CJ Fairman

  Fandom is a community of people with a shared appreciation of a particular area in popular culture, usually deriving from a book series, film or television series, and/or video games. There are varying degrees of fandom, from the ‘casual’ fan who has a mild or passing appreciation of a work or collection of works, to what might be called a ‘diehard’ fan, whose fierce appreciation can be considered as being near-obsessive. There are also varying degrees to positivity within fandoms to members of its own fandom and to those outwith, the more extreme and negative of these fans often condemning the fandom as a whole with a ‘toxic’ label. But while fandom is often considered to be a one-sided affair, with members of the public showing a deep appreciation of a piece of popular culture made by creatives and the creatives existing to create, it is far more accurate to say that fandom is the driving force behind creative expression that results in more popular cultural works that in turn ...

  The mid 1990s saw rise to two films that would dominate the public perception of what Scotland is like; the Mel Gibson acting and directorial vehicle Braveheart (1995), which depicted the story of 13th century Scottish soldier Sir William Wallace and his war against English invaders; and the 1996 Danny Boyle directed Trainspotting , which follows the ex-addict Renton looking to choose life over another hit of heroin. While both would be critical and commercial successes both internationally and within Scotland herself, the two films present two extreme opposites of Scotland and its people, which is somewhat indicative of how Scotland is depicted on film; the films made from outwith Scotland conform to the ideas of tartanry, depicting the Highlands as the land of the noble, but savage, kilted warrior, usually pre-20th century; whereas films made within Scotland conform more to the concepts of Clydesideism, portraying an industrialised, modern Scotland, primarily with the cities o...