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A Retrospective of The Walking Dead’s “Fanboy Auteur”

Frank Darabont is credited as the creator of the AMC series, “The Walking Dead” by first adapting the original comic books into serialized TV, and was the show runner up until season 2. But in an infamous skirmish between Darabont and the executive producers of the show (namely Denise Huth), Darabont voiced his gripes with its production. In his email he elicited, “F--- you all for giving me chest pains because of the staggering f---ing incompetence, blindness to the important beats, and the beyond-arrogant lack of regard for what is written being exhibited on set every day. I deserve better than a heart attack because people are too stupid to read a script and understand the words.” He continued in saying, “WHY AM I WORKING SO F----ING HARD IF YOU’RE SHOOTING EVERYTHING SOME OTHER WAY THAT DOESN’T WORK?” (Variety.com)

Arguably, this exemplifies the self-entitlement to the identity, ‘Fanboy Auteur’, a relentless ambassador for the original story and even a ‘martyr’ for the show, since he got fired soon after. Beneath the surface it seems that he is passionately defending the integrity of the text, and to an extent asserting that “any interpretation that deviates from the text represents a failure to successfully understand what the author is trying to say” (Jenkins). This implies discrepancies in interpretation by the actual producers and directors before its distribution, which would eventually trickle down and convolute the audience’s grasp of what the series truly is, or at least what Darabont thought the show should manifest into. I argue that Darabont’s actions prioritized fans’ understanding of the primary text (the comics), since he mentioned that missing beats were missing when it came time for production. After Darabont’s termination however, many people assumed the role of ‘fanboy’ interpreter and translator, but it is still debatable who claims the identity of ‘auteur’ for this series. This is important to distinguish as “the complexity of a transmedia story’s textual network has made audiences increasingly reliant on the fanboy auteur to clarify the relationship between texts” (Scott 46).

Two figureheads in this series perhaps act (or acted) as co-fanboy/fangirl auteurs: Greg Nicotero and executive producer, Denise Huth. Nicotero was the lead for the special effects makeup department until moving onto the spinoff “Fear the Walking Dead”. In this transition, Nicotero inherently preserves the duty of the fanboy auteur by “overseeing the transmedia text’s expansion and creating meaningful connections between the texts […]” (Scott 43). Essentially he maintains the franchises visual continuity. Nicotero and Huth have both been guests on the show, “The Talking Dead” and have provided insight on character motivations and deeper meanings behind certain scenes. The platform that “The Talking Dead” gives them affirms their status as these “human bibles” of knowledge for the show and its universe. This goes with saying that “The value associated with an authorial stamp of approval is also a product of fans’ investment in the author” (Scott 45).

In an interview with Huth, Chris Hardwick asks what it represented when Abraham asks Rick if he was afraid to let somebody close, in one of the episodes. She responds by admitting that she loves Rick’s honest response that it is scary to let people in. She also underlies big themes in the show that fans should dwell upon and realize (i.e. the idea that these characters are shifting their priorities to what they need to what they ‘want’, in this case love). Huth concludes her thoughts by saying “I love this relationship [between Rick and Michonne and Abraham and Sasha] because it’s a choice”. Information coming directly from executive producers in this capacity enforce the aspect of emotional investment by fans. In this example, Huth exemplifies both the analytical fan, and the all-knowing producer.

References

“Who's Steering the Mothership?” The Participatory Cultures Handbook, by Aaron Alan Delwiche et al., Routledge, 2013.

Richonne Fan. “Denise Huth on Rick and Abe Conversation Episode 6.15.” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 1 April 2016. Web. 18 February 2018

Maddaus, Gene. “Frank Darabont's Rage Boils Over: The 'Walking Dead' Emails.” Variety, 13 July 2017, variety.com/2017/tv/news/frank-darabont-walking-dead-emails-rage-boils-over-1202494598/.

"The Walking Dead (TV Series 2010– )." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2018.