Between Fantasy and 'Reality': Tamil Film Star Fan Club Networks and the Political Economy of Film Fandom

摘要

Film permeates all spheres of Tamil Nadu social life extending into the domains of state governance and political discourse. Every chief minister since the 1960s and many prominent politicians, for instance, have previously been film actors, directors or screen writers. Many Tamil politicians, therefore, use film as a propaganda tool, as well as utilising their own fan club membership as potential election vote banks. Focusing on the fan club network of one prominent Tamil politician, the veteran actor Vijayakanth, the article investigates this link between politics and film culture. It argues that social theorists analysing this social phenomenon focus too much attention on the propaganda function of film texts rather than examining actual embodied social relationships within the interrelated arenas of film culture and politics. Consequently, this focus overlooks fans' political agency. Countering this perspective, the article argues that, in fact, Tamil film star fan clubs provide important social spaces for fans' participation in the democratic political process, even though these spaces are hierarchically structured and function to contain youthful exuberance.