I visited a midnight showing of the Wizard of Oz with friends during my misspent teenage years. Callow youth that we were, I expect we might have been under the influence of some controlled substance. That's all a bit vague. What is crystal clear, though, is the memory of sitting in the theater, watching this movie I'd seen so many times previously -- watching as it unfolded, yet again.
However, this viewing of the movie was strangely different from all those childhood occasions. I knew the munchkins and witches and all their stories and was aware of them playing out their parts in the foreground. My interest though was completely preoccupied with the background. There were these completely cheesy, painted studio backgrounds of distant mountains. And I couldn't take my eyes off of them. I knew all about the Emerald City and the Yellow Brick Road. What I wanted to know was what the heck was over those mountains.
This we may say is the inspiration for that experience known as fanfiction. It is a DIY art through which fans tell their own story within the larger framework of the world created by an established work of art and entertainment. This is nothing new; it's been going on for ages. In the sixties though it did become something of a subcultural phenomenon. Both The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Star Trek became the sources for all kinds of creative fanfiction efforts. They reimagined the stories in ways that were beyond the scope, inclination or legal ability of the original show: Klingons could conquer the universe or Kirk and Spock could be gay lovers. This was indeed boldly going where no staff writer had gone before.
Originally the fiction was produced in fanzines, which were mimeographed and stapled collections mailed out to subscribers within a narrow clique of aficionados and conference attendees. The rise of the Internet and particularly the World Wide Web in the early 90s changed all that and has allowed for a great blossoming of fanfiction of all kinds. In recent years, the proliferation of a vast inventory of video material available to be manipulated, edited and reinterpreted has taken fanfiction away from the written word into the YouTube editing room of any fan's bedroom. What remains consistent through it all though is the desire to see what lay beyond those distant mountains - to speak metaphorically.
The shows upon which the fan creators based their efforts always left passages unexplored. There were rooms never seen, alleys next entered, action never taken, hopes never spoken. The original show can only wind through but a single plot line. In doing so, though, countless other portals to new possibilities are left open, unexplored. It is these that the fanfiction creators explore. In the case of The Walking Dead this has been a pretty fertile undertaking. Fanfiction.net to cite just one case has over two thousand stories within the world of the walkers. And that's just skimming the surface of what is out there.
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.
The Walking Dead fanfiction is a great resource for exploring the multilayered possibilities of the show's world. It is a testament to the creativity of the fan base and just a whole lot of fun. But, in closing, there is the question of why there is such fan fascination with the context of the show.
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.
However, this viewing of the movie was strangely different from all those childhood occasions. I knew the munchkins and witches and all their stories and was aware of them playing out their parts in the foreground. My interest though was completely preoccupied with the background. There were these completely cheesy, painted studio backgrounds of distant mountains. And I couldn't take my eyes off of them. I knew all about the Emerald City and the Yellow Brick Road. What I wanted to know was what the heck was over those mountains.
This we may say is the inspiration for that experience known as fanfiction. It is a DIY art through which fans tell their own story within the larger framework of the world created by an established work of art and entertainment. This is nothing new; it's been going on for ages. In the sixties though it did become something of a subcultural phenomenon. Both The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Star Trek became the sources for all kinds of creative fanfiction efforts. They reimagined the stories in ways that were beyond the scope, inclination or legal ability of the original show: Klingons could conquer the universe or Kirk and Spock could be gay lovers. This was indeed boldly going where no staff writer had gone before.
Originally the fiction was produced in fanzines, which were mimeographed and stapled collections mailed out to subscribers within a narrow clique of aficionados and conference attendees. The rise of the Internet and particularly the World Wide Web in the early 90s changed all that and has allowed for a great blossoming of fanfiction of all kinds. In recent years, the proliferation of a vast inventory of video material available to be manipulated, edited and reinterpreted has taken fanfiction away from the written word into the YouTube editing room of any fan's bedroom. What remains consistent through it all though is the desire to see what lay beyond those distant mountains - to speak metaphorically.
The shows upon which the fan creators based their efforts always left passages unexplored. There were rooms never seen, alleys next entered, action never taken, hopes never spoken. The original show can only wind through but a single plot line. In doing so, though, countless other portals to new possibilities are left open, unexplored. It is these that the fanfiction creators explore. In the case of The Walking Dead this has been a pretty fertile undertaking. Fanfiction.net to cite just one case has over two thousand stories within the world of the walkers. And that's just skimming the surface of what is out there.
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.
The Walking Dead fanfiction is a great resource for exploring the multilayered possibilities of the show's world. It is a testament to the creativity of the fan base and just a whole lot of fun. But, in closing, there is the question of why there is such fan fascination with the context of the show.
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.
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See also Mickey Jhonny's hilarious reminiscence about his child hood adventure with revealing orders when the parents return home early at How to Get Rid of Weed Smell .
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