Mathasar might have known what the Omega 13 did early on, the ship just crashes into the convention). Instead, these plot points happen because Galaxy Quest is invested in bringing the fans into the action, and by showing that their work is valuable (they don't just get to swing a sword or learn something like 'how to fly the ship' - they use the knowledge they already have through fandom in order to save the day).
Obviously Brandon and friends are the main fan representatives in the movie, but someone like Guy (who is, like Jason, clearly self-obsessed, but also, like Brandon, really gets the show, as we see from his opening spiel in front of the audience: ("For those four seasons from '79 to '82 we the viewers developed the same affection for the crew of the NSEA PROTECTOR that the crew had for each other... These weren't just adventurers exploring space, these were friends") is also important in a similar manner. Without him around ("Didn't you guys ever watch the show?") the crew would have been eaten by the miners. He brings a healthy belief in the reality of the show (something that we get from fans), whereas the other actors are all too jaded really to do it properly.
The Thermians, too, should be read as fans - and, in fact, are probably our most important example, though the movie obviously classifies them quickly as 'aliens, therefore not weird fans'. However - they exhibit obvious fannish behaviour (showing up at a con, dressing as their favourite characters, obsessive attention to detail, one even sleeps with an actor etc). As with Brandon, their obsessive devotion is used for comedy (how ridiculous! Aliens thought this show was real, ahaha!) and they speak in funny voices, but while the movie does ask you to laugh at them, certainly, it also shows us what these weird people have done by believing in the show. They've built incredible technology, far in advance of anything that we have (obviously this is stretching a bit when we think about regular SFF fans, but it's worth saying that people become astronauts and scientists and writers because of SFF shows they love). More importantly they were inspired to become better people and to live up to the ideals portrayed in Galaxy Quest: the show (interestingly, and touchingly I think, the true appeal of Galaxy Quest the show, and thus Star Trek, is shown to be friendship and respect between the characters, and the philosophy of exploration without cruelty, rather than space battles or sexy ladies).
The Thermians not only change the behaviour of the actors (just as the "historical documents" influenced them), which is some serious power in terms of characters, they also somehow manage to get the show back on air by creating such a massive spectacle at the end of GalaxyCon, and presumably by waking the actors up to the fact that it would be worth fighting for a chance to continue the show. This mirrors what has been happening in SFF fandom since Star Trek:TNG (maybe before) right up to Star Wars and Doctor Who - and it makes sense that fans have this power to resurrect something they love, because they either are the ones who care enough to make it happen (in terms of TNG or Who), or show tat there's serious marketable interest in something and it's worth continuing.
Speaking of changing the behaviour of the actors, just as something like 'Midsummer Night's Dream' shows audience members how to interact with plays, Galaxy Quest shows actors how fans would like to be treated. Alexander is not rewarded for his dislike and bad treatment of the fans (though obviously as 'sardonic British guy' his dislike of fans is definitely supposed to be funny/part of the act). Similarly, the guys who alert Jason to the fact that his 'friends' all hate him are shown as bullies. Theirs is the easy laugh, but they got nothing out of it except making Jason sad, as they would have made anyone else who heard it sad. In the world of the Thermians, they are the Sarris, who similarly laughs at the good-hearted Mathesar and is clearly a villain.