Placing Fandom Film Tourism in Contemporary Fan Culture This work was funded by a research grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (GW, PR-11-77). ISBN: 978-90-76665-32-0 Publisher: ERMeCC – Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication and Culture Cover design: Traum – www.iamtraum.com Printing: Ipskamp Printing, Enschede 2 Placing Fandom Film Tourism in Contemporary Fan Culture Thesis to obtain the degree of Doctor from the Erasmus University Rotterdam by command of the Rector Magnificus Prof.dr. H.A.P. Pols and in accordance with the decision of the Doctorate Board. The public defense shall be held on Thursday 9 November at 15:30 hours by Abby Sophia Waysdorf born in Washington, DC., United States of America 3 Doctoral Committee: Promotor: Prof. dr. S.L. Reijnders Prof. dr. E.A. van Zoonen Other members: Prof. dr. K. van Eijck Prof. dr. E. Müller Prof. dr. M.J. Hills 4 Acknowledgements A dissertation is always a group effort, and this one is no different. Many people have helped in making this work, from those who were so kind as to agree to be interviewed, to those who helped with suggestions and ideas, to those who distracted me with something else when it all got too much. I would like to thank my promotor Stijn Reijnders for bringing me onto this project, encouraging me to follow my instincts and take it in the direction I did, and for the useful feedback and advice he gave me from the beginning to the end. I would also like to thank my second promotor Liesbet van Zoonen for her advice and guidance, all of which meant a great deal to me. I would like to thank the Department of Arts and Culture at Erasmus University and everyone in it, for providing me with a stimulating work environment, lunch conversation, and some very enjoyable borrels along the way. I would also like to thank the ERMeCC PhD Club for its encouragement and feedback on my work, and the recognition that I’m not alone in this process. And a special thank you to the Television in Transition research group at Utrecht University for letting me continue to sit in, hear some great work, and present my own. Your support and encouragement over the years has been deeply appreciated. Thank you to my research team at EUR, starting with Siri, Min, Henry, Apoorva, Rosa, Débora, and Emiel, for your conversation, literature discussions, and feedback. A special thank you to Balazs and my partners in media tourism crime Nicky and Leonieke. Your friendship (and space to vent) was the only way I could have got through all this. Thank you to the Litkids – Maria, Katrien, Ileana, Paul, Maik, Peter, and Joke (and Joris and Ben) – for making the Netherlands feel like home to me over these seven years. Thank you 5 also to Roel, Tom, Sam, Alwin, Henrik, Noah, and all my other friends in Utrecht and Amsterdam for your gezelligheid, companionship, encouragement, and assurances that things would work out. Finally, thank you to my family. Thank you to Matt and Nina, who have always been there even if I wasn’t always, and thank you so much to my parents. I know it hasn’t been easy having me so far away, and I miss you dearly. Your love and support as I follow this dream has meant more to me than I can put into words. Thank you. A version of Chapter 4 has been previously published in Participations (14:1), and a version of Chapter 5 has been previously published in the International Journal of Cultural Studies (DOI: 10.1177/1367877916674751). My thanks to these journals for their valuable reviews and permission to reuse these texts. 6 1. Table of Contents 1. Introduction: Why Are We Here? ....................................................................................... 9 What is Film Tourism? ............................................................................................................................12 What This Dissertation Is (And Isn’t) .....................................................................................................16 2. The (Meaningful) Experience of Film Tourism ............................................................... 26 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................26 Film Tourism as Tourism ........................................................................................................................28 Film Tourism as Fan Practice ..................................................................................................................36 Reality, Fantasy, and Film Tourism ........................................................................................................44 3. Methodology: Studying Fans ............................................................................................. 55 Aca-Fandom and the Fan Academic .......................................................................................................56 Methodological Choices in This Research ..............................................................................................62 Netnography ........................................................................................................................................63 Participant Observation ......................................................................................................................64 Interviews ............................................................................................................................................66 The Progression of This Project ..............................................................................................................72 4. Game of Thrones: The Role of Imagination in the Film Tourist Experience ............... 77 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................77 Imagination and Film Tourism ................................................................................................................78 Methods ...................................................................................................................................................83 MEET THE TOURIST: GAME OF THRONES ....................................................................................86 The On-Site Imagination .........................................................................................................................87 Imagining Westeros .............................................................................................................................87 Imagining the Technological Details of the Production .....................................................................92 Imagining History ...............................................................................................................................96 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................101 5. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Immersion, Authenticity and the Theme Park as Social Space ........................................................................................................................... 107 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................107 Understanding the Wizarding World .....................................................................................................109 Methods .................................................................................................................................................114 MEET THE TOURIST: THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER ...................................116 Experiencing the Wizarding World .......................................................................................................117 Locating Authenticity in the Theme Park ..........................................................................................117 Embodiment and Immersion .............................................................................................................120 The Social (and Fan) Space of Harry Potter ....................................................................................125 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................128 6. The Prisoner: Fan Homecoming and Placemaking in Fandom.................................... 134 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................134 Place and Fandom ..................................................................................................................................136 7 The Prisoner and Portmeirion ................................................................................................................140 Methods .................................................................................................................................................142 MEET THE TOURIST: THE PRISONER ............................................................................................144 The Experience and Role of Portmeirion for Prisoner Fans .................................................................145 Village Activities: Ritual and Repetition in Portmeirion ..................................................................145