Geez

[textualdeviance]

That last post was a bunch of useless twaddle.

I need to get my ass to bed and stop overanalyzing my dorky crushes.

At some point, I need to reconcile the conclusion I came to there with the fanworks thing.

Comments

[noveldevice.livejournal.com]

It was interesting; I did actually read it. :)

I will say this--you say that you feel like other people would feel like you should feel like this actor you fancy is just a pretty face seen from afar, and you shouldn't see him as a person. I don't think that there are many people who would actually think that, to be honest, and maybe you should ask some of them about how they feel about artists of various sorts, or tycoons, or famous people in general and see what they say.

Because what I see in people admiring an artist (not just his body of work or whatever, but he himself or she herself) is people striving for a connection with that artist. It's why some fans can get so rabid after the actor or musician they admire--they want that personal connection, they see the person as, well, a person. Someone they could be friends with. And they want that.

I think, to quote, possibly inappositely, Meg Ryan's character in You've Got Mail, that "whatever else something is, it ought to start by being personal."

I think seeing this guy or anyone else you admire or are attracted to as a person, as more than just a pretty face, is the right thing to do. If nothing else, it's at least the respectful thing to do. :)

So...not that you wanted my vote, but I vote for subjectifying people whenever possible, rather than objectifying them. :) And that starts by seeing them as people.

[textualdeviance.livejournal.com]

It's funny that you say this, considering the other coda I just posted. ;)

IME, there's a fine line in the personal v. professional thing with public figures, and it really depends on the person, and on how harried they feel by the public, as to how much of a Real Live Human Being they want to be seen as.

Most want the public to understand the human thing about them because it helps people behave more respectfully, and give them the space they need outside their job to just have a life. Sometimes, they just want to go to the grocery store and pick their underwear out of their ass crack in the parking lot without having that image on the front page of every tabloid. They don't want to be held to unreasonable standards, in other words.

At the same time, though, most still want the distance that that professional status affords them. Some are of course just egomaniacs who think they're better than the rabble, but others would just rather seem removed from said rabble so they can avoid the kinds of pawing and demands they'd get if the rabble saw them as more accessible.

In Andrew's case, I think he's kind of in the latter position somewhat. He started up a fan FB account in part because so many squealing little girls were pestering him on his personal one. It gives him a controlled space to encourage the support of his career while he can still keep his private life more or less private.

I don't think he quite expected the level of rabidness of some of the fans, though. (The level/type of fame he has at the moment is a relatively new thing for him, thanks to a big/sexy role he did a ~year ago.) Some of the girls over there have been downright rude to him, and the whole thing makes me kind of angry, because I think it's scared him away from being more communicative with the rest of us. Meh.

I think, really, the issue isn't so much whether one sees a public figure as just a person, as what one does with that information. Seeing oneself on equal footing with such folks can lead some people to feel they can get closer than they really ought to. I don't think I've crossed that line myself (aside from, well, Google stalking, I guess. ;) ) but I've seen other people do it, and it never ends well.