When thinking about convergence culture and fan culture the first thing that comes to mind is the Twilight series. I have read all four of the books in the series and seen all of the movies that have come out so far. It is very evident that twilight has captured a very wide fan base that is incredibly devoted to the series and all of its productions. After reading the article titled Buying into American Idol, I realized that there are many ways in which convergence culture is produced such as affective economics, brand community, and love marks. Love marks occur when product placement is used strategically to create awareness, love and loyalty towards a brand. One of the biggest and most obvious examples of this from the Twilight series is the use and exploitation of Volvo the automobile company. The books and the movies specifically mention that the Cullens, the main vampire family, drives a Volvo. More specifically, Edward Cullen, who is admired by the majority of female viewers, drives a Volvo. This is placed strategically throughout the books and movies to create desire for the vehicles.
Janice Radway's article Women Read the Romance discusses the various reasons that a woman would desire to read romance novels. A lot of women that read romance novels admit that they do so because it creates a sense of fantasy and an escape from their reality. After reading the twilight books and seeing how the fan base reacts to the series and has become obsessed with the fantasy that it creates for them, I see that it is not very different from that of the romance novels. Twilight is a fictional story about a romance between a vampire and a human which is obviously very far from reality. I can attest to the fact that the series tends to allow me to escape reality and experience a fantasy by reading or watching. I think that novels such as Twilight are becoming a substitute, a more modern source of fantasy for young women.
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