Writer's Block: Brush with stardom
Mar. 17th, 2010 02:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Nope. At least that I can remember. (Which means if it happened it wasn't that exciting). But I grew up in Elkhart, Indiana; generally the famous people who ever were there grew up and got out-- and the few that stopped by later didn’t stop by for long. (I swear, the only reason Indiana was a blue state this last election was because Obama was willing to visit Elkhart twice during his campaign, which is probably unheard of before in our history-- and of course I was already out of town by the time it happened). And I never ran into anybody in St. Louis, at least that I recognized-- though some of my close friends have. (Danny saw Jessica Alba at the Galleria, and apparently the bowling club once encountered Nelly?). So many of my students ask me whether I’ve ever seen a famous person and I have to tell them that, believe it or not, there are places in the US that are just as boring and unglamorous as their own hometown, lol.
Speaking of which, I’m sure I’ve never seen anyone famous in Hagi and probably not in Kyoto, either—but if I saw a famous Japanese person I doubt I’d recognize them because I am even more ignorant of Japanese pop culture than American media.
But this is fine with me, because I’m not driven to meet famous people. I had a high school teacher whose dominant hobby was collecting pictures of himself with celebrities, tracking them down at events in Chicago and Indianapolis and using his young kids to warm up to them. It always struck me as kind of creepy and a little pathetic. Maybe it’s my introversion, but I’d rather use all that effort to make a lasting personal connection-- not a moment of hero-worshipping the celebrity will forget about five minutes later.
In fact, in a way I'd almost rather not encounter them, lol. I am actually a little bit unnerved by the possibility of living in LA and likely running into famous people, and not because I am intimidated or starstruck but because I am so pop culture illiterate it's likely I won't recognize them-- or understand why I recognize them. This isn’t a big deal if it just means not having a story to tell or not getting a picture or someone’s autograph, but since I’m bad at determining why I recognize someone when they’re out of context (like when I run into people from the lake fully dressed at the grocery store and have no idea where I know them from), I can just see myself doing something awkward like thinking someone I saw in a movie is someone I went to school with, because why else would I recognize their face unless I had met them before? (Which, come to think of it, is probably a Hollywood stereotype for non-Hollywood people. But I guess not all that unfounded, lol).
But if I’m aware I’m seeing a celebrity I expect I’ll just make a mental note and carry on with my life. I don’t really do the wild fangirl thing. And if I’m not aware, obviously I won’t do a darn thing. While I guess this could cause an issue in the case of big egos and divas ("You dare to ask me not to cut in the line at Starbucks? Do you know who I am?"), I expect the saner celebrities appreciate the normalcy and anonymity. Starstruck fans are probably flattering the first time around, but I can see how eventually they would get on your nerves.
That said, I’m sure the first time I recognize someone famous in public I’ll be a little excited about it just because it’s unusual in my experience. And if the celebrity is doing something hilarious or unusual that would make a good story, I’m sure I’ll pass it along. (But I’d pass along a hilarious story if it were just about a random person, too).
And some celebrities would be more exciting for me to see than others. Just because they’re famous and I recognize them doesn’t mean I’m a fan of their work or reputation. Like, I’d much rather encounter Johnny Depp, who seems like a decent human being, appears in movies I like, and is damn attractive than someone like Paris Hilton who doesn’t even do anything (no, her TV shows and album are not considered art, thank you) and is just kind of skanky and annoying. Because I like the Harry Potter books everyone assumes I would want to meet Daniel Radcliffe, but since I don’t actually like the movies all that much I have no idea what I would even say to him besides, “Wow, you look like both my brother and my sister,” as if he cares. (I’d much rather meet someone like Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman, or Helena Bonham Carter who have other work I’m a fan of). And there are many people whose most sought-after “celebrity” is, say, an underground music artist that 98% of the world hasn’t even heard of-- and they would rather meet them than a household name like Lady Gaga or Kanye West even if no one else can appreciate their story.
When you think about it, the nature of famousness is changing, pluralizing. With a proliferation of underground and independent music scenes and the rise of YouTube, there seem to be more “famous” people out there to run into-- and we can’t possibly recognize all of them, because they might not be famous to us even if they’re someone else’s absolute favorite celebrity. I actually think this is a good thing, because it makes the meeting of fans and idols more special and intimate. Since not every person in the world is their fan, it’s rarer and therefore more special for the idol to run into one— and the idol is more likely to respond favorably to the fan, which makes the experience more memorable for the fan as well.
Plus where’s the threshold for fame? I keep my life and work pretty locked up, viewable mostly to friends and people I have mutual connections with, but these days even the average person can have a “fan base,” even if it’s just fans of their garage band’s MySpace page or subscribers to their YouTube makeup tutorial channel. How many people that would be excited to meet you in person do you need to rack up before you are considered “famous”?
Nope. At least that I can remember. (Which means if it happened it wasn't that exciting). But I grew up in Elkhart, Indiana; generally the famous people who ever were there grew up and got out-- and the few that stopped by later didn’t stop by for long. (I swear, the only reason Indiana was a blue state this last election was because Obama was willing to visit Elkhart twice during his campaign, which is probably unheard of before in our history-- and of course I was already out of town by the time it happened). And I never ran into anybody in St. Louis, at least that I recognized-- though some of my close friends have. (Danny saw Jessica Alba at the Galleria, and apparently the bowling club once encountered Nelly?). So many of my students ask me whether I’ve ever seen a famous person and I have to tell them that, believe it or not, there are places in the US that are just as boring and unglamorous as their own hometown, lol.
Speaking of which, I’m sure I’ve never seen anyone famous in Hagi and probably not in Kyoto, either—but if I saw a famous Japanese person I doubt I’d recognize them because I am even more ignorant of Japanese pop culture than American media.
But this is fine with me, because I’m not driven to meet famous people. I had a high school teacher whose dominant hobby was collecting pictures of himself with celebrities, tracking them down at events in Chicago and Indianapolis and using his young kids to warm up to them. It always struck me as kind of creepy and a little pathetic. Maybe it’s my introversion, but I’d rather use all that effort to make a lasting personal connection-- not a moment of hero-worshipping the celebrity will forget about five minutes later.
In fact, in a way I'd almost rather not encounter them, lol. I am actually a little bit unnerved by the possibility of living in LA and likely running into famous people, and not because I am intimidated or starstruck but because I am so pop culture illiterate it's likely I won't recognize them-- or understand why I recognize them. This isn’t a big deal if it just means not having a story to tell or not getting a picture or someone’s autograph, but since I’m bad at determining why I recognize someone when they’re out of context (like when I run into people from the lake fully dressed at the grocery store and have no idea where I know them from), I can just see myself doing something awkward like thinking someone I saw in a movie is someone I went to school with, because why else would I recognize their face unless I had met them before? (Which, come to think of it, is probably a Hollywood stereotype for non-Hollywood people. But I guess not all that unfounded, lol).
But if I’m aware I’m seeing a celebrity I expect I’ll just make a mental note and carry on with my life. I don’t really do the wild fangirl thing. And if I’m not aware, obviously I won’t do a darn thing. While I guess this could cause an issue in the case of big egos and divas ("You dare to ask me not to cut in the line at Starbucks? Do you know who I am?"), I expect the saner celebrities appreciate the normalcy and anonymity. Starstruck fans are probably flattering the first time around, but I can see how eventually they would get on your nerves.
That said, I’m sure the first time I recognize someone famous in public I’ll be a little excited about it just because it’s unusual in my experience. And if the celebrity is doing something hilarious or unusual that would make a good story, I’m sure I’ll pass it along. (But I’d pass along a hilarious story if it were just about a random person, too).
And some celebrities would be more exciting for me to see than others. Just because they’re famous and I recognize them doesn’t mean I’m a fan of their work or reputation. Like, I’d much rather encounter Johnny Depp, who seems like a decent human being, appears in movies I like, and is damn attractive than someone like Paris Hilton who doesn’t even do anything (no, her TV shows and album are not considered art, thank you) and is just kind of skanky and annoying. Because I like the Harry Potter books everyone assumes I would want to meet Daniel Radcliffe, but since I don’t actually like the movies all that much I have no idea what I would even say to him besides, “Wow, you look like both my brother and my sister,” as if he cares. (I’d much rather meet someone like Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman, or Helena Bonham Carter who have other work I’m a fan of). And there are many people whose most sought-after “celebrity” is, say, an underground music artist that 98% of the world hasn’t even heard of-- and they would rather meet them than a household name like Lady Gaga or Kanye West even if no one else can appreciate their story.
When you think about it, the nature of famousness is changing, pluralizing. With a proliferation of underground and independent music scenes and the rise of YouTube, there seem to be more “famous” people out there to run into-- and we can’t possibly recognize all of them, because they might not be famous to us even if they’re someone else’s absolute favorite celebrity. I actually think this is a good thing, because it makes the meeting of fans and idols more special and intimate. Since not every person in the world is their fan, it’s rarer and therefore more special for the idol to run into one— and the idol is more likely to respond favorably to the fan, which makes the experience more memorable for the fan as well.
Plus where’s the threshold for fame? I keep my life and work pretty locked up, viewable mostly to friends and people I have mutual connections with, but these days even the average person can have a “fan base,” even if it’s just fans of their garage band’s MySpace page or subscribers to their YouTube makeup tutorial channel. How many people that would be excited to meet you in person do you need to rack up before you are considered “famous”?
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no subject
Date: 2010-03-20 02:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-20 04:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-20 07:07 pm (UTC)Oh yeah... that guy was messed up... I remember we were walking away like "WTF!" I guess Disney is a magical place.