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.