The Disadvantage

[eumelia]

There is a great disadvantage in living outside the US and UK when it comes to fandom.
I'm not hugely active in fandom in Israel because I find it limiting, I enjoy many, many things, it's one of the reasons I never renewed my Sunnydale Embassy membership, never joined the the comic books "club" or any of the other big fanclubs.
Thus I'm always feeling a little out of date, always a little behind.
Even being a member of numerous fandom community and reading a huge amount of fandom blogs outside of LJ seems as though I've missed the party because I'm in a different timezone.

Which is true.

So I keep updated on when the different events are, and I don't mind forking over more money because I'm not a member of anything, all the money goes to a good cause and most of the time I'm really not disaapointed from the content and people of Israeli Fandom.

The Sunnydale Embassy is wonderful, but I don't feel as though I need it any longer. I mean I've been a buffy fan for almost a decade. I don't need any affirmations that yes, the show is good and that Joss is a earth-bound "deity".
I suppose I feel the clubs, being as they are clubs, are exclusionary of multi-fandom. I never really liked Firefly *ducks out of range of flying objects* and many times was told, by people in buffy fandom, that I was a "traitor", obviously they never meant it seriously, because c'mon people, I didn't say I think Joss made a huge mistake with the show and that his writing sucked. GD forbid. But Serenity was an good movie, because the acting and writing was good, but I didn't feel it had any real oomph, the way Buffy or Angel did.

I'm a Farscape fan and I love everything the Jim Henson company does.
There isn't a huge following of Farscape in Israel, despite it being the most intelligent sci-fi show to hit the screens since Star Trek and Buffy.
I also find myself marooned, abandoned, in comic fandom. There are two comic book stores in all of Israel. I go to one, the one that doesn't always participate in fandom activity. Neil Gaiman was invited to Israel by the comic book store I don't frequent.
There are two reasons for that: 1) It's father away by bus and 2) it's more expensive on the whole.

It's not easy being so very multifandom, having many, many loves and concealing your disdain to the blind following many fandoms have simply because they are the continuation of a legacy (i.e. Star Trek: Enterprise).
Also concealing the fact that I'm a huge trekkie.
That I've written Star Trek Fanfiction.
That I discuss Star Trek Philosophy with my brother.
I don't like the stigma of Trekkies in Israel and women trekkies are very much a minority so every time I pass a booth with ST paraphernalia I feel the boys eyes on me.

I'm now stopping this stream of consciousness, since I'm going out to get my hair done in a way in which I don't feel like tearing it out.

Comments

[richmondhillgal.livejournal.com]

Well I say you go girl!!! Sadly, I never got into Star Trek but there are hundreds of thousands of trekkies out there!!

[honeydew-melon.livejournal.com]

I live in Australia, and the biggest obstacle I face with fandom is the fact that it takes about six months for movies or tv episodes to make it over. It is impossible to be unspoiled. (Of course, I could download episodes. But I really don't have a good enough internet connection for that, and I shouldn't have to, dammit.)

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

We also get movies late and not all the movies released at that.
Which is annoying.

Television is also quite annoying, since I read Fanfiction and get horribly spoiled by accident, when I'm three months behind the original release date.

[honeydew-melon.livejournal.com]

The movie thing is especially bad because movie fandoms are often rather short-lived. By the time I get to see it the fandom is already dead.

*awaits globalisation*

[tamerterra.livejournal.com]

*nod* I'm in England, and we get months of waiting, too. And no merch.

Except for the very final season finales - we get those months before the Americans.

[moorspede.livejournal.com]

On the other hand we can be on the lookout for those 'blink or you'll miss it' moments.

[alias_sqbr]

Here from metafandom and australia, so I know of what you speak :)

Only two comic stores in your whole country? Guh! I tend to assume that australia (and specifically, my part of it) is more of a backwater than pretty much any other western country I've heard of, but looking up wikipedia(*) we have 2-3 times your population and three hundred times your landmass, so I guess it's not suprising we have a couple comic stores than you :)

Do you have conventions? I also feel a bit cut off from the American etc fans but am very involved with local cross-fandom clubs and cons. But I get the feeling the local fandom is unusually active. Also I have broadband :D

I sometimes spare a thought for the people who don't speak english (or at least not very well), since I get the feeling it takes a lot of the fun out of the internet.

(*)So if nothing else, your post has inspired one person to learn more about Israel :)

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

We do have Cons. And we get guests, but not every year. I think our SF/F Association maxed out their credit when they broght Neil Gaiman earlier this year (if you click the tag "icon 2006" on my tag list you can read about it).

But the cons are very local and occasionally each fandom (buffy, comics, ST, etc.) have their own occasions, but they're small and it's meeting the same people over and over and over.

Israel is a tiny country in the middle of no where, seriously, if it weren't for the news and the wars would any one even know that we existed?

So I go to the larger Cons (of which we have two, maybe three a year, but usually I get only to one) and fork over much of my paycheck in order to keep myself happy, meet up with people who for reasons beyond my understaing all know who I am and are really interested in what i have to say *shrug* go figure, because I'm not, as I've stated, really that active in Fandom, but I guess I make enough noise :)

here via metafandom

[ender24]

//Israel is a tiny country in the middle of no where, seriously, if it weren't for the news and the wars would any one even know that we existed?//

actually, yes, even with no current wars , as an Asian-German, i can pretty assure you, because of historical reasons, Germans and Germany is unlikely to ever forget the existence of Israel.

but hey, as an Vietnamese by heritage, i am pretty sure, if not for our war, the world would not know about Vietnam as well *g*

back to your con reply, trust me, germany might be in the middle of Europe, and quite have a large population, but the cons here deals mostly with Star trek, and there is just one large con per year.

otherwise, every other fandom cons is scarce here as well.

[alias_sqbr]

Well, I probably would have since I have a Very Politically Aware somewhat jewish family, but I get your point.

On the plus side you get "Icon", which is way better than "Acon" :)