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Show Sold Separately
Show Sold Separately
Promos, Spoilers, and Other Media Paratexts
Jonathan Gray
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
© 2010 by New York University
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gray, Jonathan (Jonathan Alan)
Show sold separately : promos, spoilers, and other media paratexts / Jonathan Gray.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978–0–8147–3194–9 (cl : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0–8147–3194–5 (cl : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978–0–8147–3195–6 (pb : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0–8147–3195–3 (pb : alk. paper)
1. Advertising—Television programs—Social aspects. 2. Advertising—Motion pictures—Social aspects. 3. Television programs—Marketing—Social aspects. 4. Motion pictures—Marketing—Social aspects. 5. Paratext. 6. Intertextuality. 7. Mass media and culture. I. Title.
PN1992.8..A32G73 2009
659.1’9302234—dc22 2009029212
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books.
Manufactured in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is about where value and meaning come from. Therefore, I dedicate it to my wife, Monica Jane Grant, for constantly giving my life so much of both.
Contents
Introduction: Film, Television, and Off-Screen Studies
1 From Spoilers to Spinoffs: A Theory of Paratexts
2 Coming Soon! Hype, Intros, and Textual Beginnings
3 Bonus Materials: Digital Auras and Authors
4 Under a Long Shadow: Sequels, Prequels, Pre-Texts, and Intertexts
5 Spoiled and Mashed Up: Viewer-Created Paratexts
6 In the World, Just Off Screen: Toys and Games
Conclusion: “In the DNA”: Creating across Paratexts 207
Acknowledgments
This book examines how meaning and value are constructed outside of what we have often considered to be the text itself. Thus, in its writing, I have constantly been aware of how often my own arguments, and the meaning and value of this text, have come from colleagues and friends whose sage counsel, astute criticism, and warm offers of assistance have considerably refined and advanced my thinking about paratexts. With this in mind, I offer thanks to a small band of friends who never seem to tire of discussing texts and paratexts with me, and who have shared their own thoughts on the topic so readily and generously: Ivan Askwith, Will Brooker, Kristina Busse, Derek Johnson, Derek Kompare, Amanda Lotz, Jason Mittell, Cornel Sandvoss, and Avi Santo. Will’s comments on the manuscript were particularly invaluable and warrant especially profuse thanks.
Many others have also helped significantly with thoughts, criticism, or encouragement here, an article, book, or blog post there. Thanks, then, to Robin Andersen, Miranda Banks, Martin Barker, Geoffrey Baym, Nancy Baym, James Bennett, Bertha Chin, Mike Chopra-Gant, Lynn Clark, Paul Cobley, Nick Couldry, Max Dawson, Ana Domb, Sam Ford, Joshua Green, C. Lee Harrington, John Hartley, Timothy Havens, Heather Hendershot, Matt Hills, Jennifer Holt, Nina Huntemann, Henry Jenkins, Victoria Johnson, Jeffrey Jones, Michael Kackman, Beth Knobel, Elana Levine, Ernest Mathijs, Matthew McAllister, Tom McCourt, John McMurria, Lothar Mikos, David Morley, Susan Murray, Michael Newman, Laurie Ouellette, Roberta Pearson, Martyn Pedler, Allison Perlman, Aswin Punathambekar, Bob Rehak, Jean Retzinger, Brian Rose, Sharon Ross, Kevin Sandler, Louisa Stein, Ethan Thompson, Serra Tinic, Chuck Tryon, and Michael Tueth. To this roster must also be added many of my excellent students, full of excellent ideas.
For discussing their (para)textual creations with me, I am indebted to Jesse Alexander and Mark Warshaw, formerly of the NBC series Heroes; Stephen Andrade at NBC-Universal; Ivan Askwith at Big Spaceship; Patrick Crowe at Xenophile Media; Matt Wolf of D20 Productions; and the vidders “GK,” here’s luck, Luminosity, and obsessive24. Thanks too to the International Radio and Television Society Foundation and Disney for making my attendance at their 2008 Digital Media Summit possible; to Brian Leake, David Jessen, and Damon Lindelof for their openness at that event; and to the National Association of Television Production Executives for making my attendance at their 2008 convention possible. And many thanks to all those who participated in the Lost spoiler survey I conducted with Jason Mittell in 2006.
Parts of this book have appeared in other forms elsewhere. Profuse thanks go to Bertha Chin for allowing me to reprint parts of our article, “‘One Ring to Rule Them All’: Pre-Viewers and Pre-Texts of the Lord of the Rings Films” (Intensities: The Journal of Cult Media 2) in chapter 4, and to Jason Mittell for letting me reprint some of our article, “Speculation on Spoilers: Lost Fandom, Narrative Consumption, and Rethinking Textuality” (Particip@tions: