Fanboys

I like to think I'm not your usual celebrity worshiping media consumer. In the times when I had cable I'd deprogram "E!" from my TV. TMZ and shows like that don't even get paused on. The magazines in the checkout aisle get ignored (unless the cover chick is particularly hot). I sat next to a woman on an airplane who was reading one of those celebrity mags. Finally, about an hour into the flight I had to ask who the woman on the cover was and why I should be interesting in her love life. Turns out she was on some reality show that I hadn't heard of.

My point is that I don't want to know about their life outside their media persona. I don't need to know that Tom Cruise is a jackass in real life. I'd rather not know about Mel Gibson's beliefs about the role of a woman in the house. I don't wanna know that Orson Scott Card (author of Ender's Game) is homophobic. This stuff can only serve to diminish their movies when the person and the character start to blur together. It was nice to meet Danny Glover but I regret finding out that he's a major prima donna.

I do have certain people that I get keyed up about. When I got my picture taken with Larry Niven and got him to sign my copy of "Ringworld" I was giddy. I was delighted that I got to sit and talk with Gerry Trudeau (creator of Doonesbury) for 15 minutes or so. I got Neil Gaiman to sign some stuff but don't need to know who he's dating.

This is all who I used to think I was. Most of it still applies. But I realized the other day that I do like to hear about the fanboy tendencies of some celebrities.

At one comic/sci-fi convention Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) walked by Larry Niven's table. They both got excited and shouted out "YOU'RE WIL/LARRY!" and asked each other for an autograph.

When Gene Wilder made an appearance on "Will & Grace" Eric McCormack (Will) had a minor fanboy freakout which Gene was happy to feed.

Stephen Fry says he was nervous about meeting Peter Cushing (who lives in Whitstable).

And I keep hearing stories about David Tennant (Dr Who #10) or Russell Davies (the man who brought Dr Who back to TV) seeing fan art and absolutely loving it. Not just a patronizing "wow, that's great, well done. Get lost." but taking it around to show other people involved in the show and get it autographed.

Dick Van Dyke took up 3D computer modeling as a hobby and has gotten good enough to have some of his stuff used on TV and in a movie.

I was watching a video of sci-fi author Joe Haldeman teaching a class about writing science fiction. In the audience I saw sci-fi writer Robert J. Sawyer taking notes.

This realization made me rethink my views on those shows and magazines. Oh, I'm still not gonna watch them or read them. Good lord, no. But I begin to understand their appeal. I had thought the appeal was in tearing down heroes. Smear their name, ruin their careers, and drag them down. Now I'm thinking it's more about finding something in common with them. We see our own flaws reflected in someone who we'd held up as a model. We have marriage troubles, but so do the rich and famous. We like to drink too much or have prejudices we don't admit to, but so does that model. For me it's seeing that the people that I get excited about also have things they get excited about. Often the same things that I get excited about.

I know that people do like to tear down heroes and live vicariously through these more glamorous people. Give me a couple minutes to try to think better of people.