Watch: Star Trek (Abrams, 2009)
Read: Jenkins, Henry. "Star Trek rerun, reread, rewritten: Fan writing as textual poaching" Critical Studies in Mass Communication 5.2 (1988). 29 Nov. 2009
< http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/15295038809366691 >
My last screening returns to the land of fiction as I wanted a good example of the types of borrowing and rewriting that already exists heavily within Hollywood. Hopefully with the previous weeks exposure to liberal copyright politics the students will take a closer look at who has the right to control and change this culture. I went back to revisit our friend Henry Jenkins for another look at the relationship between consumer and producer in the Star Trek fan universe. Jenkins notices a trend of fan “poaching” where fans take away a chunk of the universe for their own personal celebration or use. From “adult interaction games, from needlework to elaborate costumes, from private fantasies to computer programming” Jenkins identifies a multitude of ways that Star Trek fans have recreated elements of the media for the basis of their own creative works. Jenkins concludes that fans are unaware or unafraid of copyright protection laws concerning the Star Trek universe and have continued “undaunted by the barking dogs” to poach cultural texts from copyright owners for celebration in their own way, on their own terms.