Season Two: Exploring THE FAN
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THE FAN
Hrm. Okay. Some rich spoiled dude with really bad taste in shirts puts
an ad in the newspaper wanting to find out about Jem's identity.
Pizzazz latches onto it and they set Jem up - in a fake Starlight
Mansion in the hopes of finding her true identity.
And next week, they're being abducted by aliens.
No, seriously. This is one crazy plotline...
PRESCOTT, PIZZAZZ and MISFIT SCHEMING
Well, the first thing to be said is that this features the biggest
spoilt brat in the whole of the series. No, I'm not kidding - they
managed to come up with someone even more spoiled than Pizzazz. And the
irony of it is - she doesn't even see the connection. (Or maybe she
does...who knows?)
The puzzling nature of Pizzazz and Prescott A Wentworth III's working
relationship in this episode is that Pizzazz apparently needs
Prescott's money to execute her little experiment. Is Harvey having an
off week? Did Pizzazz tick him off recently by destroying a major film
studio? Or is she just keen to act under her own fire, and not run to
Daddy for once? We may never know, but what it does do is give us the
impression of a more adult Pizzazz. (Of course, her fit of temper at
the end breaks the illusion, but it's nice while it goes on.)
Like in several second season episodes, Pizzazz alone is the brains
behind this operation. As she does in One Jem Too Many, Pizzazz has
sidelined Eric's usual puppet-string pulling ploys. In fact, in this
episode, Eric himself is nowhere to be seen. Perhaps, as rumoured, he
was getting too much for some squeamish parents (what a pathetic,
lily-livered bunch THEY must have been!) and that explained his
increasing absences from Misfit HQ over the course of the second and
third seasons. (Not that he vanished altogether, but there is much more
of Pizzazz under her own steam from hereon in). What's especially
important from my perspective is that the Misfits are more than capable
of scheming without his input. I find this a significant change from
early season episodes, where he's manipulating the girls into doing
whatever he wants done - often with ludicrous and crazy results. My
bias says the change could be down to the influence of Jetta - but
honestly, it could just be the writers fancied a change.
It all begins with a newspaper, and an unusual advert offering a reward
for anyone who can give information on Jem's real name. Pizzazz - who
also wants this information - rakes full advantage, using Prescott's
obsession with Jem against him in her own quest for the truth. Let's
face it, she does a pretty thorough job!
But, even though Prescott has offered a hefty reward and even though
Pizzazz is using Prescott's money to arrange the whole scheme, the
Misfits aren't interested in cold, hard cash. There is more at stake
here. Pizzazz - who has always cared more about stardom than money -
has her group under perfect control and the focus of all of them is
discovering Jem's real name. Though Prescott knows who the Misfits are
on sight, he has no idea that they hate the Holograms or that Pizzazz
is loaded, because he asks few questions. Essentially, he is a weak
obsessive and it is Pizzazz's turn to play puppeteer. Maybe, in being a
spoiled rich kid herself, she understands best how to handle him. When
the other Misfits comment that he's a brat, Pizzazz replies "but with
that brat we can destroy Jem." At no point does she doubt her ability
to dominate and control Prescott or his point of view, and once the
scheme is underway, he is unable to do anything to stop it. You can
only imagine that, as a young girl, Pizzazz mixed in circles where she
likely met and terrified kids like Prescott on a regular basis. In
short, you might say that she's in her element.
THE NEWSPAPER...AND STUPID HERO SYNDROME
This always bugs me when I see this episode. Here is this paper,
obviously well circulated and read by enough people that both Mr
Wentworth III and the Misfits (opposite ends of the spectrum, perhaps,
though maybe it's a rich people paper?) lay paws on it. And yet, Jem
and the Holograms are entirely oblivious. You would think that, judging
by the craziness in Broadway Magic, Jem and co would have learnt a
lesson or two about self-protection - especially when involving the
media.
This is something which is related, definitely, to Stupid Villain
Syndrome. It's one of those moments where, in order for the plot to
work, the heroine has to do something completely stupid. And that's
what Jem does. Despite her Superstar video snippets on not talking to
strangers, and certainly not trusting them, Jem conveniently forgets
anything about it when a car drives up pretending to be from her
sister, Kimber. Her own message in the Superstar clip is that, whatever
the excuse, you shouldn't go with a stranger. Now Jem is completely
contradicting her own advice :S She gets into the car with a man she
doesn't know, and lets him drive her to a place she doesn't know,
either. Even though it's a different route from normal, she doesn't
want to get out. And even though it's a birthday surprise and she knows
it's not her birthday - she still trusts the man involved. Like, what?
I don't like Jem much, but even I don't think she'd be that stupid!
WHO IS SHE ANYWAY? (AGAIN!)
We're back in the world of the repeated, re-hashed, re-aired Misfit
songs again. Who Is She, Anyway? first aired in Broadway Magic - and I
suppose the writers thought the themes were similar enough to use the
same track.
I beg to differ. When we first see the song, in Season 1, the Misfits
are just speculating. An innocently made remark by Stprmer sparks them
off and gives Eric the idea of the publicity blitz. But in The Fan, the
Misfits are not speculating or airing frustration. They're in deadly
earnest. Their one goal in thw episode is to find out who she is.
But do the Misfits *really* care who Jem is? I think not. It's my
assumption that, based on Pizzazz's words about destroying Jem, that
they think she's hiding something dark and sinister behind her
mystique. Whatever they expect Jem to be is probably coloured in part
by the secrets they keep from one another and their own fears and
insecurities about what would happen if those things broke out. Jetta
conceals her background, Roxy her illiteracy. Stormer hides her fear
and her conscience, and Pizzazz keeps her feelings locked under a veil
of spoiled anger. Each of them likely believe that, should their own
personal skeletons escape the closet, their fragile worlds will come
crashing down. And that is what they expect for Jem. Whether they think
her a criminal, a spy or what is never really clear. But, considering
their own chequered selves, they probably don't even think that she has
an entirely different reason for becoming someone else.
Even after knowing Jem and the Holograms for so long, they have no idea
that Jem is Jerrica Benton. Maybe they're fooled by Synergy's fantastic
holograms. Maybe it's because Jem and Jerrica are so very different.
Maybe they're just not perceptive enough - or they don't care enough -
to read between the lines. But there's no doubt in my mind that the
discovery of Jem's secret would prove a great disappointment to
Pizzazz. Yes, it might satisfy her desire not to be out of the loop -
but it would not make much of a longterm scandal.
So, on to Jem. As she says - rather blatantly giving herself away - "If
you're Jerrica - who am I?" And there it is in a nutshell. Jem is
spirited away to a replica Starlight Mansion, surrounded by actors and
actresses. She, who fools millions on a daily basis is herself fooled,
because noone around her is who they seem. (Isn't it a delicious
irony?) I know I keep using it as an example, but in Midsummer Night's
Madness, Riot and Minx know that Rapture is the Oracle, even if she's
cloaked and hooded. In contrast, Jem cannot tell her friends from
imposters, despite the odd charade going on around her. I honestly
think that the reason for this is that Jem herself is afraid she's
going crazy. I've observed the very real evidence of later episodes
that she's starting to lose the plot. Maybe this is the real start of
her psychosis - and she's beginning to doubt herself. Haunted by
strange and distant Holograms in the Nightmare video, Jem's psyche is
put under real pressure.
What else is interesting is that, when Jem realises something is wrong,
she immediately thinks of Synergy as "someone who'll tell me the
truth!". Perhaps the maternal guise of Synergy's programming is strong
here. Jerrica is alone and confused, in a world of strangers. Who else
would she go to but her mother, such as she is?
The other intriguing observation here has to do with Rio. It has to be
remembered that the Starlight Mansion in "The Fan" is a Misfit-eye view
of what goes on at Jem's home (more on that below). Apparently they
assume that Rio - Jem's paramour - knows Jem's secret, but that the
other Holograms do not. Which shows that, emotionally damaged as the
Misfits might be, even they think Jem woulda been honest with Rio!
A MISFIT EYE VIEW
We don't get many glimpses like this one into the Misfit psyche. Their
perception of Jem and the Holograms is usually limited to music video
domination and throwaway insults. But The Fan gives us something more
than that.
Firstly, the Misfits manage to build an exact replica of the Starlight
Mansion. So identical, in fact, that Jem can't tell the difference
until she tries to walk through Synergy's wall. How did they find out
so much detail? Did they bribe a Starlight kid? Did Clash trot in in
disguise as Mrs Bayley to plot the estate? Has Pizzazz slept with one
of the architects? Or did they simply get a good look at it when they
almost got it blown up in Truly Outrageous?
Whichever the truth is, it's no mean feat - and a little creepy - to
think that Pizzazz or Prescott know the inner layout of the Starlight
Mansion, intimately.
Secondly is the scenario. Jem is having a birthday party. Well, as Jem
adamantly exclaims, it's not her birthday at all. Maybe, then, the
birthday party is another Misfit perception - in their eyes it's the
kind of thing Jem and her entourage would do. Constant parties and
celebrations surrounded by as many loved ones as possible. And, scarily
again, the Misfits call it right. Even though it isn't Jem's actual
birthday, she is convinced that this is really her home and that they
are really the Holograms.
HAPPY ENDINGS...
I've mentioned before that Jem and the Holograms don't always
seem to be that smart. By the time they finally track down the fake
Starlight Mansion and their missing singer, the Misfits have all but
fled, leaving Prescott locked in a cupboard. (Clearly a lesson in what
happens when you try to cross the bad girls of rock!). Jem maybe gives
her most honest response here to Prescott's heartfelt plea for
forgiveness - "I'm not going to say it's all right, Prescott, and I
wouldn't like to go through it again." But she does allow him to
sponsor her concert, and the hope is that Prescott, now reformed, will
never be such a spoiled brat again.
If I were Jem I'd be a touch wary of the level of this fan's obsession.
But that's just me. In Jem's favour it takes some guts to step out on
stage with a probable concussion and sing, after several hours
imprisoned in her own personal nightmare. The longterm effects, I
think, of The Fan, become apparent later in the series, as more and
more of her behaviour becomes erratic. Meanwhile, without realising it,
the Misfits have managed to put Jem's worst fears into reality!
CONCLUSION
Interesting for the glimpse into Misfit perceptions, and also the
insight of who Jem runs to in her time of need. But the episode is let
down by it's reliance on heroine stupidity to run the plot. Much as I'm
not Jem's biggest fan, that one is beneath even her.
Episode rating: 6/10
Original site concept c. 2001
This version c.2014
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