Convergence Culture: Part One

 

 

In Henry Jenkins’s introduction to Convergence Culture (New York University Press, 2006, 2008 [paperback version]), the author takes a very Socratic approach to the theory of media convergence: “I don’t think we can meaningfully critique convergence until it is more fully understood; yet if the public doesn’t get some insights into the discussions that are taking place, they will have little or no input into decisions that will drastically change their relationship to media” (13). Since Convergence Culture has been become a seminal work in convergence theory, as it is taught in undergraduate and graduate courses across academia, the first part of Jenkins’s statement seems rather unnecessarily humble, or to return to the comparison to Socrates, perhaps he realizes his theories on the subject matter are brilliant in their simplistic originality yet open to rearrangement and adjustment by himself and fellow theorists at any moment in our relentlessly evolving technological culture. Approaching the second half of Jenkins’s claim, one can detect a sense of irony in his argument that a public forming online fan communities that have initiated a new-found engagement with media through fan sites and media platforms as YouTube need to be informed of the discussions taking place concerning this process. At the same time, I guess I am being overly critical of Jenkins with this statement as the term public can encompass people who have not yet joined the ranks of participatory culture to some degree. Then again, if we are to include the significantly growing number of users subscribing to Facebook and Twitter (which was still at a germination point at the time of the book’s publication), in the term, Jenkins’s call-to-action resonates as these newcomers may exist primarily as blind consumers, not participants.

This tension occurring between consumers who participate and those who are marginalized by corporate culture is well-balanced between the book’s first two chapters, which comment on the Survivor and American Idol fan communities. In the first, “Spoiling Survivor – The Anatomy of a Knowledge Community,” Jenkins shows how online Survivor fans have been engaged in an adversarial, ongoing game of one-upmanship with the show’s producers when it comes to figuring out the winning contestant each season, even successfully calling the winner of the sixth season iteration of the series in advance through the canny efforts of a blogger calling himself “ChillOne.” Jenkins also points out that the art of spoiling may be so popular with college students as “it allows them to exercise their growing competencies in a space where there are not yet prescribed experts and well-mapped disciplines” (52). From this vantage point, the hours many college students spend online may be viewed as conducive to them honing their analytical, problem-solving minds, assuming they still are devoting adequate time to their studies...



 
“Buying into American Idol – How We Are Being Sold on Reality Television,” the second chapter, presents the flipside of a show whose producers ostensibly declare, “America gets to decide the next American Idol,” while fans feel marginalized in their complaints that their votes have not been accurately reported due to lines being flooded (89). As Jenkins shows, American Idol heavily employs brand marketing in their partnership with Coca Cola and AT&T. In the case of the phone snafu during season three, however, AT&T had been adversely affected by the backlash, which, in turn, affected their fellow sponsor, Coca-Cola (93). Being a former viewer of American Idol in its early seasons, I was tuning in for the spectacle but mentally tuning out at the sight of all of the branding. Learning that the many members of public equally share this view reassures me that America is not populated by mindless consumers who are not immune to this form of over-brand exposure!

I similarly gained a new perspective on the two Matrix sequels in the third chapter of Convergence Culture, “Searching for the Origami Unicorn – The Matrix and Transmedia Storytelling.” Hands-down, I believe the original Matrix film to be a highpoint in science-fiction cinema as it philosophically and visually challenges our definition of existence. The two sequels, Reloaded and Revolutions, in contrast, felt like recycled, overly-long, drifting treatises on subject matter that had been clearly presented in the first movie. Jenkins, however, builds a convincing argument that the films’ content have been narratively diluted as they took a transmedia approach by telling its story across the media of film, an animated spin-off (The Animatrix), print and Web comic books, and computer and multiplayer online games (97). While the general public was disappointed with these later films, some members of the “knowledge communities” who engaged in the additional narrative pieces found across these multiple platforms, according to Jenkins, found the films more satisfying (125). With these facts in mind, I am beginning to reconsider the Wachowski brothers’s decision to present the two sequels in such a multimedia manner. At the very least, these sibling auteurs were attempting to be innovative and reflect a world that is as technologically and intellectually complex as the one presented in their films.

On a side note, concerning the appearance of Convergence Cultures’ text itself, I am a bit ambivalent toward the sidebar passages accompanying the regular chapter text. I admit that I enjoy their bold-printed appearance in the margins and how they present a contemporary approach to footnotes, which all too often give the impression that they are an author’s discarded, doggie-bag thoughts all too often best left on the intellectual kitchen floor. In a lively fashion, thank goodness, this presentation of Jenkins’s side thoughts seem geared to a graphics-orientated culture accustomed to processing several windows or images on a computer screen. Simultaneously, I have been forced to seriously concentrate on reading the regular text first before delving into this ancillary material. Perhaps if I were not so easily distracted by pithy side thoughts, I would not be complaining about this innovative approach to these interesting and integral (to Jenkins’s primary discussion) additional notes. My solution, however, has been to read the primarily text first before proceeding to tackle the content of the sidebars – one of two tough choices Jenkins’s and/or his publisher designed for me to make!