[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: The privacy of the famous (was about Scrooge)

[Michela Ecks]

----- Original Message -----
From: Amy Z <aiz24 at hotmail.com>
To: <HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2001 3:54 PM
Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: The privacy of the famous (was about Scrooge)


<snips lots of stuff>
>.  If one is a performer, forget it, because
> people know one's face.  Those who do insist on their privacy are
> treated like freaks (J.D. Salinger comes to mind) and those who are
> even slightly reticent are described as "recluses" (Bob Dylan comes
> to mind.  The man is not a recluse; he plays 100+ shows a year and
> grants interviews.  But some members of the media, and even fans,
> treat it as a personal insult if the person doesn't do the talk show
> circuit).  I know my sympathy is better directed toward people with
> real problems, like poverty and illness, but it does irk me when fans
> act as if they are owed something.  The way I figure it, these people
> have given me their art and I am very grateful.  They don't =have= to
> give me interview tidbits too, much as I enjoy them.

You know, there is a cult of personality at times in fandom... where big
name fans engender the same sort of resentment, following, expectations,
worship too...

I know one person who is a BNF of sorts and mentioned on a mailing list that
the following around and pestering and stuff when she was at conventions got
kind of wearing.  Another BNF on a ML I belonged to complained after a ML
get together about two fans who were endlessly pestering her in regards to
her stories: when is the next one coming out, what is it about, who is in
it, where does she get her inspiration... etc... and they followed her
around a lot.  These same BNFs can also be the ones getting zero feedback.

Funny stuff... but one of the people who was totally obsessed with an actor
and was the reason she was into the fandom became less obsessed and backed
off from the actor's fandom club because she didn't like that behavior
towards her and she saw how she might potentially be acting in a similar
manner toward the actor.

Fandom's funny...  but do those same things about privacy relate to fans?
They are famous in their own right and some say that they deliberately
attract it and seek it....

> Amy Z

Michela
doing some speculating