“When harnessed correctly, we in fandom can be an unbeatable positive force,” Rachel Miner, executive director of the non-profit Random Acts, writes in the foreword to Fandom Acts of Kindness: A Heroic Guide to Activism, Advocacy, and Doing Chaotic Good, published in 2023. “A group of people brought together by a shared ability to imagine fantastic worlds into being (often much better than the one we are experiencing), many of us seeking community in this new realm because we have had the great empathy-building experience in past spaces of being othered, sometimes brutally. We are a unique band of individuals, most of whom have already experienced living life outside the boundaries of the status quo, and therefore are not afraid to cast aside outmoded systems for new, more promising possibilities.”
Random Acts was founded in 2010 by actor Misha Collins, co-star of the television drama Supernatural, to inspire fans of the series to perform “random acts of kindness” and raise funds for various causes. The organization is just one example of the growing “fan activism” that has popped up during the twenty-first century, in which Geek Culture fandoms like Supernatural, Star Wars, and Star Trek are used for charity and social activism. Authors Tanya Cook and Kaela Joseph offer an introduction to this unique form of fan engagement within the pages of Fandom Acts of Kindness, as well as a blueprint for how anyone can become more involved in causes that are important to them.
The term “fan activism” is not new but its meaning has changed over several decades. Although Star Trek fans banding together when the original series was threatened with cancellation in the 1960s can be considered a form of fan activism, the phrase has taken on a different meaning in the twenty-first century. The Internet transformed fandom during the late 1990s, bringing together fans from across the country and around the globe in ways previously impossible. Fans of everything from Harry Potter to Supernatural, Star Wars to Star Trek were thus able to form genuine communities of like-minded individuals whose interests often extended beyond what originally brought them together.
Furthermore, the major books, films, and television shows that attract strong fandoms often feature a “better world” within their narratives, as well as efforts to improve the fictional worlds in which they take place. Drawing inspiration from these works of fiction, combined with the inherent energy of fan communities, inevitably produces a desire to use fandoms for the greater good. Cosplayers, for instance, often volunteer at local children’s hospitals in costume and organize food drives in their communities. Other fans have organized 5K runs to raise money for specific charities. Participants are given specially crafted medals afterwards loosely based on such Geek Culture franchises as Harry Potter and Doctor Who.
While those examples are localized, many fan efforts extend beyond their communities. When hurricanes devastated various regions of the United States in 2017, fans of Supernatural helped coordinate efforts to rescue people stranded in their homes, resulting in an estimated thirty percent of all online volunteers being fans of the show. The initial efforts of the former Harry Potter Alliance – begun as a real-world Dumbledore’s Army – included raising awareness of the systematic genocide of the Darfuri in the African nation of Sudan, as well as hunger in the United States when The Hunger Games film series was first released.
Although a substantial portion of Fandom Acts of Kindness outlines ways that anyone can become an activist – regardless of whether it’s as a fan or just a concerned citizen – it also demonstrates how specific areas of interest can be connected to Geek Culture and thus generate genuine fan activism. When Pasha Ripley of Parasol Patrol wanted to raise awareness of sex trafficking, for instance, she crafted a panel for San Diego Comic-Con centered on how sex workers are depicted in science fiction and fantasy, which then led into a discussion of sex trafficking in the real world. Ripley took a cause that was important to her, found a way to connect it to Geek Culture, and then introduced it to the greater fandom community.
Within Fandom Acts of Kindness, Tanya Cook and Kaela Joseph argue that the main reason for fan activism becoming so prominent in the twenty-first century has to do with the “Four Cs” – collective identity, collective effervescence, community, and collective action. A collective identity already exists within fandoms, for example, as members of those fandoms were brought together by a specific film, television show, or book.
Collective effervescence, meanwhile, refers to shared moments and the feelings that arise from them. The collective cheer from a packed movie theater when Captain America summons Thor’s mystical hammer Mjolnir in Avengers: Endgame is a noted example. While watching a television show or reading a book may be more solitary endeavors, fandom communities on the Internet enable anyone – regardless of their locale – to likewise share specific moments of euphoria. This collective effervescence ultimately increases the bond between those active in any specific fandom.
Fandoms are built on the concept of community, a shared sense of belonging to a group of likeminded individuals. The rise of the Internet during the 1990s enabled fans to gather more frequently than merely at annual conventions, enabling fan communities to become more genuine and cohesive than in the past. As a result, fans gained a sense of belonging and “fitting in” rather than feeling like an “outcast.” The bonds forged within fan communities and the knowledge that one is not alone has resulted in the final “Four C” to emerge – collective action.
At its most basic level, Fandom Acts of Kindness is a guide to becoming involved in causes that are important while likewise demonstrating the ways that fandoms can be used for the greater good. On a broader level, however, it is also a call to action for fans to become more involved in their communities and world-at-large. “How will you answer the call to fight for inclusion and social justice?” Tanya Cook and Kaela Joseph rhetorically ask on the book’s final page. “How can your love of fandom inspire you and help you realize positive change in your life, in the lives of those you love, and for people around the world? How can you join the heroic fight for chaotic good?”
They then provide the answer with the words, “Activists… assemble!”
Anthony Letizia