The Many Modes of Richard Armitage Fans

I lied — again. I’m getting to the phantom Diary entry after this post.

I understand Servetus has now coined Armitage Objectification Mode (AOM). Why didn’t we think of this before?! It should have been coined years ago, but I’m glad we have it now. :D I mean c’mon, we’ve all objectified Richard Armitage in one form or another. And even though I’ve said I haven’t fantasized about him, I never said I didn’t want to. LOL! I just said I chose not to do it. I’d be a big fat liar if I said I never had the yen. But as to AOM, I’m sure we’re all going to have a field day defining its various levels.

Of course I have to cover Armitage Protection Mode (APM). Posts about it are found here and here if you’re not familiar. It’s to be avoided unless you want to be a killjoy, and there are certainly various levels of APM which deserve their own modes. Armitage Correction Mode, or what I think of as APM Light. This is when someone continually feels the need to correct other fans about Armitage lore, e.g., making sure everyone knows that Guy’s horse is Richie and not Ritchie when no one else (or few; wish I could say no one else) gives a rat’s ass how the name is spelled. Did the show’s creators ever specify? Or APM Exreme which I fondly think of as Armitage Sanctimonious Syndrome (ASS). That’s when someone not only wants to protect Richard Armitage but is utterly self-righteous about it. Utterly here means the person may end up calling the authorities in an attempt to ensure dear Richard’s safety and most important that they (the person and not the authorities) can never be wrong! LOL! Yes, I laughed. I used to pity these people but have come to find them a great source of humor.

Oh, yeah, they’re funny, Rich. As if you need protecting. LOL!

rh205_021

There is also Armitage Denial Mode (ADM), and its various levels go something like the following. Armitage Denial Mode Extreme — when you’re so far in the closet you won’t even breathe Richard Armitage’s name to another human being and certainly never comment on him in cyber world, yet you may be the first to look at anything posted about our guy. ;-) Armitage Denial Mode (no frills; it just is) — you think Richard Armitage is great and sometimes you deign to express it to another human being with an occasional comment in cyber world. But then you step back and wonder what has come over you?!! Armitage Denial Mode Light — you are very chatty about Richard Armitage and frequently give and take on his abilities and are recognized as a commenter but swear up and down you’re just a casual fan. Of course the remedy to all of these is called Freedom from Armitage Denial Mode — that’s when you finally say to hell with all of this and get yourself a blog! LOL!

note: all of this is predicated on the idea that almost everyone reading this blog is an addict. D

Screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.com

May 5, 2013
Categories: Fandom, Robin Hood . Tags: , , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: Comments Off

Taking Richard Out of His Box

Not long ago a body was unearthed from its burial place under a car park in the UK. It may be the corpse of King Richard III, the last monarch in the War of the Roses. Various tests have been done to help determine the identity as a small group of zealous supporters longing for the king to gain his rightful place in history have watched the world become aware of him. Despite confirmation, Richard III will still be confined to a villainous image. He will still be seen by a significant number as the man Shakespeare portrayed as a scoundrel who callously killed his nephews and anyone else who stood in the way of what he wanted. And if he really has been unfairly maligned by the Bard, few will appreciate the fact. Such is the effect of a drama with a powerfully developed character — its ability to drown out anything that would give lie to it.

Richard Armitage in The Hobbit is also an unearthing. It is a star emerging to all but a few rabid fans who have waited for several years for the public to recognize it. Despite this rise to the larger public’s notice, will Richard, like his namesake, also remain confined to an image? I hope not. I hope his Thorin Oakenshield will be sufficient to give lie to the notion that he’s only a heart throb. But when I consider the effect of his portrayal as John Thornton in North and South followed closely by Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood, and hear the current rhetoric about the hot dwarf, it’s hard not to see him remaining in the box marked tall, dark, handsome man who is extremely masculine and sensitive and must be a romantic figure.

When women in the U.S. alone get hold of the almost Svengali like appeal of his, the marketing of his roles will be narrowed to romances. Much like was done with Colin Firth and Gerard Butler only they aren’t Richard Armitage. He goes way beyond them in sex appeal. Yes, I’m biased, but I’m also not blind. Some women I know have never seen the likes of Richard Armitage, and those who have really watched him are blown away. One told me, “I laughed at your reaction. I really did. I thought you were just having a mid-life meltdown with all that’s going on in your life. Phew! I was wrong! I have never seen anyone like that!” To which I said with as much humility as possible, “I know.”

But for a good long while I’ve been finding that a trap. He’s too capable to be left to roles as a mere love interest, only useful for awakening desire. Granted, he does love interest so well, but how long can we dwell there? Doesn’t it get passe’? Or is our need as women so intense we must continually feed it with characters who engender passion? I can only answer for myself. I’m bored with this. And I’m way past the place where I wrote about his characters’ effects on me. I was actually past it when I wrote the piece but was compelled to capture the phenomenon so I wouldn’t forget. Now I want what I always want — a good story and characters that move me but without the added noise of squeeeing.

I’m all squeeed out for now. And it’s only my snark gene that continues on with the appearance of it yet with a twinkle in my eye hoping some of you catch on to my mirth at the manipulation we receive as fans.

I long for more from Richard Armitage. I long to see him leverage his ability as a chameleon and apply his fine sense of a story. When do we get to see that without the pr machine pandering to women? Playing them like a fiddle? Harsh words you say? What else to make of this? LOL!

Yes, I know I’m whining, but really, I just hate to see Richard getting in the box however big it may appear. A little Armitage Protection Mode at work? No question. And my control freak dictates this:

Dear Richard,

I hope once you get past all the hype for The Hobbit that you can really sit back and consider what’s next and do not feel compelled to give people exactly what they want. You once said of a character that he was only interesting when he didn’t get what he wanted, and it would be over if he got it. The same logic could be applied to you and your fans. Please don’t give what it seems we want. We don’t know what’s good for us. Yes, I am a capitalist, but not when it comes to art. Ignore my capitalist, please. Go with your heart.

Just please stay out of the box, or at least don’t let the marketers close the lid on you.

Other than all of that, I hope you have a Merry Christmas.

Signed,
One of your crazy fans who knows you have much more in you in than tall, dark, handsome cotton mill owner

P.S. Maybe a little chat with Viggo Mortenson might be helpful. Yes, I’m a control freak. Now listen to your mother, er, big sister. :D

The rant is done, and I want you all to know I am emphatically not against his being cast as a romantic figure, and I’ve been thinking about what I would like to see in that respect. More coming up on that and on Richard III. I’m not even close to being done with the “good” king.

edit: I am not down on Richard Armitage. I think he’s a great talent, which I would like to see succeed as some other great talents have succeeded. Neither do I begrudge him making money. Money is necessary to live.

But I had to say something about what I am seeing. More later on contributing to facilitating this. That’s the post where I admit my guilt. LOL!

December 22, 2012
Categories: Fandom, Movies, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 293 Comments

An Onion and Two White Chicks Sittin’ Around Talkin’

Get ready ’cause I was on medication last night, and it seems Heidi went off of hers. ;-)

We had a discussion about an issue Heidi raised, and something I’ve been asked about quite a bit in private and most often by new fans.

Note: I’m handling this like the old Point/Counterpoint segment on 60 Minutes with Shana Alexander and James J. Kilpatrick. You decide who’s Shana and who’s James. If you don’t know who those people were, then a) you probably live outside the U.S. or b) you’re not that old yet. :D

I’ll let Heidi go first:

OK.

There’s no easy way for me to graciously get into this without charging like the Taurus bull that I am into the China shop and just ask it:

Are RA’s letters to fans a hoax?

Now before the steam pours out of your ears like Popeye polishing off a chili pepper popper, let me tell you how this question came about.

Picture this: Heidi has insomnia, so to get to sleep, she decides to hit one of those sites that lists all of RA’s letters to fans. After all, the past snippets I’ve read sound like something straight out of a CBeebies episode, peppered with pleas for everybody to be “extra good, be willingly good,” blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Those things conjure an image of a placid, book-loving, thoughtful man who literally reads my child to sleep at night on Youtube in his sing-song, gentle voice.

You know.

This guy.

I mean, look at him, reading to that stuffed dinosaur. Aw. That’s exactly how I picture him talking to his fans through his letters. “Everybody, you be sweet and go to sleep and have sweet dreams, because we all need to be kind to each other.”

Aw!

Then all the miniature-action-figure-Thorin-toting women in the Western hemisphere collectively breathe a whisper of, “What a sensitive and caring man!” and nod off on their pillows and solemnly swear in their hearts to do every saccharine-dripping request that Richard Armitage asks of them.

You know, you picture this guy admonishing you in his gentle voice:

So Heidi is reading this stuff … trying to get to sleep … and then … WHAM!

A DRUNK GUY HAS TAKEN OVER RA’S COMPUTER AND HAS SENT THIS MISSIVE!

16th December 2008

Following the repatriation of the Robin Hood company to blighty, the spokesperson for RA has mysteriously disappeared. However, Hungarian ‘Rendorseg’ managed to locate a hotel room which was noted as his last abode. After searching the room and forensic dusting for fingerprints an ‘ubersuperduper unbelievably teeny tiny mini me micro film’ was located, secreted in a particle of dust which was lodged in a greasy finger print left on the rim of a pot noodle, evidence of Spokes persons seriously compromised existence. The ubersuperduper unbelievably teeny tiny mini me micro film then had to be dipped in Russian Standard Vodka for processing. Viewing the film proved to be nearly impossible but for a lucky purchase from Wollies at 50% discount of the very last “Ubersuperduper unbelievable teeny tiny mini me micro film player/clock radio with microwave and bagless vacuum attachment….it contained the following message:

“Agent A would like to wish all his contacts/agents a wonderfully joyous, peaceful and fun filled Christmas. He wanted to thank them all for their continued support this year and hopes to deliver ‘in spades’ for 2009. He is once again overwhelmed by all the generous gifts and messages and is attempting to respond a soon as is possible. He would like also to offer a toast to 2009 wishing all ‘agents’, success and happiness. In the spirit of peace and good will this message will self destruct in 3 seconds or if option B is exercised recipients will be termin…………… “

You know what, guys?

Um.

That’s completely and excessively much hotter than anything else I’ve seen RA quoted as saying, and here’s why:

HE. IS. FUNNY!

I mean, did he really WRITE that stuff?

Now, you have to understand that I’m a prankster at heart. I pulled countless pranks when I was in college. My
parents were convinced the family name would be so tarnished, that great-great-great grandchildren would be barred from our learning institution of choice, given the havoc I was creating on campus.

I know pranks.

And this, my friends, is one of the best pranks I’ve seen in ages.

Either:

A) RA’s friends stole his laptop in the dead of night and sent it off to this fan site for world-wide publication as a prank against their mate … or

B) RA himself drank five bottles of champagne by a roaring fire on a frigid Christmas season night and got so toasty silly that he fired this off and then decided to send it, just to see what kind of reaction he’d get. I mean, look at it. It’s Saturday-Night-Live-caliber comedy, poking fun at serious-minded middle-aged women who can’t get enough of reading about a man they’ve never met!

Richard, now come on. You are so busted.

Of those two options …. I choose A.

I think this letter is a hoax, and possibly many of the others he purportedly has written, too. I mean, you saw that intellectual and thoughtful thing he did at that blog with the book reviewers (if not, go here).

Either the guy is an onion with this prankster personality lurking under his Mr. Thornton persona – which, by the way, underscores his acting abilities – or someone has perpetrated one of the most hilarious hoaxes imagined: a letter embraced by fans as the real pearls of words penned by their beloved film idol.

Guys.

I’m going with the hoax.

And if RA actually did write that thing?

We will never hear it from him, because as a prankster to the core, I can tell you that we never breathe a word of our indiscretions. The fun of the prank is portraying to the world an austere and dignified front while on the inside, we are laughing non-stop at you.

Actually, I’ll bet this guy wrote it.

My turn:

This won’t take long. :D

Okay, let me see. You say he’s a prankster, Heidi, and that pranksters can effect an entirely different demeanor. Doesn’t that bolster the argument he did write the letter and wrote the Vulpes Libris answers as well? :D Speaking as a prankster and the offspring of a prankster, I totally know someone can pull off another side to themselves that might surprise people who think they know a person. ;-) Don’t ask me how I really know that. ;P

What I find interesting is this assumption Richard Armitage couldn’t haven’t written these because he’s sweet and kind and good with children — at least from what we can tell by the CBeebies videos. Yet most people have layers. Most people are onions. In fact, I’m married to an onion. He’s wonderful with children. They adore him. He’s a really gentle soul. But oh my gosh can he he come with the humor, and can also slice someone up with his tongue when it’s warranted, and sometimes when it’s not. Wait. He just came into the room. He’s grinning and doing some kind of twisty thing with his body while saying, “I can’t do this if you don’t put some curtains on the back windows.” LOL! Now he’s doing what looks like a dance. He just stopped to grin at me. ROFLOL!! I’m not sure I’m going to leave this in the post, but it may be too good to leave out!

By the way, this is the guy who our daughter wrote of him after his visit to her first apartment in NYC and her first time living away from home:

…my dad is an extremely kind, caring, down-to-earth person. He doesn’t take himself too seriously and is a funny, intelligent, artistic man. He loves the comfort of a well-written book, and has a better understanding of the true meaning of art more than anyone I’ve yet to meet in this artist driven city.

But one thing I love most about my father is his ability to love people exactly where they are. He can see past someone’s pain, someone’s anger or someone’s facade into their being and is able to appreciate them for everything that they are. He truly enjoys each relationship he has with people, knowing that each one is important in its own special way. Just as he enjoys admiring artwork and literature, he enjoys the beauty in humans as individuals.

And he’s also the guy who had me believing his girlfriend before me had a deformed ear which she covered with her long hair swept to one side, and when I met her, my shock at eventually figuring out her hair covered no deformity was evident. Yes, it was a good yarn. Damn good yarn. Oh that it were the last time he gulled me. He also has a way of twisting up words and phrases to make them funny. He’s the one who should be blogging, and honestly, he could have written that April letter. But those abilities don’t preclude being kind and sweet.

Yes, personal experience is king. Can’t you tell from my account and Heidi’s? ;-)

So B (see above in case you’ve already forgotten it :D), which I’m calling “the onion theory,” says Richard Armitage is thoughtful and kind (but not perfectly; who is?), and he was sitting around drinking beer with a bunch of his buddies who were teasing the hell out of him about the Army, and presto! the April letter (and maybe a few before it) was born.

So yeah, I’m going with the onion theory. :D

I feel another post coming on, and a good thing or this one would have difficulty loading.

October 18, 2012
Categories: Fandom, SO, Voice Work . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 47 Comments

Not Being a Dumbass

We have all done something dumbass although there are some who would never admit it. I couldn’t manage to cover all the stupid things I’ve done. Thankfully, most of my dumbass moves haven’t been published for the whole world to read — as if the whole world would even be interested. Billy Connolly maybe not so fortunate. He was recently interviewed about his involvement with The Hobbit, and either Billy was drunk or really is an idiot or the reporter chose to take comical remarks and disparage him by highlighting them as if they tend toward sincere, or the reporter is an idiot too. Whatever was happening, there’s dumbass going on somewhere in this exchange about Tolkien’s work:

So, how many times has Connolly read The Hobbit? “I’ve never read The Hobbit. Never.” What about Lord of the Rings? “Never read Lord of the Rings,” replied the 69-year-old Scottish actor. “I could never read Tolkien. I always found him unreadable … I didn’t read [the books], and I normally don’t like people who have! The people who love it, they’re kind of scary. They talk all this gobbledygook and they think of it as the Holy Grail.”

Yeah, I’m gonna go with drunk. :D Surely Billy knows it’s dangerous to make sarcastic remarks to a journalist. LOL! Okay, I will give him the idea that some of the Tolkien fans do spout things unrecognizable to 99% of the population, and before I took the time to seriously read Tolkien and get to know some of his fans, I was also prejudiced and thought it was odd. But at least I had the good sense to keep my mouth shut about it, and I’m not even beholding to any of them for part of my living.

Wait! Billy sobers a bit, er, I mean comes to his senses toward the end:

How, then, does Connolly plan to deal with Tolkien fans who will lob at him obscure questions about The Hobbit for the rest of his life?

“Usually I just make stuff up because I don’t know what I’m talking about,” Connolly admitted. “But invariably, there seems to be a sector of the press that is consumed by The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and it’s indicative of that notion, that it’s the Grail. So whatever I say is rubbish, but then I become answerable for it! People get all upset, they get terribly upset about anything that has to do with it, as if it were real! It’s a story! Just relax! It’ll go away and you’ll be just fine. Don’t panic.”

read the rest here if you dare :D And don’t even bring up his comments about 48fps. LOL! Yes, I really am laughing.

Dealing with the press is almost like a contact sport where you have to keep from getting boxed in and hopefully can emerge with no bruises, so I’m not really down on Connolly, and he may be more clever than he appears. It’s doubtful journalists or others will be on his back with questions about Tolkien when he comes with answers like those. LOL! I also appreciate the belly laugh he gave me this morning. But all of this has reminded me I’m so glad Richard Armitage is not an idiot.

Dear Rich,

Thank you for being intelligent and thoughtful and well, for not being a dumbass, and especially for never going out in public drunk –at least not that the public is aware. And I’m confident you had the good sense to stay away from reporters. Hell yes, I’m biased. What do you think this blog is about?

Of course you do have an obvious advantage over Billy. When you look like this:

you can get away with almost anything. And given that, you’re still kind to your fans. Amazing.

Signed,
One of your crazy fans who would forgive you for sticking your foot in your mouth but glad I haven’t been tried on that yet. :D

P.S. And thanks again for not letting us in on your politics. I really don’t want to know. It’s just one less thing to process.

No, don’t even bring up how completely insane I am for knowing so much about some guy from the U.K. who is going to be in a Peter Jackson production. What?! Yeah, sometimes it hits me that our guy Richard may actually make it big, may actually be a movie star despite his protestations, and you and I have been along for the ride.

Anyway, this insanity is still fun even if a few of us are infected with APM at times. :D

edit: speaking of dumbass, I published this under the wrong user name, which I’ve now corrected.

October 4, 2012
Categories: Movies, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 15 Comments

You Sold Me, Bill

It’s Friday, I’m out of job and I don’t have sh*t to do.* SO and I are going to the movies, which we haven’t done much the last few years since there hasn’t been much to see. But hey, we have a fondness for Bill Murray (have I told you about my Bill Murray love?), and ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ looks good. Plus, I’ll see anything with Frances McDormand. I love her too.

No, I’m not defecting in my Richard Armitage love. No worries. I’m a one man fangirl. Dull I know, but there it is.

Yes, Richard, you have to put up with me some more. I can’t go away yet. I have some special plans for the Hobbit shindig.

Very Truly Yours,
One of your crazy fans who continues to navigate the insane world of fandom

P.S. Man, I’m on the verge of writing you a for real letter where I tell you how much I feel for you about what you must put up with from fans.

Ahhh, my work here is done — Richard Armitage in the same post with Frances McDormand. :D

*A Georgette Heyer audio book to the one who can name the movie that inspired the first sentence of this post. Hint: it has nothing to do with Bill Murray.

edit: I’m providing additional hints on Twitter. Just Tweet me an RA pic for more.

second edit: AustenSpaceCast won the audio book, and what fun it was to receive photos of RA. Thank you all who sent them to me. And I see I have some work to do to get you tweeting since most of the pics were emailed. :D

May 25, 2012
Categories: Fandom, SO, The Hobbit, Voice Work . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 1 Comment

Richard Armitage on Twitter

In recent days, I’ve been pushing Twitter and some of you have jumped in with both feet. Alright!! I love it, and we are going to have some fun, and no, it’s not going to be all related to Richard Armitage. There is so much to see and do on Twitter, it’s stunning. It is THE forum/chatroom for the world. Unreal. Yes, I’m really this gushy about it because its power to transfer intel of various kinds is unlike anything I’ve seen. It is the giant segue in the sky, as it were. I could get philosophical and perhaps even a tad theological, but I will spare you that today.

For those who are hungrily scanning this post for the information of where Richard Armitage can be found on Twitter, you can stop. He’s not there — at least that he’s publicized it. He’s also made it plain that he doesn’t desire to be there — at least not right now:

Excerpt from his message of May 29, 2011:

With regards for requests for social media, blogs tweets etc. I have always worried that I will reveal something about the project I am working on that I am not allowed to, added to the fact that I am just about up to e mailing and little more, I may have to abstain for now.

But that is not going to stop some who really, really want to see him tweeting:

When I saw this, my gut screamed a response:

Dear Richard,

I love Twitter, but what a headache it would be for you, and I heartily concur with your instincts about giving spoilers! The expectation level from fans once you started tweeting would be enormous. My eyes are rolling back in my head just imagining what that would be like. I don’t think you’re ready for that kind of co-dependency. Is anyone? LOL!

The PeerPressureRA id is new, but if it goes the way I think it will go, it could take on the proportions of a coup. If it does, I hope you do not cave into the pressure.

Take care, and in the meantime, could you put a fire under Sir Peter to get that vid out?! We’re all about to have a meltdown from the mere mention of it. :D

Signed,
One of your crazy fans, who would never put pressure on you (bats eye lashes)

Before you ask, yes, a little APM is at work in me today. ;D

March 1, 2012
Categories: Fandom, Movies, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 16 Comments

Oh Dear, Gerry!

I must:

Dear Gerry,

I feel for you, since you are a classic case of damned if you do/damned if you don’t. But you did say something, and now I have to make hay of it. Too good to pass up, and my mercenary gene is controlling today.

When I first saw the video of the Graham Norton show, I thought perhaps he had set you up and was in need of some payback, and maybe he is. But I can’t forget that you are a lawyer, and as such you know that highlighting your crazy fan is the perfect way to lay foundation (or continue to lay it) for any legal action should she even think about stepping over a line. Definitely worth some short lived fan angst.

Of course I could be completely wrong, but I wasn’t raised by a lawyer for nothing.

None of that is the point of this letter. I was wondering if sometime you might run into Richard Armitage and advise him — as a fellow actor and certainly not as a lawyer. ;-)

Signed,
One of Richard’s crazy fans, who is too clever to ever out herself.

P.S. I’m also struggling with Armitage Protection Mode today, so have some pity on me.

P.P.S. I liked ‘The Ugly Truth’. :D

Oh yes, it’s a fake fan letter, and if Richard Armitage doesn’t read all of this crap, Gerard Butler certainly doesn’t. So relax.

A picture for your troubles?


[click to enlarge]

Sweet Harry Kennedy is good for what ails you, and this is in my top five most favorite pictures of Richard Armitage. I’ve got to do a piece on this picture alone. :D

Okay, okay, one for the Gerard Butler fans too:


[click to enlarge]

Behind the scenes picture from Vicar of Dibley courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.com.

Gerard Butler courtesy of some fan’s Photobucket. I’m sure one of them will tell me where it’s from as I have no clue.

January 8, 2012
Categories: Fandom, Vicar of Dibley . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 39 Comments

Parsing Fest Continues or Richard Armitage Makes Grammar Fun

Wow. I’m digging this discussion of typos, and I may never recover from the thrill of understanding the nuances of the apostrophe (see comments as well)……………. Sorry, my head almost came off.

Who knew grammar could ever be like this?

Oh Richard!

You are the bomb. First it was housekeeping you made me enjoy, and now grammar?! I can’t stand this much bliss. I may expire if you send any more missives. But no, no, no, don’t let that stop you. I love them, and thank you for obliging the anal-retentive aspect of the fandom.

Signed,
One of your crazy fans who’s having a blast with you and your fans. :D

P.S. I only have one fear — that Armitage Protection Mode (APM) may not be in remission among RA Universe. Yikes!

P.P.S It’s that damn phone. Typing a note is rough enough; try blogging sometime. :roll:

December 25, 2011
Categories: Fandom, Housekeeping . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 43 Comments

Going With My Gut — Spoilers

Spoilers for Strike Back 2

Regular readers among you know how I feel about my gut and should know it’s for good reason. Do I need to remind about Porter’s demise? :D And if I were more eloquent, “gut” would become a beautiful euphemism. Alas, I’m confined to earthy, and being a bit earthy has usually served me well, so to hell with eloquence.

Several weeks ago I suggested a plan and thought a good time to execute it would be sometime between July 22nd (the opening of ‘Captain America’) and August 22nd (near the debut of ‘Strike Back 2′ and you know whose birthday). However, I’m having some reservations. This is not an appeasement of those firmly in Armitage Protection Mode (aka APM). I would still like to try for the trending, and I’m full of details and instructions about the goodness that can be Twitter if done right and most importantly at the right time.

The desire for the project started with the imminent release of ‘Captain America’ and my getting pumped at the potential swell of new fans in RA Universe. Still pumped about that, but I’ve had doubts about the effect of ‘Strike Back’ Series 2. It hasn’t been a good sign that it was airing on Cinemax, which after dark is little better than a porn network and commonly known as Skinemax in the U.S. Nevertheless, I was still open to trying to trend RA’s name simply because he has such an ability to take pulp and turn it into something fine. I have been hoping that would happen with SB2, but one man can only do so much, and it’s especially difficult when he isn’t given much to do. Hearing from friends and fellow RA lovers who have seen the first episode, the show could be boiled down to one word: crap. Several have told me, “Don’t bother.” I may not.

Oh, who am I kidding?! I’m going to watch it if only the first 20 minutes which include RA. No, wait! I understand there’s some of him in the second episode as well, so I’ll watch some of that too. And none of this would be a problem for me as a longtime admirer who has his other performances in my head to sustain me through whatever lameness is in Strike Back 2. But would I want to highlight on Twitter, which is notoriously short on explanation, something lame for new fans still taking their first impressions of RA?

Even if all of this hadn’t been enough to hold me back, I’m firmly in check by knowledge of the recent poll debacle. People, c’mon! ROFLOL! This is not espionage, and if the Anglophenia blog were simply some brash American site, then maybe the siege for Richard would be okay. Scratch that. It wouldn’t be okay. (I can’t help but think of my friend Hunkess, who has put up with all sorts of garbage to bring us all those Hunkie polls. She had to get her whip out at one point.)

Now I would be lying to say I’m above trying to vote more than once on a poll on a given day. Some of the fun is figuring out how to do this. ;-) And bloggers who put up these polls and don’t realize this can be a common response from readers of celebrity polls, perhaps need to learn the lesson, but somehow I doubt that’s really necessary. That aside, how embarrassing for us fans that the blog brought it to light (must be an Alan Rickman fan running things over there. LOL!! Yes, I’m kidding. Lighten up, people. :D ). NET: no way I would follow this with a Twitter campaign.

The capper is the news of ‘Spooks’ being canceled. I don’t want to draw more attention to that for new fans. Again, I’m talking about drawing attention without explanation, which would be the case for most on Twitter. Of course if they read my blog ;-), they’ll get plenty of explanation.

Do I sound like I have APM? Maybe a little. :D

If you’ve made it this far and you’re not thoroughly pissed off at me, hang with me for the rest, and oh! by the way, you British fans, note I didn’t say pissed. I’ve been recently schooled in some fine points of British earthiness:

…when you’re angry and upset, you’re “pissed off”, not “pissed”! As an Australian, I speak and spell more the way the English do, so I have an advantage, I think! If you’re going to adopt any English slang, it is better to use their exact expressions rather than adjust them, if you want to be easily understood in an international forum. “Pissed” actually means “drunk”. OK, English lesson over and done!!. I am just “having a go at you” or “taking the mickey out of you”, so please don’t take me seriously. — Kathryn

I will never misuse that word again! :D And don’t tell my family, but I probably need the mickey taken out of me on a regular basis.

Okay, so how to end this? Ooooh, I know just the thing:

Dear Richard,

I love your performances so much. Oh, you weren’t sure about that? Oh my man, you don’t think I would do a blog for just anyone? I’m not that kind of girl.

But I hope you meant it when you said you don’t read about yourself on the internet, and God forbid anyone tells you. From what I can tell about you so far, you would probably be embarrassed by this last week’s activity. So just stay away if you think you might get your knickers in a twist.;-)

And I really, really hope you or anyone even remotely connected to you never reads this blog! If that happened, I would probably want to crawl under a rock despite being anonymous. But I couldn’t stay away; I’ve missed cutting up.*

Sincerely,
One of your crazy fans who at times needs this craziness to deal with the sanity of life. :D

P.S. Maybe I won’t be thrilled with SB2 when I finally watch it, but hey, I put up a new background in honor of your performances as John Porter.

*For those readers not familiar with this American idiom, it means joking and/or teasing.

Watch someone take me seriously about cheating at Anglophenia never mind that I set a record for emoticons in this post. :D

Screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com, and as usual, click to enlarge.

August 20, 2011
Categories: Captain America, Fandom, Spoilers, Spooks, Strike Back . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 15 Comments

Can’t Win for Losing

For those who aren’t familiar with that saying, it simply means that someone just can’t get anywhere with something or someone no matter what they may try. The more I read from some of the Tolkien fans (key word is some), the more I realize Richard Armitage would not get very far with them simply because he doesn’t look exactly like Thorin from the book. Perhaps the views of some will change after the movies come out, but really, does it matter? That’s not rhetorical. I’m asking you if it matters what a small group of people think by comparison to the legion of fans these movies will amass? And of course I’m going to give my opinion as well. :D

I say this with all due respect to the Tolkien fans. They make up a very small number of people who will watch The Hobbit movies, and when you consider the ones who are negative, the number gets much smaller. So it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that these people have little influence, and certainly don’t have lots to do with the cash flowing into the pockets of everyone involved with the production. Mercenary as that sounds, it’s true. Therefore I’m not concerned about the negative comments from some of them wanting to see Richard Armitage removed as Thorin. It’s immaterial what they think with respect to the big picture (pardon the pun).

Also, Peter Jackson is just a nice guy who accords them respect as fellow Tolkien fans, and certainly most of them are just fine and even great. I’ve enjoyed reading what they have to say. It’s fascinating, and I’ve learned a lot. I’m happy to give them their due. More than happy to do it! But the ones who are territorial have got to hang onto something. They’re Tolkien experts b’god and we need to bow to that! ;-) Candidly, I don’t mind deferring to someone who really does know more than I do about something, but I happen to have studied Richard Armitage, the actor, so I’m not going to rollover on their assessment of his abilities. I guess we’ll be at an impasse on this, but I hope it’s a friendly impasse. I know it is from my quarter.

By the way, I hope as Richard Armitage fans that we’re not guilty of the same territorial attitudes about RA. I’ll admit feeling that way at times as I realize there is an elephant in the room — his imminent rise in popularity. Did I just admit that on an open blog? Yeah, I guess I did. Armitage Protection Mode is alive and well here. LOL!

Note: I should go back and read what these Tolkien fans said about alterations in the other Tolkien movies Jackson has directed just to see how they were before and after. Might be interesting reading.

I did contact one of the Tolkien sites (who shall remain nameless) to see if the admins there would talk on blog about any advice for the deluge of RA fans entering their world. I got nothin’, but then I think I committed an unpardonable sin — misspelling Tolkien’s name as Tolkein. Yeah, I know, I should be beaten for such a sacrilege. :D

I really need a picture after that. Maybe RA with a beard and long hair?

Yes, that’s a beard! It is in my book.

Okay, I’m going to get serious, and seriously, I hope some of you don’t sweat the criticism. Arrogant as it sounds, it’s going to be like I said here.

Net: if this is losing for RA, phew! I’d like to lose this way.

Screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com

July 1, 2011
Categories: Fandom, Movies, The Hobbit . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 22 Comments

Previous page Next Page »
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 2,256 other followers