Reconsidering religion and fandom: Christian fan works in<i>My Little Pony</i>fandom

Crome, Andrew

doi:10.1080/14755610.2014.984234

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Lighting the candles, wearing the hijab, or sharing evangelical faith do not lose meaning simply because they mingle with personal interests in Spanish football, superheroes, or magical unicorns. Instead, the emotional connections engendered by links with popular cultural franchises adds further personal meaning to the religious practices undertaken (Crome 2014(Crome , 2019. Such new manifestations of faith may not be especially visible outside of their subcultural communities, but would nonetheless fit broadly within the "new visibility" paradigm.…”

Section: The New Visibility Thesis and Clergy On British Tvmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Wonderful”, “Hot”, “Good” Priests: Clergy on Contemporary British TV and the New Visibility of Religion Thesis

Crome

2020

Religions

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This article examines the “new visibility of religion” thesis through a case study of recent depictions of priests and ministers in British television drama and comedy. It focuses on four award-winning shows produced between 2009 and 2019 with clergy as central characters: Broadchurch, Broken, Fleabag and Rev. Clergy on these shows are depicted positively, in ways that contrast with portrayals in the 1990s and earlier 2000s. The shows demonstrate an active sympathy for, and engagement with, theological themes, and awareness of the important social role that clergy play in inner-city parishes. While some elements of these depictions support the idea of a “new visibility”, at the same time, they reiterate narratives of continuing religious decline in Britain. Rather than unproblematically celebrating faith, the shows use religion to critique neoliberal welfare policy and sacralise notions of community. This “new visibility” is also shown to contribute to the continued invisibility of some religious viewpoints in the media. This article concludes that despite these limitations, recent portrayals of clergy offer new opportunities for religious debate and conversation, particularly within media and fan commentary.

show abstract

Section: The New Visibility Thesis and Clergy On British Tvmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Wonderful”, “Hot”, “Good” Priests: Clergy on Contemporary British TV and the New Visibility of Religion Thesis

Crome

2020

Religions

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“…describes as 'parallelomania' in discovering (often arbitrary) similarities between religion and popular culture (2003,191), as well as dismissing fans' own denials of the religiosity of their fandom (Crome 2014). Fans do sometimes make use of religious language to explain their connection to their fan object (e.g.…”

Section: Comparisons Between Religion and Fandom Have A Tendency Towards What Sean Mccloudmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, the affective power of popular characters and media texts became a way to communicate complex theological concepts to other fans. This article builds upon, and develops, concepts I originally explored in a 2014 Culture and Religion article on Christian fan works in My Little Pony fandom (Crome 2014). The earlier article focused upon analysing fan art and fan fiction, examining the way in which character traits were used to communicate theological ideas and promote religious literacy in a particular fandom.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cosplay in the pulpit and ponies at prayer: Christian faith and lived religion in wider fan culture

Crome

2019

Culture and Religion

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This article examines the way in which Christian fans of popular media franchises have incorporated their fan identity into lived religious experience, producing religious fan works such as fan fiction, art, and fan-themed church services. Based around a series of interviews with fans in the United States and UK, both lay and clergy, it suggests the powerful affective connections forged through fandom, and examines the way in which fandom operates as a shared language to engage the wider fan community with theological ideas. Fans viewed their fandom as an arena through which God communicated and developed personal faith, working through fan texts and fan works to encourage and develop their connection to the divine. This article therefore challenges academic positions that see fandom as a secular replacement for religion, or as a form of blasphemous excess.

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“…In a paper focussing on the subset of 'military bronies', Maria Patrice Amon (2016) considers the complex ways fans within the armed forces justify and negotiate the challenge to gendered identity their enthusiasm for pony culture entails. Andrew Crome (2014) analyses another subgroup, religious bronies, and their use of the show's characters and relationships to engage with the teachings of scripture; while Bell (2013) details the controversy surrounding a pony known as Derpy Hooves, a co-creation of the show's producers and the television series' fandom. Each study reveals specific cultural struggles entailed in the enjoyment of Hasbro's show by what Claire Burdfield (2015) labels the 'unexpected audience' of the series.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contextualizing the bronies: Cult, quality, subculture and the contradictions of contemporary fandom

Kirkland

2020

Journal of Popular Television, The

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This article critically situates My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (2010‐19) and the ‘brony’ following it has attracted in terms of age and fandom, discourses of quality television, cult media and interactions between fandoms and cultural producers. Far from unprecedented, the show’s unexpected male audience reflects adults’ historic appreciation of media for children, the increased mainstreaming of animation, and the already infantilized persona of media fans. Aspects of the reimagined series reproduce characteristics of ‘quality television’ concerning characterization, genre, authorship and political intentionality. Simultaneously the show corresponds with overlapping aspects of cult television and cult cinema, crucially affording both cultural and subcultural value. Finally, examples of the series deliberately courting adult fan audiences are presented as reflecting reciprocal relationships between show producers and its mature viewers. The brony following consequently reflects changes in contemporary fandom dynamics, and the increasing mobility of twenty-first-century television viewing.

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Reconsidering religion and fandom: Christian fan works inMy Little Ponyfandom

Cited by 10 publications

References 21 publications

“Wonderful”, “Hot”, “Good” Priests: Clergy on Contemporary British TV and the New Visibility of Religion Thesis

“Wonderful”, “Hot”, “Good” Priests: Clergy on Contemporary British TV and the New Visibility of Religion Thesis

Cosplay in the pulpit and ponies at prayer: Christian faith and lived religion in wider fan culture

Contextualizing the bronies: Cult, quality, subculture and the contradictions of contemporary fandom

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