Salutations,

Without any further delay I will jump right into this weeks blog discussion, which will follow the a similar style to last weeks blog where we looked at the Questions and respective arguments posed in an article. For this week’s article I have chosen Rhiannon Bury’s “ Setting David Fisher Straight: Homophobia and Heterosexism in Six Feet Under Online Fan Culture.” For those interested in reading the full text before continuing you can find it here:

http://cst.sagepub.com/content/3/2/59.short

Summary:

So before we get to breaking down the argument that Bury makes in this piece we should have some idea of what she is speaking about (Looking at you people who didn’t read the full thing and for those that did take the time to read the full article this should cement and clarify what you just read). In the article Bury examine the textual poaching of the TV drama Six feet Under within its online fan community. She discusses the homophobic tendencies of television specifically the HBO drama “Six Feet Under” (SFU) in which a character changes his behavior throughout the series to conform with the homophobic ideals present in American culture. Bury investigates the cause of this change and the impact that fan critiques have on the shows character development.

Research Question:

• Topic - Fan response to homosexual character on television

• Question - effects of textual poaching on text and fans

• Significance - Gives us a broader understanding of textual poaching activities and strategies that can be applied to other fan bases

Argument:

• Claim - Textual poaching in the form of gamekeeping is responsible for the homophobic tendencies present in television.

• Reasons - The textual poaching from fans is more reactionary than it is proactive and serves as a method of refining shows into something that is more accepted by the masses and fit popular beliefs.

• Evidence - Online forums serve as Bury’s primary form of evidence when supporting her claim

• Alternatives - An alternative to the idea of gamekeeping is that the majority of vocal fans are straight and do no approve of homosexuality and those that accept homosexuality remain silent in fan discussions as to avoid criticism and ridicule

• Warrants - Bury lacks justification for the evidence she provides in her argument as the homophobic tendencies of fans is rooted in a culture where hetero sexuality is the accepted norm and anything that differs is deemed unnatural. In other words the lack of justification for the fanbase’s homophobia leaves her argument without warrant but more of an observation of causality for the homophobia present in SFU.

That about wraps it up for this weeks blog. See you next week for and update on the Final Project.