Lady Gaga, "Venom" and Fandom Army

Being a fan was once a tool to give people a wider voice and perspective, but now that those voices are lost in the quagmire

It's the battle of the monsters this weekend. Venom, the extraterrestrial symbiont, could very well launch a new cinematic world for Sony. In the other, we have the "little monsters", Lady Gaga's fanbase who is fighting for the public to show up for its pricey performance in A star is born. On Tuesday, it was discovered that a group of fans of Lady Gaga were trying to sabotage VenomThe opening weekend of the box office by writing negative reviews of Venom on Twitter once the embargo on social media has been lifted. Twitter users have noticed that a significant number of reactions to Venom the first of the following Monday contained the same content up to the punctuation, and one of them told Buzzfeed that it was a coordinated attack against Venom.

The most prominent offenders were: "I am the biggest fan of wonders, but I just watched #Venom and I do not know what to say. Easily the worst film of this year. I was expecting so much better and now I am just disappointed "and" I just came out of a preview of #Venom. Fortunately, it was free. The two worst hours of my life. I'll take my wife to see the new Lady GaGa #AStarisBorn movie with Bradley Cooper on Friday. Their song Shallow is great .. "

Welcome to the last days of the second decade of the 21st^st century, where the battle for mainstream pop culture is conducted through alternative accounts and falsified film critics that the vast majority of potential audiences have not yet seen.

The thing is, apart from some fandom circles, Venom against. A star is born Is not it a fight that is worth investing, let alone bet on. For the most part, the fate of these films was sealed weeks ago. The fact that each film looks for different things in terms of audience and recognition is not an equal match, nor exciting. While Venom should reach the box office peak with about $ 65 million, A star is born is getting ready for a $ 28-30 million launch. The chances of the R-rated musical winning on a super-hero movie are slim, despite the fact that Bradley Cooper's film has garnered exceptional reviews, while the comic strip is exactly the opposite . It does not matter if viewers want to see both films will make the effort to do so, but Little Monsters have nothing at stake.

A star is born is already a success, this is since its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on August 31st. Already an Oscar nominee who seals the future of Lady Gaga as an actress and Bradley Cooper as a director, and an album with a single Leading the charts, an opening at number 1 in the box- Office means very little in terms of the film's success at this stage. A star is born It is certain that the success will be at the rendezvous, and it is not as if the ticketing of the film would be a decisive factor for the launch of a franchise. So what is the purpose of this particular circle of Lady Gaga's "little monsters"? Against whom do they fight? And perhaps more importantly, what percentage of fans do they really represent? The manufactured conflict is intrinsically idiotic, but it is a larger phenomenon: the militarization of folklore.

Although in most cases the fandom is a tool that brings together like-minded people to enjoy and support the properties that matter to them, we begin to see these notions of community pushed to the extreme. in which the fandom is used as a weapon to destabilize potential competitors, movie entries that do not match the good graces of some fans, and even people associated with the movies. A recent academic article suggested that a number of The last JediNegative reactions amplified by the trolls. The paper, Weaponizing The Haters: The Last Jedi and the Strategic Politicization of Pop Culture Through the Manipulation of Social Media Morten Bay, a researcher, suggests that social media has made Rian Johnson's movie much more controversial and divisive than it really is. There is little doubt that some of the negative responses to The last Jedi is authentic, but the idea that it is amplified by political or personal agendas that have little to do with the film itself seems to be a valid theory. This raises the question of when is the fandom no longer a fandom?

Fans, perhaps more than ever before, are often held accountable for the actions of a few. If you have spent enough time on the Internet, there is no doubt that you have seen the world of poisons closely. But to what extent is this toxicity really a determining factor in a fan base and how far is the work of remote people made? Take moviegoers from DC, for example, who are perhaps the ones who fear the most to be volatile and naughty. These DC fans, volatile and naughty, certainly exist, as in any fan. But a big part of the negative labels placed on DC fans comes from the fact that many vocal critics and bloggers are too keen on these fans finding meaning in films that do not interest them. There is often opposition from these fans, to the point that their jokes and responses are radicalized and used as a weapon against them by those who can not accept the fact that some vocal fans have liked something they do not have love. The Fandoms have armed themselves in some cases, but the very concept of Fandom has become a kind of reproach on the part of those who consider that their position outside of it is a more honest and honest prospect.

It's as if we thought the fandom were on the verge of collapse. The militarization of it, the way it is used against others, against movies and against non-existent threats, seem to lead to an inevitable explosion where many fanboys and fangirls, who once called themselves, begin to flee the world. label, afraid to fall prey to the crowd mentality or categories that never defined them. Fandom is originally a way to give people a broader voice and perspective, but now that these voices are lost in the quagmire, it may be time to find new ways to assert the multitude of our pop identities -culturelles. It may start with the double characteristic of Venom and A star is born or maybe as big as extracting our own interest as a fandom from the crazy chorus of social media.