Fandoms In Free Enterprise
Free Enterprise follows the lives of Mark Altman and Robert Meyer Burnett, two men who are basically the ultimate fans of Star Trek amongst other series. The film gives off a couple different messages dealing with fandoms and how they can affect different relationships in your life. Free Enterprise also touches along the lines of people that are not in the media see pop culture, fandoms, and the all round fiction of the media. It is not always about how the media represents reality but sometimes how we, in reality represent the media. A lot of the time media can control what they want their image to look like in reality but there are also time we society has an affect on the image of media. This film focuses on two men heavily involved in the Star Trek fandom and several other fandoms ranging from sci-fi to superheroes. This involvement and borderline obsession affects their relationships in each of their lives. For example the scene where Robert’s girlfriend is breaking up with him but he seems more interested in the Star Trek ornament she is taking back from him rather than the fact his girlfriend is leaving him. This scene gives off a negative
…show more content…
perspective on what the effects that a fandom can have on a person and their relationship with others. The more positive side of this is that Robert and Mark have a lot of good friends who are also obsessed with the same fandoms as they are and it puts these long lasting friendship in their lives. That is a clear message that this film states, that being obsessed with of heavily involved with a certain fandom or anything in pop culture can have a huge affect on relationships in one’s life. Mark and Robert sort of shape their perspectives of reality based on what media has to say about it. They think Captain Kirk is this awesome character and all around cool guy so they assume that William Shatner is too because the plays the character. When they meet Shatner in a library and then take him out to drinks their representation of him wasn’t the same way that the media had portrayed him. Instead of being this amazing guy he was quite awkward and weird. This kind of messed up they image of how they saw the man who played their favorite fictional character. Media can shape anyone or anything and make it seem better or worse than what it actually is. The image that media makes up is usually what the audience sees instead of doing the research and seeing what the actual reality is in certain situation. Media representing reality also takes us to the point where media can be more powerful than the audience. Since this film shows that the characters believe that media represents reality then it can also mean that they believe that media can be more powerful then audience. When talking about power it is more of a control that media has on its audience kind of like a king having control over his people. Throughout the movie one could see that media was controlling Robert and Mark’s lives. Robert had collectible dolls, comics, an incredible DVD collection, and an pretty exceptional television and surround sound system. The only problem with that is he could barely pay his bills, he often borrowed money to get more collectibles or to impress a girl who was into the same things. He even lost his job. Mark on the other hand wasn’t as bad as Robert but he did let media have some control of his life but not enough to where it will take over too much of his life. He had the posters of his favorite actors and movies around his home, he had his fair share of collectibles also but he didn’t let it consume his life. That is how one becomes more powerful than media. Media can consume your life only it you let it. The audience has the power to let media in but they also have the power to not let the media control them. The audience will always have the choice to let the media in or to say void of it completely, which did not happen in the film. Mark, though, is a good example of letting media in but not giving it as much power as Robert did. Mark had his fandom the same as Robert did, he got the collectibles, watched the films, did it all but when it came to his actual life he knew where the line was drawn. He knew when to shut it off to get the work that he needed to get done to survive and pay the bills. Now Mark was not much better than Robert they were both heavily and extremely involved in the fandom there is no doubt about that. Robert on way hand let media completely take over his life, where he would woo his girlfriend with the different collectibles that he had even though he was constantly borrowing money. He tried to use media as an advantage to make him seem cooler and to impress his girlfriend but that ended up with him losing his job and the girl for some portion of the film. Mark let media in but he did not let it consume him or use it to impress people. He knew his fandom and he knew the actions he had to take on a day-to-day basis that media had no control over. Media can be powerful if the audience lets it be powerful. Audiences on the other hand have more power because they have to power to allow media to affect their life. The audience can completely ignore the media if they wanted to but the media can’t ignore the audience because they need us. Media stays strong because they find the people like Robert and they take advantage of him because they need people like him. The audience however does not need media; it is more of a want for media to be in their lives. Mark and Robert gravitate strongly to the Star Trek fandom and William Shatner because of the way the show was represented in the media. For them Captain Kirk was a hero to them, in the film they often mentioned the things that Captain Kirk did that were of merit in the show. Even in the beginning where William Shatner came to them when they were kids and telling them what they should do it was sort of god like. To put it simply, they worshipped this man based off his character on a television show. They looked up to this man and often wondered what he would do if he was in the same situations they were in. That’s why they were misled when they met Shatner in real life because he was not what the media had portrayed him to be. Even though they still befriended him the audience could tell Shatner was not the man that Robert and Mark thought he would be. This is a completely realistic depiction of why people become fans of certain types of entertainment. A lot of people see characters that they can relate to or that they can idolize and then that’s how where the fandom starts. I love television; I would not know what to do if I couldn’t watch what I call, “My Shows”. Part of why I got started in television is because my family watched a lot of good shows that sparked my interested and I felt so many different emotions towards the characters. In my opinion that’s what happened with Robert and Mark, they had very strong feelings for the characters in their fandoms that got them stuck on the shows. That’s what media does it tries to appeal to the emotions of people no matter what time of media it is. Media wants you to feel for these characters or actors. They want us to feel sympathetic, empathetic, interested, upset, and angered for whatever types of media they are portraying. That’s how we keep coming back to media because we want to know what happens to these certain characters and we wonder what they are going to do next. This happens to the point where it creates a bond between the viewer and the character or book or whatever it may be and that’s when a fandom for that piece of media is formed. I love shows Grey’s Anatomy, The 100, Scandal, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, the list could go on for hours. The reason why I am so fond of these shows is because they bring out so many emotions in me. I could watch an episode of Grey’s and be in tears for different characters and then I could watch House of Cards and be furious because of something that a fictional character has done. The same goes for music I like, some songs make me happy or they make me feel nostalgic. For me if the show or music or book can make me feel a range of emotions then I can stick to it and get involved in the fandom. Now my fandom is somewhat similar to Robert and Mark’s fandom.
For example when someone asks, “Is there a doctor in the building?” I have to refrain myself from saying yes because watching Grey’s Anatomy does not mean I am an actually doctor even if I have learned some medical jargon from the show. I can quote some dialogue from some movies and I can do it often. I know meaningless facts about actors in my favorite television shows that no one really cares about. I call my favorite characters, “My children”, or “My babies” because I would never want anything bad to happen to them even though they are fictional characters. My fandom is not as extreme as Robert and Mark’s but it is similar in its own ways. We all have these strong feelings for the fandoms that we are in and I feel like that connects us in a
way. Free Enterprise was oddly relatable to life and media now in 2016. At first Robert and Mark just seemed like two guys that were obsessed with their fandoms but taking a step back I realized that I am too in my own way. It’s interesting to see the different types of control and effects that media can have on someone’s life and relationship. The film really opens eyes on how people let media make the presumptions for them rather than then doing the opposite. Especially now in our time and age of social media and how social media shapes the image on how we see certain people of things by a post that they make. This movie, although it was little weird, it did have a lot of good points and can be used describe how issues are now with the media.
perspective on what the effects that a fandom can have on a person and their relationship with others. The more positive side of this is that Robert and Mark have a lot of good friends who are also obsessed with the same fandoms as they are and it puts these long lasting friendship in their lives. That is a clear message that this film states, that being obsessed with of heavily involved with a certain fandom or anything in pop culture can have a huge affect on relationships in one’s life. Mark and Robert sort of shape their perspectives of reality based on what media has to say about it. They think Captain Kirk is this awesome character and all around cool guy so they assume that William Shatner is too because the plays the character. When they meet Shatner in a library and then take him out to drinks their representation of him wasn’t the same way that the media had portrayed him. Instead of being this amazing guy he was quite awkward and weird. This kind of messed up they image of how they saw the man who played their favorite fictional character. Media can shape anyone or anything and make it seem better or worse than what it actually is. The image that media makes up is usually what the audience sees instead of doing the research and seeing what the actual reality is in certain situation. Media representing reality also takes us to the point where media can be more powerful than the audience. Since this film shows that the characters believe that media represents reality then it can also mean that they believe that media can be more powerful then audience. When talking about power it is more of a control that media has on its audience kind of like a king having control over his people. Throughout the movie one could see that media was controlling Robert and Mark’s lives. Robert had collectible dolls, comics, an incredible DVD collection, and an pretty exceptional television and surround sound system. The only problem with that is he could barely pay his bills, he often borrowed money to get more collectibles or to impress a girl who was into the same things. He even lost his job. Mark on the other hand wasn’t as bad as Robert but he did let media have some control of his life but not enough to where it will take over too much of his life. He had the posters of his favorite actors and movies around his home, he had his fair share of collectibles also but he didn’t let it consume his life. That is how one becomes more powerful than media. Media can consume your life only it you let it. The audience has the power to let media in but they also have the power to not let the media control them. The audience will always have the choice to let the media in or to say void of it completely, which did not happen in the film. Mark, though, is a good example of letting media in but not giving it as much power as Robert did. Mark had his fandom the same as Robert did, he got the collectibles, watched the films, did it all but when it came to his actual life he knew where the line was drawn. He knew when to shut it off to get the work that he needed to get done to survive and pay the bills. Now Mark was not much better than Robert they were both heavily and extremely involved in the fandom there is no doubt about that. Robert on way hand let media completely take over his life, where he would woo his girlfriend with the different collectibles that he had even though he was constantly borrowing money. He tried to use media as an advantage to make him seem cooler and to impress his girlfriend but that ended up with him losing his job and the girl for some portion of the film. Mark let media in but he did not let it consume him or use it to impress people. He knew his fandom and he knew the actions he had to take on a day-to-day basis that media had no control over. Media can be powerful if the audience lets it be powerful. Audiences on the other hand have more power because they have to power to allow media to affect their life. The audience can completely ignore the media if they wanted to but the media can’t ignore the audience because they need us. Media stays strong because they find the people like Robert and they take advantage of him because they need people like him. The audience however does not need media; it is more of a want for media to be in their lives. Mark and Robert gravitate strongly to the Star Trek fandom and William Shatner because of the way the show was represented in the media. For them Captain Kirk was a hero to them, in the film they often mentioned the things that Captain Kirk did that were of merit in the show. Even in the beginning where William Shatner came to them when they were kids and telling them what they should do it was sort of god like. To put it simply, they worshipped this man based off his character on a television show. They looked up to this man and often wondered what he would do if he was in the same situations they were in. That’s why they were misled when they met Shatner in real life because he was not what the media had portrayed him to be. Even though they still befriended him the audience could tell Shatner was not the man that Robert and Mark thought he would be. This is a completely realistic depiction of why people become fans of certain types of entertainment. A lot of people see characters that they can relate to or that they can idolize and then that’s how where the fandom starts. I love television; I would not know what to do if I couldn’t watch what I call, “My Shows”. Part of why I got started in television is because my family watched a lot of good shows that sparked my interested and I felt so many different emotions towards the characters. In my opinion that’s what happened with Robert and Mark, they had very strong feelings for the characters in their fandoms that got them stuck on the shows. That’s what media does it tries to appeal to the emotions of people no matter what time of media it is. Media wants you to feel for these characters or actors. They want us to feel sympathetic, empathetic, interested, upset, and angered for whatever types of media they are portraying. That’s how we keep coming back to media because we want to know what happens to these certain characters and we wonder what they are going to do next. This happens to the point where it creates a bond between the viewer and the character or book or whatever it may be and that’s when a fandom for that piece of media is formed. I love shows Grey’s Anatomy, The 100, Scandal, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, the list could go on for hours. The reason why I am so fond of these shows is because they bring out so many emotions in me. I could watch an episode of Grey’s and be in tears for different characters and then I could watch House of Cards and be furious because of something that a fictional character has done. The same goes for music I like, some songs make me happy or they make me feel nostalgic. For me if the show or music or book can make me feel a range of emotions then I can stick to it and get involved in the fandom. Now my fandom is somewhat similar to Robert and Mark’s fandom.
For example when someone asks, “Is there a doctor in the building?” I have to refrain myself from saying yes because watching Grey’s Anatomy does not mean I am an actually doctor even if I have learned some medical jargon from the show. I can quote some dialogue from some movies and I can do it often. I know meaningless facts about actors in my favorite television shows that no one really cares about. I call my favorite characters, “My children”, or “My babies” because I would never want anything bad to happen to them even though they are fictional characters. My fandom is not as extreme as Robert and Mark’s but it is similar in its own ways. We all have these strong feelings for the fandoms that we are in and I feel like that connects us in a
way. Free Enterprise was oddly relatable to life and media now in 2016. At first Robert and Mark just seemed like two guys that were obsessed with their fandoms but taking a step back I realized that I am too in my own way. It’s interesting to see the different types of control and effects that media can have on someone’s life and relationship. The film really opens eyes on how people let media make the presumptions for them rather than then doing the opposite. Especially now in our time and age of social media and how social media shapes the image on how we see certain people of things by a post that they make. This movie, although it was little weird, it did have a lot of good points and can be used describe how issues are now with the media.