Squid Game outside the wall: fandom nationalism in China and negotiation with state power (Special Forum: The politics of representation in Squid Game and the promise and peril of its transnational reception)

In the post-COVID era, the prevalence of "fandom nationalism" on Chinese social media has led to the development of two distinct attitudes toward Squid Game among Chinese netizens. Some nationalist netizens are dedicated to accusing Squid Game of plagiarism or dismissing it as a "cultural invasion." Another group of fans, due to the ever-tightening Chinese Internet governance, use fandom nationalism as a disguise to protect themselves against cyberbullying by declaring an anti-Korean political stance before posting positive comments about Squid Game. Therefore, two such divergent attitudes eventually led to a negotiation between fan culture and state power, where on the one hand fandom nationalistic practices were accepted by the mainstream for party-state propaganda, but on the other, in order to prevent being censored, fan culture had to be subordinated to the state's governance.

The filming industry in Spain and its influence on screen tourism

Spain experiments an excellent period regarding the production of large motion-picture works. not only films but also television series. Nevertheless, the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic present difficulties to recover the level of activity experimented before March 2020. All in all, besides the evolution of the health situation, the industry is showing proof enough of its ability to recover and adapt to the new circumstances.

Lockdowned cinema

A series of reports in the media recently noted the shock expressed by multiplex exhibitors at producers releasing films on OTT (over the top) platforms. In this period of the national lockdown due to COVID-19, when film production activities have stopped, and film exhibition in cinema houses has come to a halt, a number of such issues have become relevant. This article discusses three aspects of the social consumption of cinema in the lockdown. First, it discusses the consumption of the film star as a commodity. Second, it considers the fallout of the lockdown for the shift in viewing towards OTT platforms. Third, it explores the challenges of the lockdown faced by cine workers, who contribute labour for its creation but are not seen on the screen.