Week Two Post

When I first read the articles assigned for this week, I became aware that I am not a very good “fan.” I’ve never attended a fan convention, I do not write or read fan fiction, and I don’t listen to “Wizard Rock” or podcasts. But although I may not be one of those fans who go “all out” in support of their cause, there are a few cases in which I would consider myself more of a fan than a casual supporter. The difference between crazed fan mania and casual enjoyment of a subject is a spectrum, and I think for many things I live somewhere in the middle of the road.

The first thing I would consider myself a “fan” of is the television show “The Office” (the American one, not the British one). I have previous seasons on DVD and the latest episodes saved on my parent’s TIVO. I never miss an episode, and I await Thursday nights each week. My friends and I quote funny lines from the show often and we discuss plots and characters. However, I do not participate in any online clubs or blogs related to the show. The most “fan-ish” thing that I have done in relation to “The Office” occurred when I dressed up on Halloween. There is a Halloween episode of the show in which the characters on the show dress up in costumes at work. One of the main characters, Jim, wears his regular work attire but tapes three big circles of black paper down the front of his shirt. When someone asks him about his costume he replies that he is “Three hole punch Jim. There are two kinds. Regular Jim and Three hole punch Jim.” The show takes place at a paper company, hence the joke. In any case, one Halloween my sister and I dressed up as “Three hole punch Rebecca and three hole punch Annie.” In this way, there is a serious social aspect of my enjoyment of the television show. I watch it with friends and family, which enhances my enjoyment.

Thinking about this more critically, I began to wonder why “The Office” drew me in as a fan. Sure, it is humorous, but there has to be more to it. First, I work in an office that looks and operates similarly to the office on the show. It has a similar number of employees, lots of drama in the relationships between the employees, some of whom are bizarre. Culturally, the show represents characters of a similar class, race, and culture as my own. So I suppose that there is a lot in this show to which I can relate and connect.

More seriously, I am a HUGE fan of Barack Obama. I voted for him, and my job at Ramsey County Elections (where I’ve worked throughout my years at the U) gave me a unique perspective on the election that got him into office. In this case, my status as a loyal fan stems from my family life. I come from a long line of staunch liberal democrats. My dad grew up with a dog named Kennedy, after JFK. My grandparents had framed photographs of JFK hanging in their home. I always thought that these framed photos were bizarre, and I never thought that I would feel that sense of loyalty and pride in my president. I simply never understood it. But when Obama was sworn in, it made a bit more sense, and although I’m still not planning any Obama shrine in my home it is refreshing to feel that sense of pride and patriotism. It also helped me understand my grandparents in a new way, and I felt a stronger connection to them than ever because I could finally understand this thing that has puzzled me for so many years. Our country is pretty screwed up at this point, and I don’t think anyone could argue with that, but the sense of hope that Obama brought recently is admirable.

It is pretty safe to say that at this point in time Obama has a huge fan base (or “fandom” as the articles would suggest). This provides a unique opportunity in the field of education. I was volunteering in a middle school English classroom on Election Day, and the feeling was electric (and support for McCain was definitely NOT the source of the electricity). Most students in middle schools and high schools are extremely supportive of Obama, based on my experiences with them. They are also fans, and they see his call for participation and service as an opportunity to make the nation better. As the leader of our county, he plays a very central role in our culture, so this provides opportunities in every school subject for incorporating the students’ fervor for Obama. Civics and history are a no-brainer for incorporating him into the classroom. In math, teachers could talk about budgets that he proposes or other spending-related topics. In English, my content area, students could analyze his speeches.

The fact that I’ll be working in middle schools and high schools gives me a unique opportunity to take advantage of the fact that teenagers are fans of lots of things, and they are the typical image our culture envisions as fans. They are a key demographic for advertisers trying to gain fans for their perspective causes. I was a teenager during the heyday of 1990s teen pop artists such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, Jennifer Lopez, and so on. Today, in terms of the English classrooms in which I’ll be working, I can incorporate the huge fan draw of certain books that have emerged in the past few years, such as the Harry Potter and Twilight series. Using the subjects of teenage fan obsessions in the classroom helps engage even the most disengaged students and to possibly even make school….shhh don’t tell the students….fun.