Monday, March 31, 2008

Delusional Fans

I don't even know where to start with this one but I just saw something on a message board that compelled me to blog and all that came to me was the title.

I guess let me start with posing a question to our many, many thousands of readers that are all going to leap at answering through comments. Anyways, have you ever been so into something or someone that you really kinda lose your way? You stop thinking rationally and tend to not see things as you might if you were on the outside? I'm not talking your normal, "Hey I gotta defend that cause I really like it" type of response...I'm talking someone is in some sort of downward spiral and you can totally not see it cause you're just so into them type stuff.

I can't say I've ever been there...ever. Or at least, I totally and completely hope that I have never been there. I was (and I'm sure deep down still am) the biggest teeny bopper there was growing up. I'm talking, I was in love with Menudo (yeah, I said it) for like 2 years and then went onto a run of being into New Kids on the Block (did you hear those mofos are coming back?! Teehee! See, still a teenie!) that lasted far longer than it really should have. I was into them well into the whole "Face the Music" days when quite a bit of the other fans had fallen off. Then, in adult life, I went on to be a fan of Nsync...which lead to some of the most fun times in my life thus far and meeting some of the greatest people on the planet.

All that said, even though I was a fan of some of the most trivial and no so much the greatest talented artists around I still had my wits about me. Though, don't get it twisted, Nsync was an exception to that there statement (and no, I'm not talking JUST Justin). Strip down the pyro and shiny things and choreographies and there was substance there. Delusional? You make the call (around 3:30 it gets real interesting).

The type of person I'm talking about is the one who thinks they personally know someone based on interviews they've seen or footage they've watched of behind the scenes or articles they've read. These are the people who, a years ago, when Britney was showing her girl parts to all the world and shaving her head, still thought she was "Just letting loose and needed to get out! She's starting anew!" and wasn't on her way to some sort of meltdown that signs had been showing for a long time. Those people who think that an artist can do no wrong or are somehow super-human.

Now, I don't know about you, but there is actually something sort of appealing in knowing that someone I am digging IS actually human. I don't get shocked when I hear that the singer-songwriter I'm into is a Manwhore. Hell, if he's single and has no kids or anything pinning him down and as long as he's being safe, more power to him. I don't lose my mind cause I hear a singer I like is mean to someone...it happens. That's not to say that there aren't little nuggets of info that I sometimes get on someone that makes me go "Hmmm" but I can't say I'm completely shocked.

Maybe something's come with age or hell, even the Internet/Gossip Columns enjoying showing all the normalcies of people, but I can't say that there's currently anyone that I am completely delusional about. A friend and I were discussing some celebrities we're digging and she said there's this one that she doesn't think she ever really wants to meet for fear it'll tarnish the image she has for him in her head. And that got me thinking...is there anyone I'd be like that over now? And I can't really think of anyone...maybe I've heard enough crap about the ones that I am into that it really doesn't make a difference, and I can't figure out if that's good or bad. Maybe having a little bit of that delusional fan in us is what we need as some escapism and if that's true, why are people on an endless feeding frenzy to find the things that are wrong or flaws in celebrities and others?

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