Red Dwarf fans questionaire

[kolaqube.livejournal.com]

EDIT 15/03/05 : I'm collecting in the results now, big thanks to everyone who responded!

(This is probably going to be *everywhere* so ignore if you've already answered elsewhere)

Hello there. I'm a undergraduate Media student writing a research paper on the internet and fanculture. I'm specifically looking at Red Dwarf fans * and how they interpret the programme.

Firstly, to have an idea of the fans in general, please give your....
age group (from list below):
- 13, 14-19, 20-25, 26-35, 36-45, 46-55, 56+
gender:
country:

Secondly, if you have the time, I'd also love to hear your general views on the following issues.The questions are to give some idea of what I'm interested to know, you don't have to answer each one. Your answers may be as brief or detailed as you like, just answer as honestly as possible!

APPEAL: How and when did you first discover Red Dwarf and what, in your opinion, do you think is the one main aspect that led to you becoming a fan? Characters, storylines, special effects?

'REAL LIFE': What bearing does RD have on your everyday life? Do you ever quote the show out of context? Can you relate to the characters?

COMMUNITY: Have you made friends purely through an interest in RD? Have you met online fans in real life? What is your favourite place to chat about the show, and which do you consider to be more superior, fansites or the official site?

CREATIVITY: What are your views on fanfiction? Are you an author/reader ? Which do you prefer, slash or het and why?
Do you run a RD fansite? Have you ever produced fan art, music videos, or anything else inspired by RD?

FAN CULTURE: To what extent do you think you are a fan? How far does your 'collection' go? Do you hunt down rare merchandise?
How do you think you are percieved as an RD fan, and how do you feel about this 'image'? What do you think of other sci-fi fandoms, such as Star Trek's 'Trekkies'?

Thanks for your time!
*Rimmer salute*

* because I'm a fan myself. In case anyone hadn't already noticed ;)

Comments

[ellieet.livejournal.com]

Hm...interesting. I'll give it a go.

Name: EllieET


Age group: 14-19
Gender: Female
Country: England

APPEAL: I discovered Red Dwarf very recently in Media class when we were looked at the Top 60 British sit-coms documentary. Our Media teacher explained the stories and characters of each one, Red Dwarf included. Then some time later we saw part of one of the episodes and then a couple of weeks ago I stumbled across a RD Smeg-ups tape in our house. I watched it, and I was drawn to the characters, Cat in particular. I think the thing that appeals to me most of all is the fact that it's a small 'gang' of boys with different interests and personalities, but who manage to stick together anyway.

'REAL LIFE': I try to relate to the characters' feelings at any given opportunity, and on occasion, I act as wacky as Cat, imitating his accent. I've been using the word 'smeg' for a few days now.

COMMUNITY: As I've only just got into the fandom, the only place I discuss the series right now is right here at reddwarfslash. I have looked up the episode guide online to give myself an idea of the series. Everyone on here seems friendly, and I've gotten into discussing various episodes with them. I've never met anyone in real life, though. I like fansites more, as there's unlimited discussion.

CREATIVITY: Fanfiction is great! I much prefer slash to het, as I don't like seeing certain slash hints being trod on by annoying Mary-Suish female characters who are all the same: whiny, 'up-there' and forever making not-so-subtle moves on the male characters without regards to how other characters might feel *CoughcoughTin-TinfromThunderbirdscoughcough* And besides, the fact that it's a group of guys in one big ship just sounds so right. I'm a reader for the RD fandom for now, but I'll become an author when I get a clearer view of the series.
Nope, I don't run a RD website or anything remotely Red Dwarfish. *Shrugs*

FAN CULTURE: At this point in time, I'm willing to stay up late on Monday nights and tape the 9.20 showings. I also keep rewinding back to my favourite parts in the Smeg-Ups tape just to see them mess up all over again (my personal favourites being 'Mr. Guitar,' 'The Eyes on the Chins' and 'You Thought It Was All One Film?' I'm hoping for the DVDs for my birthday, and I'll get to the other merchandise like shirts and posters later. :) Oh, and I adore the Cat. A lot.
I think I'm seen as being slightly obsessed with the series, but I think RD is the one good sci-fi fandom. All the others *snore*. I think being a sit-com really does help.

Hope this is OK.

[mair-chan.livejournal.com]

age group:14-19
gender: female
country: England

Appeal: I've watched and liked Red Dwarf for as long as i can remember (thanks to my parents) but I think I started to understand and really like it when series 6 was first shown ^^ I only recently watched all of red dwarf again and realised i liked Lister/Rimmer slash. So I joined some RD slash communities. When I was a kid I liked the comedy involving the characters and the sci-fi situations they were in and i still like it for those reasons, but I appreciate the characters more now.

Real life: I quote it or mention random bits from it people but not much. Only when I've watched it recently or someone mentions it really.

Community: I haven't made any friends through RD, I've only recenty started to look at websites and fandom stuff.

Creativity: I joined communities and found sites where I could read Lister/Rimmer fan fiction. I've never been fond of Kotchanski and even before I knew about slash, I liked the kiss scene between Lister and Rimmer XD; So I'm a slash fan. I've produced one piece of RD fan art for it before, but thats it.

Fan culture: I have the Red Dwarf DVDs and the novels along with a couple of other RD books. I don't think I'm really seen as a RD fan, I've just always liked it and it seems a lot of people have seen it and like it as much as i do. Other fandoms i'm into are anime/manga and the Final Fantasy video games. I'm a big slash fan and I draw a fair amount of fan art. (see http://www.tifachan.deviantart.com )

[erinptah]

14-19
Female
United states

APPEAL: My dad's a sci-fi fan. In addition to things like Dr. Who, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Battlestar Galactica, and several series of Star Trek, he has all the episodes of Red Dwarf on tape. So we started watching it together, along with my brother. I love how it's not only well-developed and deep, but hilarious. Ah, British comedy.

REAL LIFE: We all randomly quote it at times, and can start into exchanges (someone will say "So what is it?" and I'll launch into the 'white hole' passage). Even my mom, who has never been a sci-fi person, can quote a few.

COMMUNITY: I only went looking for Red Dwarf info online a little while ago, and don't plan on really diving into the fandom; this is the only community I'm in.

CREATIVITY: Fanfiction is good, though I don't read or write RD fanfics (except a few LxR slash ones). As far as Red Dwarf is concerned, I prefer slash only because I ship Lister/Rimmer. (On the whole I prefer girl/girl relationships =P)

FAN CULTURE: Like I said, I'm not that far into the fandom. My dad has all the episodes on tape plus some of the outtake tapes, and I occasionally refer to it, but I don't think most people could tell you I'm a fan.

Hope this helps!
*Rimmer salute in return*

[mrowrr.livejournal.com]

Age: 20-25
Gender: Female
Country: USA

APPEAL: I discovered Red Dwarf way before I ever became a fan of the show. I remember watching bits and pieces of it on friday nights on PBS, but I never got into it because they seemed to show every ep out of order and I couldn't follow the story lines. I knew there was a dude with dreads, a guy with a very cool looking mask, a guy with an H on his forehead, and a vampire or something...and that they were in space. that was about the extent of my knowledge of the show.
but years later in high school, a friend of mine was reading the first Red Dwarf book and said it was the funniest thing he'd ever read. So I read the first few pages and went out and bought the book. I read the book in 2 days and then rented the first series on video. After that, I was hooked. The appeal for me is the fact that its so different from any other sitcom i'd ever seen before. i love weird/strange comedies like the young ones, and it reminded me a lot of that, only with much better special effects and better plots. hehe.

'REAL LIFE': Well...it does cost me quite a bit of money that has been spent on buying the dvds, and the region 2 dvds, so i also spent money on a multi-region dvd player mainly to see series 5 before its US release. that aside, I have occasionally quoted bits from it, or told friends about a funny scene or how yummy and gorgeous i think Chris Barrie is. I've also gotten 2 friends of mine hooked on red dwarf, and have recently converted one into a Chris fan.

COMMUNITY: I've met loads of friends online through red dwarf! Never met any online friends in real life, although i'd love to go to Dimention Jump sometime to meet fellow fans and the cast. To me, the best sites are the ones made by fans. The C3BS and Mauvey are probably the best places to go for info because fans really love to dig up all kinds of information and stuff that an official site might not include. Although i do really love the official RD site itself. I could spend hours looking around that place ;)

CREATIVITY: I loves the fanfiction and i both read and write fanfic..het AND slash. Really, i dont have a preference when it comes to RD fic. I like reading both het and slash fiction, and i've found that the Lister/Rimmer pairing is the only slash i find comfortable writing, even though its not everyone's cup of tea.
I don't run a fansite..not yet anyway! and so far the fanfic is the only creative thing i've done with Red Dwarf...unless you count making Livejournal icons. *giggle*

FAN CULTURE: i think i'm a bigger fan than most but not as big as some. Actually my fan status is fairly new, because i didn't get into the show until 5 or 6 years ago, and so i don't have as big of a collection as some fans who have been collecting since the beginning. i do occasionally hunt down 'rare' stuff, although most of the time i don't purchase it. i have 2 of the books, and the RD companion book, most of the videos and all of the dvds that have so far been released. ..but, that's about it.
Honestly, i don't know how i'm really percieved as a fan of the show. I'm certainly not one who goes to every convention (i haven't even been to one!) and gets autographs and merchandise and stuff. i think i'm more of a spectator fan in the sense that i watch the show and enjoy writing fic and talking to other fans, but i haven't yet interacted with any of the cast members or writers or anything. I have a respect for 'trekkies' the same way that i respect fans of anime or any other fandom. to me, they're equal because we all are in one way or another obsessed with a certain show or movie or whatever. and i love being a red dwarf fan because we're accepted by them on the same level. If only they'd make a documentary about RD fans like they did with the Trekkies. ;)

That was really long. sorry bout that! hope i could help ya out with your research, babe :)

[xxbulletwingsxx.livejournal.com]

Age Group: 14-19
Gender: Female
Country: England.

APPEAL: I first started watching Red Dwarf with my dad when I was little. The only character I ever knew was Kryten, because of his head. I didn't even know his name. ^_^ It was just the fact that my dad and I could sit together and watch it. I started college a couple of years ago, and there was a fan in my Psychology class who lent me one of her videos, and I was hooked.
It was a mix of the humour and sci-fi, I think. From my experience watching Star Trek: Next Generation, etc.. I'd thought they were always serious. But, it mixed one of my favourites genres with humour and.. badda-bing badda-boom.

'REAL LIFE': You wouldn't believe it. I've done Red Dwarf for my English Language Coursework, focusing on how the scriptwriters present the character of Kryten, creating his character and generating humour. I also quote it with my friend, David. He does excellent impressions of Lister, The Cat, Kryten and Norman Lovett!Holly. He's not too great at Rimmer, though.

COMMUNITY: I was talking to a couple of guys at a Nightwish gig, and we swapped emails because they found I was a fan. XD
I think my favourite place is in college, because we can just sit there and do impressions freely. We don't care who's listening or if they don't understand. The official site is great, but it certainly doesn't have slash. XD So, in that respect.. I'd say fansites because they're more creative. They have different ideas and they're made from a love for the show.

CREATIVITY: I love fanfiction. Well, decent stuff. I cannot stand Mary-Sue fics, though. I read them, and want to beat the author to death with several printed copies of their own story. I'm mostly a reader, although I've been known to write slash. Never put it online, though. It's not very good. I prefer slash, over all. Most off my OTPs are slash, Red Dwarf Lister/Rimmer, Harry Potter: Snape/Harry, etc.. with the one exception of CSI.. Grissom/Sara

I've done some fanart, but as I said, I'm not great and I would never have the guts to put it up.

FAN CULTURE: I've been after a t-shirt for a while now, but the only place I can find one is occasionally on Ebay and until recently I've been unable to sign up. I have series 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 on DVD plus various VHS Tapes. I also have the double book of Red Dwarf and Btter than Life. I had the book on tape read by Chris Barrie, but I seem to have misplaced it.
I would like 'rare' merchandise, but I've never been to a convention and don't know my way around Ebay.

Hell, I am a Trekkie! Fandoms in general rule. Us geeks have to stick together.

[laurenthemself]

Age group: 20-25
Gender: Female
Country: Australia

Appeal: I walked into the lounge room in time to catch the second half of 'Thanks for the Memory' one evening and watched the first half on tape the next day and was instantly hooked. The humour was what sucked me in.

'Real Life': I frequently quote the show. I Rimmer Salute people. I'm widely known as the person to go to to discuss the show.

Community: Yes, I've made friends through RD, mainly through the RDSS and RDHS. I've met online fans IRL, but only a couple. I don't frequent the official site, so I favour fansites.

Creativity: Heart fanfiction. Am author and reader. Prefer slash but don't mind het. Run http://groups.yahoo.com/group/reddwarfslashsociety, which is currently the biggest Yahoo group for RD fans, also http://groups.yahoo.com/group/reddwarfhetsociety. My site: http://www50.brinkster.com/princesslauren/index.html has all my own fic.

Fan Culture: I've been on TV on a quiz show (The Einstein Factor) with RD as my special topic. I'm widely known as an RD nut. I have a lot of merchandise but nothing particularly out of the ordinary.

[(Anonymous)]

I've just been going through the archive, seeing all the people around here and OMG

YOU'RE THE LAUREN LADY ON THE EINSTEIN FACTOR!!!! [2004, wasn't it? I think so]

...excuse me while I hyperventilate for a moment... I absolutely adore that show. -mwahmwah- I'm from Australia too. XD -wave- But I'm from Sydney. XC

[laurenthemself]

Yes, that was me.

[xaxres.livejournal.com]

age group (from list below):
14-19
gender:female, at least the last time i checked.
country: Canada

Secondly, if you have the time, I'd also love to hear your general views on the following issues.The questions are to give some idea of what I'm interested to know, you don't have to answer each one. Your answers may be as brief or detailed as you like, just answer as honestly as possible! (I always have the time. No life.)

APPEAL: I fist saw Red Dwarf in grade nine on a band trip. And for two years i mistook it for farscape. (don't ask me how) and then I saw 'Parralel Universes' and there was dancing and singing and sex with onesself adn i was sold.

'REAL LIFE': Umm... the relationship I was in before the one I;m in now was very Rimmer/Lister-y. It was kinda scary. And yes, I quote it out of context All the Time.

COMMUNITY: I met and befriends my current girlfriend when we stated talking about our mutual interest in Red Dwarf. ^__^

CREATIVITY: I like fanfiction. Fanfiction is fun. It's a way for the fans to get hte characters to do what they want without taking over the show or anything. I am both an author and a reader. And I prefer slash, because het is so canon, and canon isn't as fun.

FAN CULTURE: I am a convention going fan, but i don't collect action figures or cards or anything. I mean, if i could find it and afford it I'd buy it, but I don't hunt it down. As for other fandoms, such as Trekkies. Well.. I'm a trekkie too. ^__^;; So I love Trekkies.

[cheezdanish.livejournal.com]

age group
26-35 (OMG SO OLD AND ANCIENT GET OFF MY LAWN YOU DAMN KIDS hi)
gender: F
country: USA

APPEAL: The comedy, no question. Drama is easy, comedy is hard. I've grown up with comedy writing, and comedy television writing in particular. As such, good comedy writing always appeals to me. Red Dwarf has some of the tightest, well developed and down and down funny writing I've ever come across.

'REAL LIFE': I have always related to Rimmer, simply because I've always been the odd man out. "I tried to be liked, God knows I've tried." And as for the rest of the question; well, I've been marking my calendar to 3/15/05. It's circled three times. In red. I WILL POSESS THE SERIES V AND VI DVDS FIRST CHANCE BOW BEFORE ME PUNY MORTALS.

COMMUNITY: I'm involved in the RDSS, which Lauren linked above. (hi Lauren!) Never done a "Fan Meet" but I have introduced fellow internet nerds to the show. So that sort of counts. I prefer the official site to fan sites, because they have the hottest stuff right off the press.

CREATIVITY: I am the author of two humongous RD fics, Parole (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1686868/1/) and Body Swap, Take Two. (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/612658/1/) (might as well pimp 'em. beware, these links are to The Pit.) I've also written various short parody pieces, only two of which have been published. I prefer het, and Mary Sue het at that. Put down that pitchfork! When I say Mary Sue, I mean an original character that's actually HUMAN. None of my Sues have silver hair or purple eyes or cat ears or shit like that. I'm very proud of Hippolyta Hollister. *grin*

And I was going to do a fan video for the upcoming series 7 DVD, but it's been limited to UK residents only and that just chafes my nipples.

FAN CULTURE: To the extent that I remember dialogue from every episode, have all the DVDs out so far and all the tapes including both Smeg Ups tapes, I also have the RPG which is grand fun and I'm currently lusting after the Starbug playset. WANT IT SO BAD.

As for other Sci-Fi genres: Big sucker for comedy, as I said. Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, Robert Heinlein (although that last isn't so much comedy as it is funny in places...) and so forth. I love Star Trek TNG, never got into Deep Space 9, Voyager or Enterprise.

[luvsrimmer.livejournal.com]

age group (from list below):26-35
gender: female
country: USA

APPEAL: ran across it very late one Saturday night when I couldn't sleeep. The interaction between Lister and Rimmer kept me watching.

'REAL LIFE': I definitely quote the show often (in fact was humming the theme tune in the shower this morning) and try to get others to watch.

COMMUNITY: Not only have I made friends online through RD, I met my husband to be that way! I stick with two places to chat about the show for the most part - the fanclub boards and the RDSS/RDHS boards. Though I have been mostly lurking on the latter for a while.

CREATIVITY: Well-written fanfiction is fantastic. Badly written fanfic is hell on a stick. I have no real preference between het and slash, though I have written mostly het. As long as it involves Rimmer in handcuffs I'm good. I've made a shitty Cat icon, but that's it art-wise. No wait I did do a drawing in paint of Lister.

FAN CULTURE: I've been to two Dimension Jumps, and met all of the main cast except Craig Charles. I'm one of the top 20 posters on the fanclub boards last I checked. I posted a survey on said boards about where Alex and i should go on our honeymoon and included options like "the Ganymede Holiday Inn". I once spent $1,016 on a single Ebay auction. I have no clue how I am perceived as a fan, as a lot of people where I live have never even heard of RD. Regarding other genres, there's normal and obsessed people in every fandom.

[raumo-tari.livejournal.com]

K then.

Age group: 14-19
Gender: female
Country: England

Appeal: One of my friends kept going on a bout it and so did my Nana actually ("that Craig Charles is a lovely young lad") and so I decided to watch it. I loved it. I think I like it so much cos I love all of the jokes, I love slapstick, witty ones, all of them. And I love the characters too. They do seem realistic. I know people like them. The special effects arent reakky much to look at but the storyline and the characters just pushes past till you barely notice the lack of good special effects.

Real Life: I talk about it a lot with my friends, about various episodes etc. I can quote quite a lot of it even if I have only seen that particular episode once. Cos Im sad :D So yes, I do quote the show a lot. And I can kinda relate to the characters. I mena, Lister is the steryotypical image of a Scouser and over half of my family are scousers. And although they are not really like that, there are bits of personality which shine through. Scary really. And I know someone exactly like Rimmer and one similar to the Cat. I guess actually knowing people like them make them feel more realistic. And cos they arent all cool and organised like all the characters in Star Trek (which I also rather enjoy), they also seem more human cos I got a feeling I would be a bit like that if I was trapped out in space like that.

Community: I dont really go on many communities. Actually this is my first time saying anything on here so I hope that is ok. I read fanfics on Fanfiction. net and just look at any other web sites I can find.

Creativity; I love fanfics and fan art, but some you get are a little....bad shall we say. I like them when they are actually in character and not doing "humour" fics, I.e: funny to the author and no one else. Not that all humor ones are bad just the real bad ones. I just read them, Im not a very good writer, but I find that if you get a good fic, it can be even better than the show itself. I dont mind slash or het or whatever provided, as I said before, that they are atleast marginally in character. You know what I mena, like some you get where they all seem to have swapped personalities with half a Salmon and go all odd at slushy moments.

Fan culture: I am not an obsessed fan. Ok, so I can quote most of the episodes I have watched and sing the songs and read famfics and download relevent stuff and buy the DVDs and watch them over and over again. Im not as obsessed as some people as in I have other interests. But I am happy to be called a Red Dwarf fan. And like other sci-fi's too, such as Star Trek Voyager and Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. Well thats me done. Hope it helped.

*Rimmer salute right back at ya*

[scarycupcake.livejournal.com]

Age group: 14-19
Gender: Female
Country: Australia

APPEAL: As I was quiet young, aka wasnt born, when Red Dwarf started I only discovered Red Dwarf when I was 8(I was very mature for my age) but as soon as I saw it I started loving it right away. For nine years now I have been obsessed with RD and even went to see an episode when I was 9. It was Blue, so I saw the pash!!

'REAL LIFE': I am quite a lot like Lister in real life, but slightly cleaner..its not hard to get cleaner then him! I guess I have traits of all the charries kinda, I look amazingly like a female cat except I am white, I am a neat freak like kryten, I am very very very very annoying like Rimmer and the rest of me is like Listy.

COMMUNITY: I have been reading fan-fits for ages but this community is the first one that I have actually joined.

CREATIVITY: I dont mean to blow my own horn, but *blow*, I am a really good story writer. I have about 23 stories saved on my comp but I dont like posting them. I have this weird thing about not having perfect stories, so I dont post them.

FAN CULTURE: I am totally obsessed with Red Dwarf, I know every thing about Red Dwarf. Tell me if this is sad, I can recite about 8 episodes off my heart...yeah, that is sad. I love doing RD quizzes online and the lowest score I have ever got is 218 out of 220! But it was a really hard one!

NOW SMEG OFF!