I do tend to idolize certain celebrities and then get disillusioned, I must admit - but if they've done something particularly morally objectionable (usually sexist. . . so many sexist things) then I'm probably not going to want to support them financially anymore, even if I haven't written them off as a decent human being or whatever.
Our reactions as fans to "our" idols doing something morally (or even legally) objectionable or plain wrong is very interesting, I think. This is something I've been thinking about for quite a long time, but I don't know whether I actually mentioned it before - I might have, but I can't remember it anymore. Stop me if this sounds very familiar, OK? Anyway, to me it seems that there are two "main" ways people react to celebrity doing stuff like that: They're either disillusioned and, depending on how severe the offense is, lose interest/stop supporting that celebrity or actively start hating them, or they're forgiving/protective in a way that they usually would only be with family or close friends. Like people disappointed by a prospective love-interest/partner/friend on the one hand, and like people who defend someone like Roman Polanski, or this Japanese band guy who molested a girl on the train on the other hand, who always sound just like the friends and family of molesters/rapists/murderers/criminals-in-general who're not famous. It seems to me that we build the sort of emotional connection to idols (which is totally one-sided but real nonetheless) that closely resembles the emotional connection we have to family, close friends and love-interests and that is what compells us to act in certain ways. (And because it is one-sided, for some people, it obviously turns into more of a "real" relationship than even their RL relationships, which is frankly terrifying...)
I don't know, that's just a hypothesis, but it kind of explains (for me, at least), why I'm often not as bothered by celebrities doing/saying stupid/offending things (be they sexist, racist, or other) as I would be with other people I don't know. Like, for example, when I watch "Top Gear" (do you know the show? - It's weirdly interesting, even if you aren't into cars!), which has three presenters who like to make gay jokes and (pretty horribly stereotypical) jokes about Germans, Americans and everything (and everyone) else that they can find. I sometimes think that I should be more offended by what they say, but through watching them on TV, I've got the impression that they would be different with their own family and friends (and I know that at least one of them is a close friend of Stephen Fry's), which makes it much more acceptable to me. ...Which is weird, because I don't actually know them, so I don't know for certain that they would be different off camera! But they give me, as a viewer, the feeling that I do know them, which makes all the difference.
...Ugh, I think this came out totally convoluted, which wouldn't surprise me, because I'm about to fall asleep, so I think I should stop here. ^^"
(Though I just have to say: I don't know what "WAGs" are, but it sounds really horrible already! And yes, the way that celebrity SO - or, as that acid incident shows, people who're even suspected of being that, which is very worrying - are treated by fans is honestly frightening. D:)
Our reactions as fans to "our" idols doing something morally (or even legally) objectionable or plain wrong is very interesting, I think. This is something I've been thinking about for quite a long time, but I don't know whether I actually mentioned it before - I might have, but I can't remember it anymore. Stop me if this sounds very familiar, OK?
Anyway, to me it seems that there are two "main" ways people react to celebrity doing stuff like that: They're either disillusioned and, depending on how severe the offense is, lose interest/stop supporting that celebrity or actively start hating them, or they're forgiving/protective in a way that they usually would only be with family or close friends.
Like people disappointed by a prospective love-interest/partner/friend on the one hand, and like people who defend someone like Roman Polanski, or this Japanese band guy who molested a girl on the train on the other hand, who always sound just like the friends and family of molesters/rapists/murderers/criminals-in-general who're not famous. It seems to me that we build the sort of emotional connection to idols (which is totally one-sided but real nonetheless) that closely resembles the emotional connection we have to family, close friends and love-interests and that is what compells us to act in certain ways. (And because it is one-sided, for some people, it obviously turns into more of a "real" relationship than even their RL relationships, which is frankly terrifying...)
I don't know, that's just a hypothesis, but it kind of explains (for me, at least), why I'm often not as bothered by celebrities doing/saying stupid/offending things (be they sexist, racist, or other) as I would be with other people I don't know. Like, for example, when I watch "Top Gear" (do you know the show? - It's weirdly interesting, even if you aren't into cars!), which has three presenters who like to make gay jokes and (pretty horribly stereotypical) jokes about Germans, Americans and everything (and everyone) else that they can find. I sometimes think that I should be more offended by what they say, but through watching them on TV, I've got the impression that they would be different with their own family and friends (and I know that at least one of them is a close friend of Stephen Fry's), which makes it much more acceptable to me. ...Which is weird, because I don't actually know them, so I don't know for certain that they would be different off camera! But they give me, as a viewer, the feeling that I do know them, which makes all the difference.
...Ugh, I think this came out totally convoluted, which wouldn't surprise me, because I'm about to fall asleep, so I think I should stop here. ^^"
(Though I just have to say: I don't know what "WAGs" are, but it sounds really horrible already! And yes, the way that celebrity SO - or, as that acid incident shows, people who're even suspected of being that, which is very worrying - are treated by fans is honestly frightening. D:)
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