Fan Cultures and Mediated Social Support on AMC's Talking Dead Jeremy Vincent Adolphson University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
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University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations May 2018 "We'll Get Through This Together": Fan Cultures and Mediated Social Support on AMC's Talking Dead Jeremy Vincent Adolphson University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the Rhetoric Commons Recommended Citation Adolphson, Jeremy Vincent, ""We'll Get Through This Together": Fan Cultures and Mediated Social Support on AMC's Talking Dead" (2018). Theses and Dissertations. 1735. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/1735 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “WE’LL GET THROUGH THIS TOGETHER”: FAN CULTURES AND MEDIATED SOCIAL SUPPORT ON AMC’S TALKING DEAD by Jeremy V. Adolphson A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communication at The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee May 2018 ABSTRACT “WE’LL GET THROUGH THIS TOGETHER”: FAN CULTURES AND MEDIATED SOCIAL SUPPORT ON AMC’S TALKING DEAD by Jeremy V. Adolphson The University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, 2018 Under the Supervision of Professor Nancy Burrell In this rhetorical analysis, the role of fandom through the technological advances in new media communication and its impact on social media are examined. Specifically, I analyze the rhetorical strategies that individuals use online in order to create narratives reaffirming their own conceptualizations of what it means to be a fan. This dissertation explores how changes in our contemporary media landscape has afforded a new space in popular culture, particularly the television genre of the Live After Show, which is specifically geared towards fans gaining public momentum, while highlighting the productive and performative elements of fan labor. The primary texts used in the dissertation are the AMC Live After Show, Talking Dead , along with The Walking Dead subReddit forums to illustrate how the various fan narratives constitute a typology of an engaged fan. The central argument is that fandom is not only constituted within the individual, but that The Walking Dead fans use their collective identity to maintain and enforce a sense of decorum, both on the subReddit forums and against those celebrity-guests-as- fans appearing on Talking Dead , in order to discipline certain behaviors not conducive towards the vision of the engaged fan. Such disciplinary actions are not limited just to online fans, but are also spearheaded, at times, by Talking Dead’s host, Chris Hardwick. Hardwick, through a series of case studies, attempts to further align himself with those engaged The Walking Dead fans, by actively exerting power in these televised interactions to reinforce and return the discussion to ii more appropriate topics. Intertwined throughout these various rhetorical theories are instances for the role that social support plays throughout the construction and constitution of fan identity. The analysis illustrates how communication technology aids in contributing to the creation of discursive spaces where fans can direct their emotional appeals and experience some sort of resolution or catharsis by sharing their stories and publicly expressing their feelings of grief and sorrow. The rhetorical construction of fandom in a social media environment provides a wealth of textual narratives that push the continuum of fan studies in new directions. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ..................................................................................................................................ii Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgments..................................................................................................................vi Chapter 1 – INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................1 Focus of the Dissertation ...........................................................................................6 Exploring Talking Dead – It’s a Show about What? .................................................10 Let’s Talk about Fandom – Talking Dead Format.........................................12 Rhetorically Situating Talking Dead in Popular Media .................................15 Fandom and Interaction – An Overview ....................................................................22 Pre-Social Media Fan Scholarship .................................................................23 Social Media Fandom – Connecting, “Friending,” Liking, Tweeting ...........26 Preview of Dissertation Chapters ...............................................................................30 Chapter 1 References .................................................................................................32 Chapter 2 – THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON FANDOM ..........................................36 Introduction ................................................................................................................36 The Ideological Dimensions of Constitutive Rhetoric ...............................................38 Constituting the Fan – Approaches and Justifications ...............................................45 The First Ideological Effect ...........................................................................46 The Second and Third Ideological Effects.....................................................50 Constituting Decorum – Maintaining Appropriateness .............................................54 Rhetorical Disciplining ..............................................................................................59 The Role of Social Support in Fan Cultures ..............................................................62 Chapter 2 References .................................................................................................65 Chapter 3 – TALKING TALKING DEAD .............................................................................71 Introduction ................................................................................................................72 Exploring Submission Requirements for Talking Dead and Reddit ..........................76 AMC’s Official Word on User Submissions .................................................77 Examining the Rules on Reddit .....................................................................79 Hardwick on Reddit and Talking Dead .........................................................83 Who are the Ideal Talking Dead Fans? ......................................................................85 Narrative 1: More Content, Access, and Complete Viewing Experience ......86 Narrative 2: Fan Identification on Talking Dead ...........................................91 Narrative 3: Self-Validation and Satisfaction ................................................95 Exemplar #1 – CM Punk and Yvette Nicole Brown – S02E07 .................................102 Exemplar #2 – Chris Jericho and Gillian Jacobs – S03E04.......................................105 Constituting the Anti-Talking Dead Fan....................................................................108 Anti-Fans against Talking Dead Unite ..........................................................110 Haters against Hardwick – Ruining Fans’ Immersive Experience ................115 Chapter 3 References .................................................................................................120 iv Chapter 4 – FANDOM ON THEIR OWN TERMS: VIOLATIONS OF DECORUM .........134 Introduction ................................................................................................................134 Case Study #1 – Sarah Silverman and Joel Madden..................................................139 Hardwick’s Disciplinary Strategies ...............................................................143 Case Study #2 – Marilyn Manson ..............................................................................153 Hardwick against Manson – Oscillations of Disciplinary Rhetoric...............154 Chapter 4 References .................................................................................................168 Chapter 5 – ‘WE’LL GET THROUGH THIS TOGETHER’ ...............................................173 Introduction ................................................................................................................173 Situating Social Support Literature into Fan-Based Narratives .................................177 Fan Supportive Communication in Fictionalized Loss on Talking Dead .................. 183 R.I.P. T-Dog: A Selfless Character and True Hero for Fans .........................185 R.I.P. Hershel: The Walking Dead’s Moral Compass ...................................189 Real-Life Death and Grief: Supportive Communication as Cathartic Release ..........193 Hardwick Addresses the Fans on Reddit .......................................................195 Emotional Support from Fans to Fans ...........................................................198 Concluding Thoughts .................................................................................................201 Chapter 5 References .................................................................................................210