The Flip, the Flail and the Flounce: When Fandom Implodes
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| Title: | The Flip, the Flail and the Flounce: When Fandom Implodes |
| Creator: | Merlin Missy |
| Date(s): | April 11, 2008 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | multifandom |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | The Flip, the Flail and the Flounce: When Fandom Implodes |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Flip, the Flail and the Flounce: When Fandom Implodes is a 2008 essay by Merlin Missy.
Series
This essay is part of a series called Dr. Merlin's Soapbox.
Some Topics Discussed
- being disappointed in canon, shows breaking your heart
- "flips" in shows, when something you assumed was solid ground is pulled out from under you, such as favorite actors leave or are killed, the show takes a dramatic turn, the tone changes, sharks are jumped, common sense goes out the window...
- fandom flounces
- example flip moments/showrunner decisions in fandoms: The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Torchwood, Doctor Who, Nash Bridges, Angel: The Series, Battlestar Galactica
- the community of fans and fandom, and how it brings out strong feelings and self-protection
- mundanes don't understand
- don't go overboard in your love, step back, cool down
From the Essay
Okay, one of the hardest things to come to grips with in fandom is that your series will eventually break your heart. No, really. That one too. Something that the writers think is a great idea (or don't think was important in the first place) will drive you bugfuck insane. A casting decision will be made. A disturbing subtext will emerge. Someone will wear the wrong outfit. And you, dear fan, will see the flip, you will flail, and you very well may flounce off in righteous outrage.
Yes, even you.
Alas, when flail does not become squee, it often turns into indignant anger: "How dare they make this change! What kind of people write this crap? Just because some jerk wants to do some fanservice to the loud idiots over there, my show has to suffer. It's the worst thing ever!" It is, in fact, the worst thing ever, at least at that very moment. This is also the part of the conversation where someone who disagrees will, as inevitably as the swallows return to Capistrano, remark that the fan in question should concern him/herself with more important issues like the war, poverty, or Darfur. (For more strawmen and general asshattery, please see "How to Be a Fandom Jerk in Just a Few Easy Steps".) There is much screaming, and gnashing of teeth, and often mutual exclamations that the other needs to get a life, many times accompanied by far too much information about one's own private life.
Then comes the flounce. Dr. Merlin likes to refer to the flounce as the "Yer all bastards!" stage of fandom, though other names may apply as needed. The flounce is accompanied with an exaggerated expression of bitter disappointment, a public refusal to discuss the matter further with the other parties, an even more public final note that one is leaving the fandom, and occasionally (though not always) the deletion/renaming of one's Livejournal or blog. Scarlett O'Hara does not sweep off-screen as dramatically as the fan does when s/he is breaking up with a fandom.
The "breaking up" metaphor is often used in regards to one's final flounce, and one's relationship to one's chosen canon is metaphorically compared to a bad relationship. Not for nothing is there a recurrent meme regarding the comparison of old fandoms to old relationships. And this becomes the point on which I believe the truth revolves.
Many of us here in fandom do not like the people in the so-called Real World. They are noisy, obnoxious, and worst of all, they have no appreciation for boyslash. They think the SciFi Channel only runs Star Trek, that all of Star Trek is about "that guy with the ears, you know, Doctor Spock," and that we live in our parents' basements
[...]
In short, the real world is boring and is populated by people who wouldn't know a vampire if it jumped up in front of them and said "Blah!"
But in the pretty, papery rectangles with the nice cover art, we found people we could relate to, who had cool adventures and didn't have to sit through math class. On the screen, we found friends who were always there, who defended the weak and discovered new things and kicked butt and took names and who never, ever called us names. When we discovered fan culture, be it at a convention, APA or here online, we found other people who understood what it had been like to be ten years old and have a crush on a yellow Volkswagon Autobot [1]. (Shutup.)
We found our people, and they were here all along.
Sure, some of us continue to have relationships in meatspace. We date, we marry, we breed and we even hold down jobs, but the things that are real to us, that become at least as real as those real-world relationships, are the people on the screen and the friends we've made in the fandoms we share.
So yes, when our show, our canon, the foundation of our squee is shaken by some great change, we flail. We stretch out our arms and try to regain balance, try to touch someone else to steady ourselves. "Tosh can't be dead. But, but, I liked her!" This is our reality, changed. This is our world, turned. The feelings, even though they are based on fiction, remain just as real, and we grieve for what we’ve lost. We grieve for the loss of fictional friends, and we grieve for the soon-to-come loss of the community based around our shared love of those beloved characters. And it's okay. It's normal. It's human.
The flouncing is part and parcel of the relationship shattering. Many, one might even hope most people can walk out of a relationship with dignity intact. Say your goodbyes, gather your things, pretend you'll write or call, maybe even meet for coffee a few times to prove to yourself you can still be friends. But there are always those people who must, upon ending a relationship, also throw the other's possessions into the street and set his/her truck on fire as a parting shot.
Please, don't set the truck on fire.
While it is always tempting to let one's opponent know just how much more mature one is by claiming a superior intellect, a far-too-constrained time and interest to carry on the conversation any longer, and personal knowledge of one's opponent's ancestry, the truth is, no one's impressed. When one is slamming the door on a fandom, the fans who happen to enjoy the changes you're descrying as being anathema to what you loved about the show are not going to be impressed with your bulletpoint list of why the show sucks, at what point the waterskis were strapped on, and your opinion on the personal hygiene of the showrunner. They're either going to argue with you, or laugh at your retreating back. Neither of these is what you want your last impression in a fandom to be. Some of these people will see you again in your next fandom. And the next. Reputations linger. (Trust me.)
This is very much NOT to say that there are not fights worth having. There are going to be occasions when you have to stand up for something, when your canon really has done something unforgivable, when not saying something means (if only to yourself) that you're silently condoning something you loathe. Don't ever be afraid to speak out. Just don't leave in a huff when you find out how many people disagree with you.
When you are tempted to write your very last "Goodbye, cruel fandom!" post and walk away with head held high, weeping silently within for the glories past (when your fandom wasn't overrun by jerkholes and untalented hacks), reconsider. Try GAFIAting (Get Away From It All) for a bit. Clear your head. Take some time to yourself. Go check out a new fandom for a while, or revisit an old one. If after a break you still cannot come to terms with your home fandom, stay gone. Consume a lot of ice cream, if that's your favored self-medication routine. Because it does hurt, and you are grieving, and you're going to need time. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
We are fans. We are dramatic. We deal with things in a big way because they are real to us (for certain definitions of "real") and sometimes that means we appear to overreact to things that don't seem that important to other people. (Of course, if you say, "It's a little white ball you hit with a stick. Who cares who wins?" you get yelled at. Importance is relative.) The trick, like always, is to find that middle ground between uncaring non-believer and drama queen. The "it's just a TV show" crowd automatically loses by placing themselves in the first category, whether they realize it or not. Only you can decide if you're going to occupy the second.
Fan Comments
[Sav]: "In Angel fandom, there are still fans who do not speak of the final season." I must say as a fan of all of Joss Whedon's shows, I cant' recall more than one fan of Angel who disliked the final season. Many, perhaps the majority, believe Season Five to be the best of the series.
[Ryu Hyabusa]: Season Five of Angel was great! All seasons of Angel were great, in fact every single episode of Angel was better than any other tv.
[Katy]: I personally love the fifth season of Angel, it's my favorite. And Firefly? There was a LOT of fandom fallout from the movie.
[unknown user]: Yeah, I love Angel season 5! It's the season I watch most out of them all. The only reason I didn't like talking about it was because it was being canceled : ( and the WB network was awful about it.
[Dru]: I loved season 5 of Angel. It's season 4 that I refuse to admit existed.
[V]: Well, I hated season 5 of Angel and I am actually one of those fans who refuses to ever discuss it. Makes no sense at all.
[Baboon]: Ugh, where is the Angel season 5 love coming from? Excluding Puppet Angel and the finale, that was some boring Spike-ghost-ridden fancy car/helicopter sporting crap.
[Heather]: I must have what Dr. Merlin has! I cannot love a character without them dying within one or two seasons. If they live longer it's only because: a) they are slated for a dramatic death that is foretold building up through the next season or b) they were supposed to die in the first season but producers/fans/writers liked them too much and rewrote the script to keep them around. It's a genetic pull to the under dog I've been told ;) Anyway, way true article! Although I feel strongly in not breaking up with the fandom, just giving each other space to adjust to the changes and hoping that the path will smooth out with a little time on both our parts ;)
[Taya]: I have flailed and flounced following flips aplenty. Season 7 of Buffy drove me insane but I stuck with it. Fox drove me insane with Firefly and I continue to flail about that but I am still battling the desire to flounce most mightily regarding CSI. *Insert Sob here* My fangirl heart is so much more fragile than is healthy and the networks seem determined to crush it. So yes, the eye rolls, the shaking of heads, the snorts of derision and the solace of the Internet fandom are oh so real. Where would we be without them!
[Ana]: "Torchwood just lost two cast members, and many of my friends have gone into active mourning." I wouldn't say active, (as my active mourning is for Hustle), but I'm close. God. I consider their deaths a mighty one of your "flips." I NEVER do that over a show ever. And I've lived through Zhaan-Farscape! Also I agree with the above comment of "I loved season 5 of Angel. It's season 4 that I refuse to admit existed." Angel season Five gave us stuff back, (Gunn's struggles, Fred and Wes etc) Torchwood is going to have to SERVE to make up for my loss. BIG TIME. Great article as always!
[Fizzy]: Thank you for that. It is the most coherent definition of me (and by me I mean all of us) that I've seen. And if that one paragraph didn't include the word "boyslash" I'd be throwing it at my parents yelling "See! THIS IS ME! Do you get it now?!" -a tried and true flailer.