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This week, at least, Time magazine insists the word “fanboy” has been transformed from pejorative to powerful compliment — at least, if you’re one of those fanboys who runs a Web site where other fanboys post movie reviews read by other fanboys who will make or break fanboy product just…like…that. And, what, exactly is a fanboy by Time‘s definition? Well, he’s a “typically geeky 16-to-34-year-old male (though there are some fangirls) whose slavish devotion to a pop-culture subject, like a comic-book character or a video game, drives him to blog, podcast, chat, share YouTube videos, go to comic-book conventions and, once in a while, see a movie on the subject of his obsession. And he’s having his way with Hollywood.”
And among those powerful fanboys mentioned in Time is Dallas’ Josh Tyler, whose Cinema Blend site, says Time, has a faithful audience of one million fanboys. And how’s Tyler grown the site? “By being one of the more cleverly critical fanboys,” writes Rebecca Winters Keegan, who then goes on to cite his Bratz review, in which Tyler wrote, “It’s kind of like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants if the pants were a miniskirt worn without undergarments.” On his site, Tyler’s playing humble: “I feel like I’ve done an incredible job of hoodwinking everyone.” –Robert Wilonsky
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