16 Analyzing Disappointed Anti-Fandom in Henry Cavill’s Departure from ‘The Witc
16 Analyzing Disappointed Anti-Fandom in Henry Cavill’s Departure from ‘The Witcher
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In the realm of popular culture, fandom emerges as a compelling and multifaceted phenomenon. The growth of social media has revolutionized fan engagement, offering unprecedented access to their favourite texts and creators. Yet, this dynamic landscape is not devoid of backlash and divergences. A striking illustration of this is the audience backfire surrounding the popular fantasy series, “The Witcher,” triggered by the unexpected departure of its lead actor, Henry Cavil who played Geralt of Rivia in the first three seasons, in the upcoming fourth season (Agard, 2023). This event ignited a wave of disappointment among a subset of fans, giving rise to a distinctive manifestation of anti-fandom. In this paper, I will argue that the disappointed anti-fans of “The Witcher” are motivated by a sense of betrayal, frustration, and resistance, and that they express their affect through various forms of online debate, criticism, and protest, using Twitter as one of their primary platforms for communication and creativity. This paper will be organized as follows: Firstly, I will define and explain the concept of disappointed anti-fans. Subsequently, I will explore how these anti-fans articulate their affect through enunciative productivity. Lastly, I will examine the concept of poaching, demonstrating its relevance to the disappointed anti-fans’ creation of new texts or interpretations based on the original media text. Through this comprehensive analysis, this paper aims to shed light on the complex dynamics of audience participation in the era of social media, thereby contributing to the broader discourse on fan culture.
They are fans of the text or object to a certain extent, but they reject other parts of it and feel the need to rework or cure it (Barnes, 2022). This subset of anti-fandom differs from other types of fans or anti-fans in their level of engagement and the nature of their affective bond with the fan object. Unlike regular fans who have a positive bond characterized by
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affection for a creator or anti-fans who have are immersed in some level of blind dislike, disappointed anti-fans have more ambivalent bond characterized by both affection and dissatisfaction; a love for certain parts of the object or text but critical and disappointed of others (Adegbuyi, 2021). Although, fannish engagement is wanting to take something of the object and work with it, it is the critical desire of the anti-fandom that refers to a point of distaste which Gray (2019) describes as being anti-fannish and where it can grow overtime and, eventually, dominate. Disappointed anti-fans occupy a unique position in the spectrum of both fandom and anti-fandom. They are fans who are also critics, expressing their affect through a mix of appreciation, disappointment, and resistance (Barnes, 2022).
The fandom of “The Witcher” has exhibited signs of disappointed anti-fans in response t