In response to...
Jun. 9th, 2009 10:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tencrush...some comments on my earlier post about John Barrowman. Nobody is comparing John Barrowman to a pedophile, or what John Barrowman does to sexual abuse. Not even the original comment on ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
who_anon that I was referring to did that. It's completely besides the point. The point is that his tone (and yes, that tone may well be being misreported, I agree, but this isn't the first time that tone has been used in accounts of what JB has said, so it's becoming a theme) and phrasing of "We've shared something special and personal and I don't want it getting out because I might get into trouble so if you truly love me you won't tell anyone" rubs people up the wrong way because it is a psychologically manipulative statement. And sure, one could argue that surely Barrowman doesn't have that kind of hold over his fans that they would take this sort of emotional blackmail seriously, but, exactly as happened with the Hub convention, convention reports and comments by fans that attended would beg to differ. I have yet to see a report that states "Hey, John asked us not to share these photos because he's scared his grannie will see them, but you know what? FUCK HIM, he did it in public, and if he doesn't want his grannie to see his arse, he shouldn't get it out IN FUCKING PUBLIC. Here's the pics." That just doesn't happen.
I don't really know WHY that just doesn't happen, I know that's what I would do if I had been there and had pictures, but then again, I wasn't there, because while I may not have much better things to do with my time, I most certainly have better things to do with my money than go to a tacky looking, badly organised and hugely expensive JB (oh and Torchwood too!) convention. And perhaps that is exactly why that doesn't happen, because I'm not the sort of person who goes to that sort of thing. And perhaps a lot of the people who DO go to that sort of thing and are really willing to spend that kind of CRAZY MONEY and EFFORT to SEE SOMEONE UP CLOSE are just slightly more susceptible to the fake intimacy that JB seems to excel at creating between himself and his fans.
Or maybe, like I said, JB really does have a histrionic personality disorder, and really believes that the relationship between himself and his fans is more personal and intimate than it actually is.
Look at me, I'm backpedaling! But really ineffectively! I've gone from comparing him to a pedophile to saying he's mentally disturbed. I'll go lie down now, I've forgotten where I was going with this.
who_anon that I was referring to did that. It's completely besides the point. The point is that his tone (and yes, that tone may well be being misreported, I agree, but this isn't the first time that tone has been used in accounts of what JB has said, so it's becoming a theme) and phrasing of "We've shared something special and personal and I don't want it getting out because I might get into trouble so if you truly love me you won't tell anyone" rubs people up the wrong way because it is a psychologically manipulative statement. And sure, one could argue that surely Barrowman doesn't have that kind of hold over his fans that they would take this sort of emotional blackmail seriously, but, exactly as happened with the Hub convention, convention reports and comments by fans that attended would beg to differ. I have yet to see a report that states "Hey, John asked us not to share these photos because he's scared his grannie will see them, but you know what? FUCK HIM, he did it in public, and if he doesn't want his grannie to see his arse, he shouldn't get it out IN FUCKING PUBLIC. Here's the pics." That just doesn't happen. I don't really know WHY that just doesn't happen, I know that's what I would do if I had been there and had pictures, but then again, I wasn't there, because while I may not have much better things to do with my time, I most certainly have better things to do with my money than go to a tacky looking, badly organised and hugely expensive JB (oh and Torchwood too!) convention. And perhaps that is exactly why that doesn't happen, because I'm not the sort of person who goes to that sort of thing. And perhaps a lot of the people who DO go to that sort of thing and are really willing to spend that kind of CRAZY MONEY and EFFORT to SEE SOMEONE UP CLOSE are just slightly more susceptible to the fake intimacy that JB seems to excel at creating between himself and his fans.
Or maybe, like I said, JB really does have a histrionic personality disorder, and really believes that the relationship between himself and his fans is more personal and intimate than it actually is.
Look at me, I'm backpedaling! But really ineffectively! I've gone from comparing him to a pedophile to saying he's mentally disturbed. I'll go lie down now, I've forgotten where I was going with this.
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no subject
Date: 2009-06-09 09:31 am (UTC)I love a good f_w fest as anyone else but this one's rather more disturbing than usual since most of the weird behavior's from the..object of fannishness..rather than the fen. That said, I wonder perhaps it's behavior that sects of various fandoms *wish*from the actors; there's a lot to be said for restraint for either party...
I think I was happier not knowing EmptyChild!Capt. Jack's actor's name.
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Date: 2009-06-09 10:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-09 10:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-09 10:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-09 11:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-09 11:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-09 11:34 am (UTC)Plus, you made me google peter+wingfield+trampoline to see if you were telling me lies. That's not something I ever wanted to find myself googling.
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Date: 2009-06-09 11:40 am (UTC)Behold teh sprawl (about 2 minutes in):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8s38trqsvE
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Date: 2009-06-09 04:11 pm (UTC)I've been to a Torchwood convention (The Hub 2, in March). Basically, they tell us not to record the panels or the careret stuff because the actors could (in this country, at least) be stopped from attending any conventions AT ALL because of the tone and nature of what goes on at these things. The actors are being paid by these people (at least, The Hub 2 organisers anyway) so by rights, really, Showmasters *own* the rights to stuff that gets shown at these conventions. People *like* going to conventions, and *like* to meet people who they see on telly, so in order for it to keep happening, we respect the wishes of the company, the actors and soforth, just so that they can keep attending conventions.
I'm not some mental person who thinks that I have such an intimate relationship with these stars that they will implicitly trust me. I *do* respect their right to privacy, and I understand that these conventions are just a job for them, and a MASSIVE PR and ratings winner (inasmuch as they will encourage people to keep watching the shows). I go to conventions (been to one, attending another end of this year) because a) I wanna go and have a laugh with my friends, b) I like Torchwood and it's always great to talk about Torchwood with other people who like it, c) I get drunk at conventions in pretty costumes, d) there are people there FROM THE TELLY and this excites me. I do not go to hope that I will have a relationship with any of the actors, I do not go because I think I am going to be great pals with the actors.
I'd said this somewhere else on LJ, but:
If The Hub, or *any* convention, in this country was as badly run and as badly managed as Torchsong seems to have been, then the company would go bust. As it is, Showmasters is a MASSIVE company, running events like Collectormania, and loads and LOADS of individual show conventions (Red Dwarf, Twilight, Chevron, Torchwood, Doctor Who, Buffy etc etc). This company is EXTREMELY efficient and run their events SUPERBLY. It's just a shame that Torchsong didn't have that luxury.
Basically..yeah!
no subject
Date: 2009-06-09 08:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-09 09:16 pm (UTC)ETA: Screengrabs of notsofunnywhen's two now-edited posts (via Google cache) here and here. (Shamelessly stolen from a mousie on who_anon)
If you go to this link and click on the first 'here' there is a cached pic of the Scott speedo pic. Will leave it to you to decide if you will actually post the "Don't do it in public John if you don't want it to be seen"
Also, the pic without the journal entry should probably be the only thing posted since the owner of the journal did hide the pic after Barrowman's request.
Thought I'd give you the option after reading your rant, and thinking you had a point.
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Date: 2009-06-10 10:22 am (UTC)This, I suspect, is quite accurate.
I wish I had more to it to add, but I think you've said it all.
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Date: 2009-06-10 06:28 pm (UTC)But... I'm not trying to defend Barrowman or anything, but we don't really how he phrased it. Maybe he just said "Pictures are not allowed at this convention, please don't post any pictures including ones from the Skychat". Maybe the "sssshhhh it is a sekkrit!" part has been added by those slightly obsessive fans who'd do anything to have a "special" relationship with the cast. After all, the first fans who posted their reports (along with pics) didn't even KNOW the Skychat was such a taboo (eventhough they attended the same convention and heard Barrowman as well!).
Anyway, whatever JB said, I'm still suprised no one's said "Fuck it! I got robbed of 500$ by the organizers so I'll post pics if I like!"
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Date: 2009-06-10 07:07 pm (UTC)And your posts? Have given me the best laugh I've had in a very long time.
PLEASE keep it up. It's a dose of reality the convention circuit needs.
What's his disorder?
Date: 2009-06-11 01:40 am (UTC)Probably because I'm way too old to be a 'fangirl', but I rather like a man who can keep his willy tucked away in public.
As, for the sekrit stuff, yeah that's just a way to keep the fans interested. But if your fans are a bit mental themselves, well, what a great way to set off the buzz.