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Start Date
25-6-2022 12:00 AM
End Date
25-6-2022 12:00 AM
Abstract
The fan communities surrounding theme parks and amusement parks have thrived in online environments, with YouTube content of people visiting parks, riding rollercoasters, and commenting on industry developments creating entry points to those communities for those who either may not be able to access those spaces due to geographical or financial barriers. However, the vloggers who find success in these spaces are predominantly white and—in the case of roller coaster enthusiasts specifically—male, reinforcing limitations on who is invited to be a part of those communities.
This paper will engage in an intersectional analysis of these fandoms through responses to problematic video content related to race and sexual harassment set against the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements in the Summer of 2020. First, it explores Tim Tracker—a prominent Orlando-based theme parks vlogger—and his reparational response to the unearthing of videos of he and his now-wife attending an “urban” party a decade earlier, and the resistance among his fanbase to the introduction of social justice call-outs in his videos. Second, it considers the fallout from multiple sexual harassment and grooming scandals among roller coaster enthusiast YouTube channels, and the development of a women’s support group—G-Force—that resulted.
The paper considers how the forms of address and monetization central to YouTube both facilitate and complicate efforts to address intersectional failures within these communities: while meaningful progress was made as a result of these interventions, they simultaneously underline the limits of the inclusion of these online spaces.
G-Forcing the Issue: Intersectional Struggles in Online Theme Park and Coaster Fandoms
The fan communities surrounding theme parks and amusement parks have thrived in online environments, with YouTube content of people visiting parks, riding rollercoasters, and commenting on industry developments creating entry points to those communities for those who either may not be able to access those spaces due to geographical or financial barriers. However, the vloggers who find success in these spaces are predominantly white and—in the case of roller coaster enthusiasts specifically—male, reinforcing limitations on who is invited to be a part of those communities.
This paper will engage in an intersectional analysis of these fandoms through responses to problematic video content related to race and sexual harassment set against the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements in the Summer of 2020. First, it explores Tim Tracker—a prominent Orlando-based theme parks vlogger—and his reparational response to the unearthing of videos of he and his now-wife attending an “urban” party a decade earlier, and the resistance among his fanbase to the introduction of social justice call-outs in his videos. Second, it considers the fallout from multiple sexual harassment and grooming scandals among roller coaster enthusiast YouTube channels, and the development of a women’s support group—G-Force—that resulted.
The paper considers how the forms of address and monetization central to YouTube both facilitate and complicate efforts to address intersectional failures within these communities: while meaningful progress was made as a result of these interventions, they simultaneously underline the limits of the inclusion of these online spaces.
Bio
Myles McNutt is Associate Professor of Communication & Theatre Arts at Old Dominion University, where he researches and teaches about the media industries. His monograph Television's Spatial Capital: Location, Relocation, Dislocation was released by Routledge in 2022, and his work appears on The A.V. Club and Slate.