Did you think I was done with Claire Dederer’s book? Of course not! As I mentioned in my earlier review and recap, I was obsessed with the book. But as I also have mentioned in earlier blogs, I had experience in studying parasocial relationships which is the focus of chapter three. So I wanted to touch on that for a bit.
Derderer talks about how “An audience member is a consumer of a piece of art; the audience member is not defined by that piece of art. A fan, on the other hand, is a consumer plus, a consumer beyond, a consumer who is also being consumed,” (Derderer, 2023, page 55.)
Their identity is formed by the art. It is intense and all-consuming. Almost like falling in love but it is in a field all its own. Most chapters in the book are subtitled by a public figure. Chapter three is subtitled for JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter book series and franchises. When the books came out, young people were particularly fond of it. They saw a book about not fitting in, about being special, and about outcasts finding friendships and saving the world in a magical world inspirational and hopeful. In more recent years, Rowling has come under fire for her stance against certain legal trans rights.
Derderer uses the extreme success that is the Harry Potter franchise to show such a fandom that causes a fan’s identity and its possible destruction to the fan’s identity, not just to its fandom.
“When what you like becomes important, becomes defining, becomes an obsession, then an artist’s biography has even more power than before. You have not just admired, not just consumed the art, you’ve become it.”
Derderer, Page 56
So what happens when you find out the creator of what defined your childhood does not believe that trans people should have the same rights as you do? It becomes quite a shock. But there is more to just having a difference of opinion and Derderer points out how social media has become a big factor in why fans can’t cope:
“The importance of our relationship with the artist’s biography is reaffirmed everywhere and all the time. Its signal quality is intimacy. The knowledge we have about celebrities makes us feel we know them. We feel we have the right to some intimate access to them. This feeling, I’ve observed, has only grown with time. Every year we are on the internet, we grow more enmeshed with public figures…”
The phrase ‘parasocial relationship’ is a previously somewhat obscure sociological term that has been batted about the internet with greater and greater frequency—a spreading usage reflecting the increase in the phenomenon it describes the belief that we have real emotional connections with the artists whose work we love. We all know how this feels. It’s a different feeling from simply loving an artist’s work—it’s the feeling that you know this artist personally, as a friend, and, what’s more, they possess the same knowledge as you. You are immersed in their biography and by some strange irrational emotional logic, you believe that they too are immersed in your biography. It’s a piece of obviousness that the internet has exacerbated this false-yet-extremely-real-feeling connection; indeed, it could be said that this feeling of connection is the main product of social media; the commodity it is selling and re-selling. If that sounds creepy, it is, a little,” (page 56).
In other words, social media and the internet in general have allowed us to be enmeshed in each other’s lives on an unhealthy level. Just as much as fans were shocked and hurt by JK Rowling’s stances, she was constantly criticized online for sharing her opinion and having her reasons. The artist and the consumer can’t escape each other in the digital world. This is not healthy for either party.
Derderer also points out that this is not healthy for us mentally and emotionally, this is only benefitting capitalism, “…all of us who participate in parasocial relationships are workers creating money for somebody else,” (page 59).
So what is there to do? Well, for one thing, admit there is a problem. We were not meant to get to know each other so intimately and immediately. Take a break, from the internet, from that art that you love so much. We were not supposed to be consumed by art and by communications 24/7.
After reading this, I suggest you go take a walk. After a while, go read the book. Seriously, read this book then hit me up on social media and let me know what you think (but turn off notifications, it is all about balance😉).
