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Post Info TOPIC: Cage Craze: Exploring Nicolas Cage Fandom Online


Nic Newbie

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Date: 1:25 PM, 08/09/13
Cage Craze: Exploring Nicolas Cage Fandom Online
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This article was written for my blog: http://cagedcinema.tumblr.com/
Can you imagine people seeing Nicolas Cage as their one and only idol? Or even their one true god? How unlikely it may be for some; Nicolas Cage has a vast group of fans,  who worship and cultivate the actor online. Still there is opposition. Haters can attack and criticize the star just as easily as fans adore him. In a twofold of articles I’ll be studying fandom and “fantagonism” around Nicolas Cage. This article revolves around the Cage Craze: the many passionate fans of Nicolas Cage.

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Since his debut in Fast Times at Ridgemont High in 1982, Nicolas Cage has played in more than seventy films, with even new films still coming out on a regular basis. He’s played quirky, romantic, crazy, badass and restricted roles in films of varying quality. It may seem unlikely that an actor which such an variety in quantitative and qualitative roles has garnered a huge involving fan base online, all without an official Twitter or Facebook account. How did Nicolas Cage get so many fans online?

Fandom. For many it’s regarded as something teenage girls do. It’s kissing your bedroom posters goodnight and writing personal, sexually exploring fan fiction; it’s beliebing and fainting at a pop concert; it’s buying every item with your idol’s face or body on it. In short: It’s immature obsession. Critics might say “fans are simply incapable of recognizing that the culture they enjoy is actually being used to dupe and exploit them. (…). They are always juveniles, waiting to grow up, and still enjoying the irresponsibility of their fandom.”  And yes, in some cases, this is true.

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Still, being a ‘fan’ is much more than kissing your idol’s posters goodnight. Fiske (1992) defines fandom as “a collective strategy, a communal effort to form interpretative communities that in their subcultural cohesion evaded the preferred and intended meaning of the power bloc”. Baym (2007) argues that fandom involves a  “collective of people organized socially and their shared appreciation of pop culture object or objects”. While both definitions are workable and approachable I prefer the notion of Grossberg. He states that fans are a group, “who actively appropriate the text of specific cultures, and give them new and original significance.”

Grossberg’s notion underlines the fact that fans nowadays are no “passive consumers”, who are “duped and exploited by popular media texts”. Instead, fans can be seen as curators and editors in exchanging goods and pieces of information. Ideally, they are a community, sharing and caring their passions.

Establishing a community of fans in the pre-internet era used to be quite difficult and risky. The means to getting in touch with likeminded fans, were few. You could start your own club, but then you’d have to have friends that would share your passion, or you could attend a festival or convention - if one would even be held - with the risk of people close to you discovering your passion., I came around an interesting quote of a Keanu Reeves fan in a research on fandom around Keanu Reeves:

“I’ve been having some doubts about going to KeanuFest [a festival for Keanu Reeves fans] and my fascination with Keanu because of my age and position in life. I’ve wondered what my family and friends would think of my if they knew about this very private side of me.”

Maybe, then, it was best to keep your passion to yourself.

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Now, with not only the coming of internet, but also with its quick development in the so-called realm of “Web 2.0”, being a fan is much easier. Forums, (micro)blogs, social networks and fan sites can now facilitate fans in forming a digital community. For fans this means they only have to google their idol and voila: fan- sites, -blogs and –groups are at their service.

 I’ve also searched for blogs, forums and pages about Nicolas Cage. Not only out of self-interest, but also for the sake of research and marketing for my blog. During my search I – also with the help of others– came across some very interesting places. The most notable, perhaps, is a subpage on popular website Reddit, called “One True God”. For those unfamiliar with Reddit, Wikipedia explains it as following:

A social news and entertainment website where registered users submit content in the form of either a link or a text (“self”) post. Other users then vote the submission “up” or “down”, which is used to rank the post and determine its position on the site’s pages and front page. Content entries are organized by areas of interest called “subreddits”.

The One True God subreddit is fully dedicated to the worshipping of Nicolas Cage. The subreddit is explained by moderator ArcWinter, “High Priest of the Cage”, as:

Our place of devotion to the one true god, Nicolas Cage. His light guides us away from the temptation of John Travolta, and saves us from our bees.

The worshipping of Nicolas Cage is being performed on an exceptional high level: Nicolas Cage is referred to as “The Lord” or “Savior” and there is even a fourfold of gospels on “The words, teachings, and histories of the Cage”. Here is one of their passages to give you an impression of the content of the gospels:

Nicolas Cage blinked, and eons passed. The Holy Stardust collected through His gravitational will, forming great space seas of dust and light. He breathed, and Galactic Oceans condensed, forming a multitude of suns and stones. And with one stroke of His Mighty Boner, the Universe slowed down and cooled.

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Although the One True God subreddit seems like a very strict community of worshippers, it’s still very accessible for outsiders.  No registration is required to lurk around  its pages. Also, it sometimes feels like the subreddit is used more for funny Photoshop’s or other funny exploitables of Nicolas Cage, then for truly establishing a community.

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For those in search of a more intrinsic Nicolas Cage community, the Cage-a lot forum is of better use. It is a forum fully dedicated to Nicolas Cage and his films. It’s a place for fans to discuss all that is Nicolas Cage and  to get to know each other. Besides the usual discussions, relating to film news, reviews and interviews, there’s also room for fan art, fan fiction and other creative outputs. The history of Cagealot is explained on the website’s ‘about’ page:

Cagealot Castle began it’s life as a fan page on Twitter and in August 2010, we created the Cagealot Castle Forum, for all fans to celebrate and honour the work of their favourite actor in a space larger than 140 characters (who can truly Nic out in so few words). Our aim is to bring the latest and the most inspirational movie news, interviews, pictures, videos and general fan schmooze, to Nicolas Cage fans across the world!

The forum also includes a section where various Nicolas Cage dedicated blog’s are discussed. I’ve also promoted my blog on the forum, for many of its visitors will probably (and hopefully) enjoy my blog as well.

Although I feel like my blog is quite unique in its kind, there are many more Nicolas Cage blogs to find on Tumblr. Some are ridiculous, some are serious; some repost a lot of stuff created on the One True God subreddit and some have very original content. One of my personal favorites is the blog Am I Nicolas Cage Yet ?  The owner of the blog explains the blogs goal as following:

Every day I’ll look in the mirror and see if I am Nicolas Cage yet, I will post my findings here.

Tragically though, he’s never become Nicolas Cage yet. To give you an impression of his pervasiveness,  he recently had the first anniversary of one year on his blog. One day, perhaps, he will become Nicolas Cage though.

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Many celebrities also make use of online services like twitter, tumblr and facebook to reach out to their audience. Nicolas Cage, however, doesn’t own an official facebook-, tumblr- or twitter page. This means that most online (non-news) content involving Nicolas Cage is fanmade and this is exactly the appeal of Nicolas Cage’s fanbase. The fanbase of Nicolas Cage is thus enticed to “actively appropriate the text of specific cultures, and give them new and original significance.” They edit, curate and create new content by photoshopping, remixing and recontextualizing existing Nicolas Cage content.

The beauty of this is that fans of Nicolas Cage have struck the jackpot of content, all waiting to be exploited and reinvigorated on the internet. Films like The Wicker Man or his older films like Vampire’s kiss and Zandalee are pure internet gold. Many montage’s, photoshops and other references are spurred out and appreciated; not only by Nicolas Cage fan’s, but also by “mainstream” viewers. The images of Nicolas Cage as various Disney princesses, for instance, went viral very quick after their publication. Stuff like this is thus not only for the hardcore fans; it has a wider appeal.

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Still, some of this content is quite strange and disturbing, and I used to wonder whether Nicolas Cage has ever seen some of it. It’d require a certain form of self-awareness to handle so much weird content made about you. Luckily Cage recently explained in an interview in The Guardian that he “was in on the joke”. It seems like he can handle it.

This, I guess, is what makes Nicolas Cage such a wonderful persona and his fans such a wonderful community. They both are self-aware; they make crazy stuff, but they know people will appreciate it. Although some fans can lose themselves to much in their obsession, you’ve got to acknowledge: they make some pretty funny stuff indeed.

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- See more at: http://cagedcinema.tumblr.com/post/57705874200/cage-craze-exploring-nicolas-cage-fandom-online#sthash.TZzNUhfn.dpuf


-- Edited by CagedCinema on Friday 9th of August 2013 01:26:20 PM

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Understanding and Appreciating the cinema of Nicolas Cage with Reviews, Articles, random internet stuff and more! All on: http://cagedcinema.tumblr.com/

 



Cage Defender

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Posts: 778
Date: 7:52 AM, 08/23/13
RE: Cage Craze: Exploring Nicolas Cage Fandom Online
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I've been meaning to read this for awhile now. It's something I'm interested in. 

You do bring up many interesting and good points. 

Its just I find this stuff a little offensive to be honest. It just shows that anonymity corrupts, just behind you're behind a keyboard doesn't mean you aren't culpable for your actions. I appreciate a good joke as much as the next guy but these memes are just tired and old. Like: 

' Our place of devotion to the one true god, Nicolas Cage. His light guides us away from the temptation of John Travolta, and saves us from our bees'

oh, gee, look at that, another Wicker Man joke. It was 7 years ago, get over it. Like, y'know, Nic's career consists of more then one movie, these people know that right? Just checking. 

I am happy, however, that Nicolas seems okay with this. He seems to get a lot of crap from actors and audiences alike, but he's one of the nicest actors going. I'm happy he's okay with this because if he wasn't, we'd have another Beyonce incident where she says she wants an embarrassing picture down and then people just spam it- corrupt.

Perhaps I'm seeing this from the wrong angle, but in my experience, whenever I saw a Nic meme picture, they weren't having fun with it, they were being hurtful with it and attacking Nicolas, which is something that affects me. I know it shouldn't have any impact on me whatsoever but its a little hard for me to take if lightly when I see people insulting the person who saved me and changed my life. I have an emotional attachment to Nicolas and I wish to meet him and thank him for everything, I'd probably cry if I met him. Also, I'm sure it affects Nicolas in some way, I mean, having your face plastered on embarrassing pictures can only be funny for so long, but he's an actor, so I'm sure he's used to having his face plastered everywhere. It comes in the job description! 

At the end of the day, I'm sure I'm missing a side of this story where everyone is just having fun and celebrating Nicolas in their own way. It's just my experience, as usual with online fandoms, hasn't been a good one. 

Keep Calm and Cage On. 



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Nic Newbie

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Date: 5:20 PM, 08/23/13
RE: Cage Craze: Exploring Nicolas Cage Fandom Online
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Hi Enzo!

First of all thanks a lot for finding the time and the place in your heart to read this article!

I'm sorry to hear, though, that you were offended. Are you offended by my manner of writing or my take on this subject? Or are you offended because some people (like the community of reddit) abuse Nicolas Cage, just for fun?
If you were offended by my writing or something like that, I'm truly sorry. It was not my intention to make fun of anything or anyone. It was actually my intention to make people, who are not familiar with this subject, more informed and appreciative.

Also, I tried to make a point in my article that reddit's "one true god" is very banal, compared especially to this forum.

Luckilly, then, you are on this forum, with more likeminded people, instead of at reddit.

I, for one, can still easily enjoy the photoshops and puns made about Nicolas Cage. I find them quite funny and I'm happy to see that there are a lot of people who become all the more interested in Nicolas Cage because of them. I like to think that some of the people who made these things are actually really devoted fans, who do it out of love and appreciation.

Sure there are some bad apples and that's fine, as long as they don't poison the good.

Keep calm and Cage on, Enzo!



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Understanding and Appreciating the cinema of Nicolas Cage with Reviews, Articles, random internet stuff and more! All on: http://cagedcinema.tumblr.com/

 



Cage Defender

Status: Offline
Posts: 778
Date: 1:19 AM, 08/24/13
RE: Cage Craze: Exploring Nicolas Cage Fandom Online
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Any time! You make great articles that are a joy to read! 

I was not offended by your comments or article by any means. The abuse of Nicolas for fun is what annoys me. Your writing was informative and good, do not worry my friend smile

Sometimes I'll enjoy a funny picture. Like my forum signature for example! biggrin I can make funny pictures and be okay because I really like Nic! I know it sounds hypocritical but when I see another Wicker Man joke and people saying Nic sucks n stuff I just go hmm it's okay if people don't like him! I'm not close minded but if they hate him just because of that bee scene no

Thank you responding so fast! You're awesome!!!joy



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NIColicious Enchantress

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Posts: 5669
Date: 2:34 AM, 08/25/13
RE: Cage Craze: Exploring Nicolas Cage Fandom Online
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Finally I found the time to read that brilliant topic! I can only agree with Enzo! That article is, indeed, a joy to read, CagedCinema! There are really some weird stuff around the net, posted from NICsters around the world, like the link, you included, where Nic is worshipped like a god! And, some of the photoshopped pics, which are all over the internet, are pretty good and funny, but, a lot of them are just weird! I think, the level of fandom varies from fan to fan! Personally, I`m not the type of hardcore fan, who collects everything Nic! The only Nic-collection I have are the many movies, he made, and are currently availlable on dvd! I love to watch, at least, one Nic-movie per night, if possible! Thanks for writing and posting this great article! Keep Cageing!pinkp



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"When you think about magic, it is imagination plus willpower focused in such a way that you can create a conscious effect in the material world..."

Nicolas Cage




Nicalicious

Status: Offline
Posts: 6722
Date: 10:50 AM, 08/25/13
RE: Cage Craze: Exploring Nicolas Cage Fandom Online
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It is a good article, and thanks for the mention, CagedCinema! I am in agreement with you, I can enjoy the memes and gifs, etc. when they are done with affection, and you can usually tell. I think it is amazing that Nic brings out this kind of fan response! There is no one quite like him, and I think that is what his talented and creative fans are trying to get across, even at the reddit site, in their backhanded way.

I don't like nasty comments at all, Enzo, and of course, we don't want them posted here. Some times I find things offensive and then I read that Nic thinks it is all part of the creative energy and I wonder if I overreact. I get what he is saying, but still, some things seem to be just for cheap laughs, like the bees comment, that got old really fast. I will never find that Saturday Night Live parody funny, for instance, becasue I think it is mean. And Nic was so great to go on the show and do that skit with them, that was class.



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NIColicious Enchantress

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Date: 12:33 AM, 08/26/13
RE: Cage Craze: Exploring Nicolas Cage Fandom Online
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I don`t think, that you overreact to those memes, Lady T.! Even if Nic calls them a part of the creative energy, but, if they are just meant in a mean or, even, satiric way, I can`t laugh about that! And, that they mostly concentrate on the same old stuff from "Wicker Men" or "Vampire`s Kiss", then, it`s getting boring after a while! And, I don`t think, that Andy Samberg does his "Nic Cage Impression" just to be mean! He do that Impression just for fun, and I think, that`s the way it should be seen! I`m sure, there are others out there, who does their Impressions of Nic, and aren`t funny at all!

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"When you think about magic, it is imagination plus willpower focused in such a way that you can create a conscious effect in the material world..."

Nicolas Cage




Nic Superfan

Status: Offline
Posts: 174
Date: 8:23 AM, 09/11/13
RE: Cage Craze: Exploring Nicolas Cage Fandom Online
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Hi All,
Thanks, for posting this about Nick as most of those other sites I had never seen yet. I only came on this one due to the love of how this website is handling on every thing about Nick Cage. I too am an die-hard fan who loves to read the positive things about him more, but I do like some of the jokes (if it's not too offensive) too. I glad we can share all our thoughts and can do this online. I'm been a fan of Nick's for awhile. I didn't know how to get more information about him, until this website came about. I may like to check out those other sites just to see them.


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Nancy Agnes Roelke


Nic Superfan

Status: Offline
Posts: 174
Date: 9:58 AM, 09/12/13
RE: Cage Craze: Exploring Nicolas Cage Fandom Online
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Oh Wow, when I looked at this the other night on my computer no of the pictures you posted here, Enzo came up at all. Now I understand this crazy things on those sites. Personally, I don't care for that at all. Ok, so it's suppose to be funny? I don't think so with other parts of body which is female as that seems weird. To each their own as one says.

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Nancy Agnes Roelke


Cage Defender

Status: Offline
Posts: 778
Date: 11:26 PM, 09/12/13
Cage Craze: Exploring Nicolas Cage Fandom Online
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I agree very much with your point, Lady T. Just look at my forum signature! That's just for fun, it doesn't hurt anyone smile



-- Edited by Enzo on Thursday 12th of September 2013 11:29:10 PM

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Cage Defender

Status: Offline
Posts: 778
Date: 2:28 AM, 09/13/13
RE: Cage Craze: Exploring Nicolas Cage Fandom Online
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What pictures are you talking about? smile



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Faery Queen of Cagealot Castle

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Posts: 8403
Date: 3:44 AM, 09/13/13
RE: Cage Craze: Exploring Nicolas Cage Fandom Online
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Hi CagedCinema, 

I enjoyed reading your thoughts on the Nicolas Cage fandom if there is such a unified thing ... possibly more accurately 'fandoms'...because as your blog wonderfully demonstrates, the online outputs dedicated to Nic are extremely wide and varying in their content, approach and philosophy.

Obviously, this forum defines a 'fandom' to me.



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Nicalicious

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Posts: 6722
Date: 6:05 AM, 09/13/13
RE: Cage Craze: Exploring Nicolas Cage Fandom Online
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Hi Nancy, NICe to hear from you again! How are things going for you now? I hope it is getting easier for you, but I know that it takes time.

Actually Enzo, did not make the original post with the pictures, that was done by our member CagedCinema, who is sharing his thoughts from his own blog about Nic. I know some of those memes that are made of Nic can be offputting, there is a fine line between funny and offensive sometimes.



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Nic Superfan

Status: Offline
Posts: 174
Date: 6:27 AM, 09/14/13
RE: Cage Craze: Exploring Nicolas Cage Fandom Online
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Hi Lady T.
I'm doing the best as I can and having a lot to do, before I move back to Maryland. Where most of my family lives and need to be with them more.
I was just talking about the photos of CagedCinema that is up on the first post here. I sort of think it was funny in a way with Nic on the carpet with a woman's body and the other one on the dragon? what every it is. That is all I mention about. I had not personal looked on the sites yet.
I agree with you Enzo about your forum signature not hurting anyone at all it's just for fun.

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Nancy Agnes Roelke


Cage Defender

Status: Offline
Posts: 778
Date: 3:20 PM, 09/14/13
RE: Cage Craze: Exploring Nicolas Cage Fandom Online
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Thank you! bowsmiley And yes, it's either a dragon or a dinosaur.



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