Years ago, in my terribly misspent teenage years, I had the experience of going with friends to a midnight showing of the Wizard of Oz. No, not synced to Pink Floyd, just the Wizard of Oz. I suspect as wanton and callow youth are inclined, I may have been under the influence of some controlled substance. I do though vividly remember sitting in this darkened theater, as this movie which I had seem dozens, if not hundreds, of times as a kid unfolded yet again before me.
This time though had a different quality to it. The munchkins and witches all went about their usual business, as they had all those previous times. But while they did so in the foreground, my attention was preoccupied with the background. There were these cornball, hand painted studio backdrops of distant mountains. And I was totally fixated on them. I just kept wondering, okay, the Yellow Brick Road, the Emerald City, fine, I know about all that. What I want to know though is what in the world is over the top of those mountains.
This I think it's fair to say is the impulse that inspires the phenomenon of fanfiction. Fanfiction is the art form by which a fan of a pre-established work of art tells a tale within the context of the world created by the original. Though a very old practice, it became something of a pop culture (subculture) phenomenon in the 60s when a major fanfiction cottage industry grew up around The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Star Trek. The fans took this as an opportunity to see things, which the original show didn't, wouldn't or couldn't provide: from a Klingon conquered universe to Kirk and Spock as homosexual lovers. Fanfiction truly did provide the opportunity for fans to boldly go where no staff writer had gone before.
At first this fiction was presented in fanzines, which were carbon copied and stapled sheets of paper that were sent by post to subscribers, all enthusiasts and conference attendees. This was all changed by the nineties. The Internet, and especially the World Wide Web, opened up vast new opportunities for fanfiction. Recently, there has been a great boom in the available inventory people have to draw upon of visual, video material. They can be edited and rejigged in all kinds of ways to provide unexpected implications and interpretations. And now fans can do this sitting at their laptop, in their bedroom. What is consistent through it all, though, is this impulse to go over the other side of those mountains -- so to speak.
An original show, like The Walking Dead, only follows, as it were, a thin line of narrative revelation. At every moment the characters go one way or do one thing and leave so many others intriguing enigmas. The rooms that were not entered, the pathways not followed, stones not turned, choices not made, desires not followed: these are the stuff of fanfiction. And it is a thriving undertaking in the world of The Walking Dead fanfiction. Fanfiction.net alone, citing just one example, has well over 2000 entries; stories exploring the Walking Dead world. And that is but the tip of the iceberg.
When looking for the common themes in The Walking Dead fanfiction, the ones that immediately come to one's attention are a focus upon fleshing out the bios and psyches of various characters. Daryl and Andrea are particularly popular objects of such exploration. There's also those who are more focused on getting beyond the distant mountains. They invent their own characters or sometimes clearly place themselves in the world of The Walking Dead, exploring the other possibilities of that world -- far from the goings on of Rick Grimes and co. Some fanfiction creators even ponder the possibility that the zombies may have internal thoughts. What could those be like. Turn to the fanfiction if you want some idea.
There is a great resource here, in the form of The Walking Dead fanfiction, to look more deeply into the possibilities imminent in the various unexplored pathways of the official narrative. Doing that exploration is the mission of a fan base inspired by the world of the TV show that so intrigues them. And, it's just a whole bunch of fun. A question though does come to mind when considering this fascinating world of fanfiction and indeed the general popularity of The Walking Dead.
Maybe the great popularity of The Walking Dead says more about us and our society than seems immediately obvious. If you'd like to know more about that prospect, have a look at another piece we have at Pretty Much Dead Already.
This time though had a different quality to it. The munchkins and witches all went about their usual business, as they had all those previous times. But while they did so in the foreground, my attention was preoccupied with the background. There were these cornball, hand painted studio backdrops of distant mountains. And I was totally fixated on them. I just kept wondering, okay, the Yellow Brick Road, the Emerald City, fine, I know about all that. What I want to know though is what in the world is over the top of those mountains.
This I think it's fair to say is the impulse that inspires the phenomenon of fanfiction. Fanfiction is the art form by which a fan of a pre-established work of art tells a tale within the context of the world created by the original. Though a very old practice, it became something of a pop culture (subculture) phenomenon in the 60s when a major fanfiction cottage industry grew up around The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Star Trek. The fans took this as an opportunity to see things, which the original show didn't, wouldn't or couldn't provide: from a Klingon conquered universe to Kirk and Spock as homosexual lovers. Fanfiction truly did provide the opportunity for fans to boldly go where no staff writer had gone before.
At first this fiction was presented in fanzines, which were carbon copied and stapled sheets of paper that were sent by post to subscribers, all enthusiasts and conference attendees. This was all changed by the nineties. The Internet, and especially the World Wide Web, opened up vast new opportunities for fanfiction. Recently, there has been a great boom in the available inventory people have to draw upon of visual, video material. They can be edited and rejigged in all kinds of ways to provide unexpected implications and interpretations. And now fans can do this sitting at their laptop, in their bedroom. What is consistent through it all, though, is this impulse to go over the other side of those mountains -- so to speak.
An original show, like The Walking Dead, only follows, as it were, a thin line of narrative revelation. At every moment the characters go one way or do one thing and leave so many others intriguing enigmas. The rooms that were not entered, the pathways not followed, stones not turned, choices not made, desires not followed: these are the stuff of fanfiction. And it is a thriving undertaking in the world of The Walking Dead fanfiction. Fanfiction.net alone, citing just one example, has well over 2000 entries; stories exploring the Walking Dead world. And that is but the tip of the iceberg.
When looking for the common themes in The Walking Dead fanfiction, the ones that immediately come to one's attention are a focus upon fleshing out the bios and psyches of various characters. Daryl and Andrea are particularly popular objects of such exploration. There's also those who are more focused on getting beyond the distant mountains. They invent their own characters or sometimes clearly place themselves in the world of The Walking Dead, exploring the other possibilities of that world -- far from the goings on of Rick Grimes and co. Some fanfiction creators even ponder the possibility that the zombies may have internal thoughts. What could those be like. Turn to the fanfiction if you want some idea.
There is a great resource here, in the form of The Walking Dead fanfiction, to look more deeply into the possibilities imminent in the various unexplored pathways of the official narrative. Doing that exploration is the mission of a fan base inspired by the world of the TV show that so intrigues them. And, it's just a whole bunch of fun. A question though does come to mind when considering this fascinating world of fanfiction and indeed the general popularity of The Walking Dead.
Maybe the great popularity of The Walking Dead says more about us and our society than seems immediately obvious. If you'd like to know more about that prospect, have a look at another piece we have at Pretty Much Dead Already.
About the Author:
Mickey Jhonny is lead writer at The Walking Dead celebration site Pretty Much Dead Already. See his quirky first installment on the Walking Dead actors .
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