Fannui greets Detective Pikachu

Posted by Peter Lunenfeld on November 13th, 2018 filed in Uncategorized

I was being interviewed by the Huffington Post’s Bill Bradley about the creeped-out disappointment online fans expressed about a live action Pokemon movie. Asked if these feeling fit into the idea of the uncanny valley, I responded no, because Pikachu was never “real.” The emotions expressed online don’t fit Mori’s concept of the eeriness of simulations that approach the real without quite getting there. Instead, I decided to coin “fannui” which combines “fandom” with “ennui.” The way I see it, a subset of Pokemon fandom is unhappy that this 3D-motion-captured-CG-furred-celebrity-actor-voiced version of their long-term fantasy investment doesn’t scratch their nostalgic itch or offer new generic pleasures. Fannui identifies the disappointment consumers have expressed about recent Star Wars films, and other underperforming mega-tainment franchises.