Whedonverse- Cult or fanbase?

When you hear the name Joss Whedon, you may not know who we're talking about but you've definitely seen one of his shows or movies. His imdb pageis filled with familiar shows and movies such as: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse, the original Toy Story, Serenity. In addition he's also currently working on two high profile box office hits, Captain

America and The Avengers. In addition to these forms of media he also writes comics, mainly about Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, as well as an internet show titled Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. His shows are generally praised by critics and fans but, other than Buffy and Angel, tend to be short lived due to expenses, i.e. Firefly, or low ratings, i.e. Dollhouse.

However, over the course of his working career he has garnered a fanbase called the "Whedonverse" these fans follow his every move watching anything his name is attached to. Furthermore, the actors attached to his projects automatically get a following. As seen in the offical Whedonverse website, every actor ever attached to a Whedon project gets news update on what show they're currently on, a gallery, and biographies on them all. For example, two time Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner ( The Hurt Locker, The Town) Guest starred on Angel for one episode. Yet due to that guest spot he gets a blog article whenever he gets a role. This Whedonverse is more than a fanbase as it religiously follows Whedon and any actor associated with his work, religiously follows and comments on his blog , in which he constantly communicates with them, and never accept criticism to any work Whedon has ever created. They are their own subculture, they have certain norms not to be broken such as being a fan of every Whedon product, breaking that is taboo and you would not count as part of the Whedonverse, simply a casual viewer. When attending Whedon related events, in comicon, paleyfest, etc, members of Whedonverse have a certain respect for one another as though they are 'brothers in arm'. As Grazian says in his book Mix it Up, sports is a unifier and how supporters of the same team are feel closer, this is similar to the Whedonverse and how members of the Whedonverse feel close to one another, even if they are strangers.

Proof that this is more than a fanbase is the loads of coverage this group has gotten. Entertainment Weekly has written many articles, even giving it a cover page, many sites create lists of the best whedonverse episodes, and even MTV posts articles related to Whedonverse. Scifi is its own subculture, some may even say culture, that exists all over the world, the Whedonverse is a subculture of Scifi, one of the most dominant and involved cultures.

Westernised Culture

Films, music, news and any source of media usually isn't popular unless it is available in the universal language, english! We all have our guilty pleasures and the one that tops my list, is watching television series online. I wait anxiously every week until Tuesday comes so that I can watch my three favorite television series, gossip girl, one tree hill and 90210. The episodes usually air on mondays in America but they become available online on Tuesdays. American television series are considered to be the popular culture between teenagers all over the world and I recently discovered a lot of the popular shows are dubbed in foreign languages.

One Tree hill has been going strong since 2003, even after two crucial actors left the show, the fans remained loyal to the show and ratings were not as damaged as expected. In the older episode there was always voice overs where the characters would say a famous quote from books and it would somehow relate to the events happening in the episode. That was my favorite part of every episode as it encouraged me to start reading more books and start looking for the source of the quote being said.

90210, the new version of it, features the same drama that was in the old episodes of 90210 beverly hills. The show was not entirely recreated, it was simply altered to fit into the new world we live in. The cliche stories of high school and the most ridiculous stories imaginable is what truly defines television series such as this one.

Younger teenagers, no matter what country they are in, have gullible minds and they live and breathe on the drama they watch on television. Their actions and the way they speak become prone to change because of what they watch and idolize.

Reality television shows are even more popular between the younger and the older age groups, particularly the shows on MTV. People somehow feel like they relate to the characters of the show(more like they imagine they do)

Jersey Shore, the most recent obsession, is a reality television show that aired on MTV quite recently. Now I hear people go around quoting random saying from the show. Things like "T-shirt time" and "GTL" (gym, tanning, laundry) are known in different countries. Each person in the show has their own trademark, such as snookie and her poof (hairstyle) or "the situation" and his arrogance.

Thanks to mass media, we are exposed to the different norms and behaviors that occur in the west. What some people fail to realize is that the actions and language, viewed and used in the show might not be accepted culturally in the country they live in.

The Impact of Television series and films that include the Paranormal

In sociology, some sociologists argue that people, who become so obsessed with paranormal series and movies, tend to be more supportive to the idea that "anything is possible," and that is a principle that science emphatically rejects. In fact, Television Paranormal effects people believes, attitudes, and behaviors in many ways.





First of all, shows that include paranormal activities cause Paranoia. Paranoid thinking heavily influences people’s psychological states. For example, they may start seeing nightmares and having other sleeping difficulties like Insomnia. They also start getting scared of darkness and seeing visions of ghosts or other supernatural creatures that don’t even exist. People start to act violently toward others and become careless about almost every aspect of their lives. In fact, these harsh attitudes may lead people to commit crimes! Some statistics state that parents have killed their children because they thought they were possessed. Paranormal-obsessed people are also more likely to torture themselves and suicide.






Second of all, paranormal has a great impact on religious beliefs. For example, people start going to Church, believing in the existence of evils and demons, and becoming more religious than before. On the other hand, some people started to doubt their religious beliefs that they don’t believe in faith anymore. People started to do some devilish activities to communicate with demons and other spirits in order to solve their own problems or as a way to destroy other’s lives.



In addition to religious beliefs, paranormal activities also affect the personal image and physical appearance of people. People start to believe that they are themselves supernatural characters. In sociology, these people are categorized under the term “Counterculture, ” which means that their values and beliefs are in opposition to the dominant culture. For example, some people, especially teenagers, declare themselves as vampires, witches, werewolves, and psychics. This is best illustrated in the following videos:







This phenomenon has also impacted the way people dress, talk, walk, sleep, eat, drink, and communicate. It is becoming so dangerous that obsessed people started to have plastic surgeries just to look like a supernatural character.



Therefore, paranormal activity can have a very negative impact on people. In short, the emotional and mental toll can be devastating, but not nearly as devastating as the physical cost can be.