Fandom

[minnick27]

I think Al is more accepting of his fans because there aren as many of us. Him signing autographs after a show his a lot different than Eminem or someone that big. Butnobody should expect that. I feel bad about the time that I saw Al outside a theatre 2 summers ago and went up to him and got a picture. He was with his family and it was like 6 hours before the show. That was Al Yankovic time, not Weird Al time,and I infringed on it. I still feel bad about it.

[Coastergeekperson04]

The fans killed their idol. They always do.

It's a conspiracy!

[scottidog]

This is a fan forum (obviously.... OE at own obviousness) but I don't think we actually have a topic for discussing fandom. I came across this rather disturbing article and thought I'd put it up as a springboard for discussion. Michael Jackson's death was the occasion for the article (unsurprisingly) but I think it has some wider applicability that we, as fans, maybe could talk about.

The fans killed their idol. They always do.

I posted this article to a facebook discussion of another musician I admire. He finally got around to reading the discussion pages and commented. I'll excerpt his response: (The ellipses are his. The quote is in context, I just pared out the bit that I thought was pertinent to our discussion.)

But loathe the fans???...No way. I'm a people person...I really enjoy the interaction. Has there been times that it goes too far??...YES... Absolutely, but that is seldom. But I haven't walked in Brad Pitt"s shoes....so I can't speak for him....= )