Reaching Out to the Stars (4 page)

Chapter 3

The Fan

Although the star or celebrity gets to live the souped up lifestyle in the Hollywood hills, the fan is the one who is responsible for getting them there. If one of them were to make a movie and nobody was interested in seeing it, or if one of them recorded an album and nobody bought it, where would they be? Without the fan, there is no star.

I am a fan of many actors, actresses and musical artists. As a devoted fan, I look at every one of them as an individual. Although the movie and music star both have their share of obsessive fans, in my opinion, I feel that they also have very different fan bases.

A movie star like Brad Pitt or Julia Roberts is much harder to come by. I feel that they are more stationary and the chances of meeting one of them is slim to none, unless you live in Los Angeles or New York, which are still two very big places. I do know of some fans that were lucky enough to be in the same area when they were filming a movie and got to sneak a peak, which could definitely be a very exciting experience. Most of our exchanges with them involve watching them on the big screen, where you don’t get to know the actual actor, Tom Cruise, but instead as the character of Maverick or Jerry Maguire, “Show me the money!”

Our relationship with television celebrities is the same. Do we really know Jennifer Aniston? The answer is no. We knew and loved her in the role of Rachel Greene, one of our best Friends. We do get to know a little about these big stars on talk shows but as everyone knows, a five minute segment is not a lot of time to really get to know a person.

Last of all is the media, magazines and tabloids, and one never knows if what is printed is ever really the truth. Of course, we all buy them and read them because we love a little good gossip every now and then. Let’s face it; we will never get to know even a small piece of who these people really are any more than they will ever know us.

The recording artist, in my opinion, is quite different. Many musical artists tour around the world. Some of them are actually more accessible to their fans and sometimes on a more personal level. They are also not playing the role of anyone but themselves. What you see is what you get. Going to a concert for a fan is a moving experience. Just being in the same vicinity as someone you are a die-hard fan of, whether the seats are the best in the house or the worst, produces a rush I am sure that most people have experienced.

Personality definitely comes out through song and dance and many fans can relate to lyrics in songs that are sung by their favorite artists. I have always believed that music is what feelings sound like. Most artists who take the stage at a concert will talk to their fans and occasionally even bring them up on stage to be part of the show. There are also backstage passes or meet and greets, where fans can hang out with the stars of the show, get autographs, pictures and other memorabilia.

These types of exchanges between a fan and a celebrity make a fan feel important, but sometimes also very vulnerable. This is because they allow us to get closer to them, like an invitation to come up on stage or at a meet and greet. When you get the chance to get that close to someone who on a daily basis seems untouchable, it gives us hope that they will somehow let us into their world in some way or another.

I guess maybe it is a good thing that I have never been the recipient of backstage passes or lucky enough to attend a meet and greet. I would definitely think that, hey, if I can get this close to Justin Timberlake, maybe I can ask him to go out for a cup of coffee. I certainly would not do that, but undeniably, we would all like to think it’s a possibility.

Although I am a fan of a lot of actors and actresses, on a more personal note, I seem to be more taken with musical artists. I have not been to many concerts, probably less than fifteen, which is a lot to some and so little to others. They have all been very different experiences. This is because there are also different types of fans. As fans, we also like to be looked at as individuals. I am a different type of fan to each artist that I admire. In speaking about these different types of fans, we can all probably put ourselves into one or more of the following categories. I have encountered each type of fan at every show that I have ever attended.

Let’s start with
The Confused Fan
. As a fan of the band or artist that we are fond of because we heard one of their songs on the radio that we liked, we will buy the whole CD for just one song if the single is not available. After buying it, we realize that the other tracks are just okay, and then after burning the song we originally liked onto a mix CD, it gets shelved.

Now that we are living in the millennium, we may not even buy the whole CD but download the one song from iTunes, the artist still making a profit. It turns out that we are actually more a fan of the song than the actual artist.

I can easily recall some of the CD’s that I bought that fit this category while I was growing up. Now come on, you can admit it; everyone has rocked out to the great “Tubthumper” by Chumba Wumba, sung along like a child to the addictive “Mmm Bop” by Hanson, or has strut their stuff to one of my personal favorites, “I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred. The list goes on but we must not forget the unforgettable, everybody say it now, “Whooomp, There It Is.”

Then, there is the
Run of the Mill
Fan. This type of fan will buy the CD and love almost every song on it. We consider them a favorite artist and in time, we will probably own all of their releases, including the greatest hits CD, which usually includes all of the stuff we already own. The recordings of this artist then get the privilege of being kept in the CD holder in the car because it is listened to on a regular basis. When tickets go on sale, we are definitely going to be there to see this artist live in concert. We will gather friends and family who are also interested in this artist and will go to the show to have an exciting night out.

I would say that most of the shows I have been to fit into this category. Some of my personal favorites are Madonna, Mariah Carey, No Doubt, Gwen Stefani, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith and the Cranberries.

I remember going to see the Cranberries at the Boston Pavilion, now the Bank of America Pavilion, with my husband, Bryce, and brother. We had the worst seats ever but it did not matter because we were there. It was freezing cold and anyone who knows the Pavilion knows that it is an outdoor show. We were all bundled up in layers but we had the best time listening to the music, singing along and dancing to try to keep warm. On the way home, we were still excited. We talked about the show, how great it was and how we all had the best time. It evolves into an unforgettable night as we return home, hoping for a new CD and the chance to see them again.

The confused fan and the run of the mill fan are every star’s dream. We purchase their CDs and sometimes attend their shows when they are coming to our area. We enjoy the music and performances and they plug their upcoming CD because they know we are going to buy it, no strings attached, end of story. The truth is that it doesn’t always stop there.

The Obsessive Fan
usually has a favorite artist, one unlike any other, one in which they are extremely focused upon. Most likely, this fan feels some kind of a connection with the artist. This is the CD that we can hardly wait to be released, and after we rush to the store to buy it, it stays in the CD player for more days than not. It follows us into the house and back into the car because we can’t stand to be without it. Every song is memorized and looking forward to a concert becomes a part of our everyday life. We tune into talk shows to see what is going on in our idols’ lives. We buy any magazine or book that splashes our idols picture on the cover. We may write an occasional fan letter in hope to connect with our idol with that one percent chance that we may get a response. No, we are not crazy, but we want to believe that our letter is special.

We are usually grounded but for some reason seem to need the extra excitement in our life. We want to believe that we are on the same wavelength as our idol and we think of ourselves as more of a friend than a fan. More times than not, there is an attraction to our idol in more ways than one. We are attracted to the piece of them that is a musical artist, attracted to their personality and/or sense of humor and most likely attracted to them physically.

In my experience, there have been two times in my life in the past seven years that fit into this category. My experience as an obsessive fan has been both a fun and frustrating adventure for me, somehow developing into somewhat of an unsolved mystery. If you fit into this category, you may be able to relate to my experience, which I like to refer to as, my American Idol experience.

If you are a little crazier than the obsessive fan, then you are probably the
Irrational Obsessive Fan
. This is the fan who as a teenager or an adult spends three quarters of their time online reading about their idol or arguing on an unofficial website with other fans about who is going to meet their idol first and which one has the better chance of a marriage proposal. Not only do you buy tickets to a show in your area, but buy tickets to several shows or to every show on the tour to watch the same show over again. You may become known as a “groupie.” When you show up for the show, you could possibly have the front row seats or backstage passes and could have possibly paid thousands of dollars for them from a ticket broker or from eBay. You consider this an opportunity to touch, get close to or possibly meet your idol. You might adopt a new style or maybe keep your everyday look of dressing head to toe from hats and t-shirts to handbags and earrings with your idol’s face on it. These items may even be homemade. You may carry signs that read, “Will you marry me?” or “Can I hug you?” These signs can be creative and quite humorous to others, but because you made them and hold them up high for your idols to see during the show, you take them seriously.

I always want to be inside of a celebrity’s head when they see this type of fan because I would love to know what he or she is thinking. I always wonder if he enjoys this or does it make him uneasy? I have never been one to wear a concert t-shirt to a show. I guess I feel that if I ever got a chance to meet my idol, I would want to look at him as a down to earth person and I would want him to look at me the same way without feeling uneasy.

It is almost guaranteed that at least one of these types of fans becomes a stars worst nightmare…
The Stalker
.

Beware,
The Stalker
. I don’t know much about this type of fan because I have never seen or encountered one in any of my experiences. I would say that the stalker is the fan gone mad.

The unfortunate thing is that they don’t think that they are a stalker. Most of them don’t even mean any harm but as they “create their own reality” and then are rejected they can become angry and sometimes violent.

There are many celebrities who have unfortunately experienced the stalker such as Uma Thurman, Debbie Gibson, Jeff Goldblum, Michael Douglas, Cheryl Crow, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mel Gibson and Anna Kournikova.

Although most of the time issuing a restraining order does the trick, some stalkers are actually convicted.

I can definitely understand why celebrities would fear this type of fan. Celebrities can never be too careful because you just never know. There are a lot of crazies out there and it is this type of fan that ruins it for the rest of us. In truth though, we are not all crazies.