Overview

Interpreting and Transmitting Kynicism in Joker: The Dark Side of Film Fandom focuses on fan discourse and discussion surrounding Todd Phillips’s Joker (2019), analyzing how white nationalist movie fans code racist, sexist, ableist, and otherwise marginalizing logics into seemingly innocuous speech. Kyle A. Hammonds posits that, by arguing that their communication is “just their interpretation” of a movie, rather than explicitly political speech, white nationalists can communicate bigoted, extremist rhetoric under the pretext of good-faith film criticism. Hammonds leverages hermeneutic traditions often overlooked in communication and fan studies research to argue that interpretation is the key element of fan communication processes in struggles for authority over the meaning of texts—and that fan communities have a civic duty to identify and delegitimize exclusionary interpretations of pop culture in their fandom.

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9781666930863

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Reviews

"""Kynicism in Joker chronicles how even though the white make-up on the Joker's face has lessened over time, white nationalists' embrace of the villainous character, and use of him to further their causes, reached new heights with the 2019 movie Joker. Masquerading as film critiques, Hammonds breaks down how white nationalist movie fans differentially employ the film to fit their 'forgotten [white] man' victimhood narratives or ceaseless urging for hypermasculinity. Avoiding reductionism, Hammonds deftly dissects how fans and fandoms can co-opt and reappropriate pop culture objects to reinforce their ideologies and create 'filmosophies' that, in this case, show the dark underbelly of fandom and its power."" --Lindsey Meeks, University of Oklahoma ""While Joker might ostensibly seek to give insight into the mind of its villainous protagonist, this book examines how the subtext of the film presents white nationalists the opportunity to project and perpetuate their own agenda. Kyle A. Hammonds skillfully examines how the film depicts white nationalist groups and discusses how white nationalist fans use motifs and symbols from Joker to push their alt-right ideals."" --Caleb George Hubbard, Sam Houston State University"

Author Information

Kyle A. Hammonds is assistant professor of instruction at the University of Texas – Dallas.

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