“#Bughead Is Endgame”: Civic Meaning-Making in Riverdale Anti-Fandom and Shipping Practices on Tumblr

Abstract

In this paper, we seek to understand how shipping and anti-fan practices intersect to create meaningful audience engagement and civic discourse about contemporary social and political issues in the “politics of viewing” CW’s adaptation of Riverdale. By examining tagged posts from January 3, 2017 to June 26, 2019, we elicit how fan-rhetoric operates in a digitally networked environment and interrogate the intra-fan rivalries between shippers, anti-shippers, and anti-fans that underpin the Riverdale fandom on Tumblr. In doing so, we begin to sketch out a taxonomy of shipping-specific anti-fan practices, extending Gray’s work into different types and modes of anti-fandom to consider the role shipping plays within consumption practices, fandom stratification, and the production of civic discourse online.

Living a Fascist Life? - Purging the “Abnormal” Through Anti-Fannish Behavior

“…They defend a status quo and consider that the growing transformation in popular culture challenges the fan culture's values. Nevertheless, the results of this study are in line with recent research that seeks to understand the impact of anti-fans in the face of greater space given to gender, race, and sexual preferences in fan culture (see Burkhardt et al, 2022;Christian et al, 2020;Salter, 2020), indicating that when summed these exclusive practices align movements dangerously close to fascist practices. Defining the research scope to be applied to consumers of a specific media product is a limitation of the study.…”

“…Some studies examine the progressive rhetoric to relativize the existence of obsessive men as they drive the growth of post-trauma female characters in abusive relationships (Salter, 2020) and can redeem themselves as homosexual characters (Burkhardt et al, 2022). Other studies examine fans' dislikes of the inclusion of racial agendas in consumed media through discussions which distorts elements that made them become fans.…”

Viver Uma Vida Fascista? Purgação Do “Anormal” Por Meio Do Comportamento Antifã

“…Portanto, torna-se justificado demonstrar como esses movimentos acontecem. Alguns estudos examinam a existência de uma retórica progressista para relativizar a existência de homens obsessivos, pois eles impulsionam o crescimento pós-trauma de personagens femininas vítimas de relacionamentos abusivos (Salter, 2020) e podem se redimir como personagens homossexuais (Burkhardt et al, 2022). Outros estudos examinam a aversão dos fãs à inclusão de pautas raciais na mídia consumida, pautas essas que distorcem aquilo que os fez tornarem-se fãs.…”