Are you a fan of something? I'm a fan of many people, places, and things. I've had passions that developed into obsessions that petered back out into sanity. I've liked. I've loved. I've adored. I'm proud to be a fan of the things I enjoy, even when many of them are "guilty pleasures." I've learned a lot from the people, places, and things I have supported. They've helped me to become who I am today.
It's important to support people outside of ourselves. Doing so expands our worlds and imaginations. However, there is a point where our support becomes more selfish than anything else.
After Adele swept the Grammys earlier this month, a report came out that she was quitting music for four to five years. She has since corrected this report, assuring fans that while a few days' break is in order, she has no intention of leaving the world of music, even for love. When the first report came out, an uproar shook the music industry as fans and general well-wishers informed her she was making the wrong choice. The DJ on the radio station I pull in at work went so far as to say "what will I do without Adele's music for five years?"
Now, I like Adele as much as the next person. She's incredibly talented and I'm all for supporting the big girls in Hollywood. (She's also freaking cool.) But let's think about this: She is a person. She has a life that she lives outside of the recording studio and off the stage. She has a home, pets, family, friends. Doesn't she have as much a right as anyone else in the world to balance work and home as she sees fit?
The danger of fandom is thus: As fans, we tend to assume we know what's best for the people we support. After all, we love them. Why would we want to put them in harm's way? The fact of fandom is thus: We do not know what's best for the people we support. Most of us will not meet the people we admire. Most of us will not develop long-lasting relationships with them. Most of us won't even know what their favorite colors are. The joy of being a fan is that we can enjoy the work they produce without all the everyday drama.
It's important to remember the humanity of the people we admire. They're just doing their jobs (and getting paid a lot more than the rest of us to do so). They have people above them they have to answer to. While they love and appreciate their fans, push comes to shove, they need to do what's best for themselves and their work.
Don't worry, though. We'll get along somehow.
Have you ever had an obsession? Are you anyone's biggest fan?
5 comments:
I might have had obsessions as a tween and teen, but not anymore.
I understand these people have lives beyond the stage and the sound booth. If they don't get to rest, they burn out (or worse) like the rest of us. And it's not like she's the only performer out there. There's always someone else in the wings ready to take the crown.
When I was eleven I was totally (and inappropriately) obsessed with Stephen King. It's lucky the internet didn't exist because I would have become his biggest and, most likely youngest, stalker.
I am a huge fan of Glenn Close's. So much so that I almost *died* when she didn't get the Oscar for best actress.
I'm your biggest fan. Does that count? ;)
While I love many celebrities and performers, I'm not obsessed with anyone. On the flip side, I care about my favorite artists, actors and authors so much that I want what's best for them. When a band has broken up or an author takes a break, I've certainly missed them, but I'm glad they're doing what's best for them.
I totally agree with what you said in this post, especially because I read People Magazine all the time, particularly the articles on its website, and I've seen how (too) invested the fans get in the stars' lives. There are all these comments after every article where the fans give their two cents on how they think the stars should live, work, date, etc., etc., but like you said, they don't really KNOW those people and so they don't have the right to tell celebrities how to live, even if they don't always agree/approve of their behavior.
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