Where’s the Bunny?

September 10, 2010

It’s been almost two years since I first read the blog piece about good fans going bad and the referenced Wikipedia page about CWS (Celebrity Worship Syndrome). My cursory reading of the wiki page left me thinking there were huge gaps in the scale; I certainly knew I didn’t quite fit the descriptions. I was so disturbed by my own behavior, I didn’t want to pursue any further information about CWS. Nevertheless, when I was getting ready to start this blog, I reviewed the page, and it seems that others have taken exception to the scale. I’ve been hesitant to highlight this because it might be the ultimate rationalization for fleeing treatment of Richard Armitage addiction, but when did that ever stop me? Plus, my public service gene demands that I bring it to your attention. ;-) That way you will be prepared if someone slaps you with this.

Earlier this year someone updated that wiki page to add a section called “Critical reflection on celebrity worship and mental health.” God Bless ‘Em. (Or maybe I was so addled I missed it the first time around?) It seems the methods of research for this “syndrome” may not have been scientifically applied and the researchers biased. If I were not so busy, I might read more, but maybe someone who is inclined will take it up. All I know is that I got a little antsy when I read that one of the CWS researchers is from the University of Leicester. Uh oh. Could that be one of RA’s relatives who is exasperated with all of us? Or is he someone on the town council who’s sick of hearing that maps of H___________ need to be printed after every tour bus of Radio 4 listeners comes through, or perhaps he read about the building permit needed for the 12 foot fence around the Armitage’s backyard. I don’t know. I don’t know. But then I wondered if this professor heard about the chocolate pants. That would make me wonder about someone’s sanity, and I fleetingly wondered if I might become so far gone I would send RA some chocolate pants. Oh, hell no! Well, not if I were in my right mind. Then I realized I could devise my own scale and make it sound scientific. I did have a thing for Fred Demara. Not quite sure he was my soul mate (but maybe), so I’m certain I can figure out something that sounds scientific.

In the great tradition of the Web playing doctor, I’ve devised a scale and below it is a poll for you to assure yourself honestly assess your situation:

Entertainment-social

This comprises attitudes of fans who gain great pleasure from laughing about chocolate pants sent to a celebrity when they’re not nauseous at the thought. Sometimes they even get sick laughing as they imagine the expression on the celebrity’s face when he receives the chocolate pants. But these fans have no desire to ever send the celebrity (or anyone else) some chocolate pants as actually doing that is sickening to them and they don’t know where in hell anyone would buy them anyway. Well, maybe they wouldn’t send their own chocolate pants if they ever did know where to buy them, but maybe send them as someone else’s just to see what happens, er, rather to embrace the humor of the perceived reaction of the celebrity upon receipt of the chocolate pants as long as they are sent through the post and not by using them as a missile during an interview of the celebrity, which would require being somewhere nearby and possibly being caught out as a nut.

Intense-personal

Intense-personal aspect of celebrity worship reflects intensive and compulsive feelings about sending chocolate pants to the celebrity, akin to the obsessional tendencies of fans often referred to in literature; for example “I share with my favorite celebrity a need to touch chocolate pants — a feeling that cannot be described in words” and “When something bad happens, I know my favorite celebrity would be refreshed by seeing some chocolate pants from me.”

Borderline-pathological

This dimension is typified by uncontrollable behaviors and fantasies regarding how the chocolate pants will be presented to their celebrities, such as “I have frequent thoughts about wearing chocolate pants while standing in front of my favorite celebrity, even when I don’t want to” and “my favorite celebrity would immediately come to my rescue if something were to happen to my chocolate pants.”

Disclaimer for idiots who think this is serious: NO, nothing I’ve said about anyone in Leicester or the Armitage family is real. Well, except that one of the CWS researchers really is a professor from the University of Leicester — according to Wikipedia.

I ran across this in my uh research for this post: Inkblot Test. If you have some time, take the test. Trust me you’ll like it. And many thanks to the creators of it for the title of this piece. [Note: the title of this piece was taken from this “test”]

edit:

I HATE it when I make a horrible typo or when I realize I made a horrible typo. Will I ever get over that? LOL!

September 10, 2010
Categories: Fandom . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 22 Comments

Persona Ex Nihilo

A couple of days ago I perused Servetus’ last(?) post in the Ugly American series. Lots to digest there. The list of “binaries” is interesting. It pretty much describes most people, which I assume was part of her intent as well as highlighting the contradiction of several. Stereotyping is so wearying. Not that I don’t think we should talk about it. It might be very productive to talk about it.

For most of my life, I’ve been on the receiving end of some very pronounced stereotyping. It has to do with where I’m from and how I speak. A significant number of people just can’t get past it. Thankfully, I don’t hold it against people when they shove me in a slot, but I did when I was a kid. In fact, it frustrated me terribly when people could only hear my accent and didn’t really listen to what I was saying. I was determined to work through this frustration and not respond in kind to others but will admit that I sometimes have to fight the impulse not to think someone is dull who immediately makes fun of my accent upon hearing me speak for the first time. For the most part, I have worked through any angst I had as a kid, and now it’s pretty much a non-issue for me.

Several things helped me work through it. I’ve stereotyped others and probably will again. This is not a defense of slotting people but rather an admission that it’s very easy to do, and this knowledge helps me be on guard not to do it and to be forgiving of others who do. Traveling quite a bit since I was a kid has been wonderful for giving me a broader point of reference when considering others and has also helped me to not stereotype as much. No matter where I go people are people. No matter which culture they are steeped in they have the same basic needs. But most important, I love people, and I want to hear what they are saying. This helps me move beyond someone’s cultural layers to the human being beneath.

And therein lies the problem with Sarah Caulfield. There was no human being there. What was it that Lucas fell for? I would love to hear the answer to that from the writers — or anyone. With almost no character development, Lucas met Sarah on the street and sort of grabbed her and kissed her. Maybe I’m too jaded, but there just wasn’t enough to make the bigger than both of us plot device work. The female would need to be drop dead gorgeous and oozing with femme fatale or a sexual game player for it to have worked. No offense to the actress who played Sarah, but she doesn’t fit that description, and in fairness to her, she had very little to work with. Some writing would have helped, but where was that? Not in this show. It’s a shame that there wasn’t more of a sexual dance between her and Lucas. There was only her Americanism, which is not enough to make someone sexual dynamite. But perhaps those in the UK see it differently. Perhaps just being an American woman is perceived as sexual dynamite? I doubt that, but then I’m not sure how American women are perceived by the British. However she was perceived, thankfully, she was put out of our misery by a bullet to the brain.

Despite feeling like my head was messed with in the last series, I’m still enjoying the PR machine for Spooks 9. At least the one that puts out yummy pictures of our guy. Surely many of you have seen this picture, but it’s too good not to repost:

It’s his eyes, and his mouth, and that he’s tall, and perhaps that he looks like a kid playing a grown up — more about this later, or this will turn into to two posts in one.

Candid shot courtesy of Digital Spy by way of RichardArmitageNet.com

September 10, 2010
Categories: Spooks . Tags: , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 10 Comments

Bring North & South to PBS (via Me + Richard Armitage)

Please participate in this wonderful campaign! See details at Servetus’ Blog (link below).

The only gotcha I see is some people keeping the beautiful postcards. LOL!

Seriously, if you receive a postcard, please send it.

I received a request from a lurker this morning to share this appeal. And no, I'm not just posting it because my correspondent said she liked what I had to say about the thumbs. (Grin). As a newbie I didn't realize that North & South hadn't been broadcast on a public network in the United States. (And I understand that The Impressionists — a work of much less historical fidelity — has been.) I agree that PBS would be the perfect place for i … Read More

via Me + Richard Armitage

September 4, 2010
Categories: North and South . Tags: , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: Leave a comment

Here We Go — Spooks (MI-5) Returns Early

For those who are new to Spooks (MI-5) in America or if you have been living under a rock somewhere in the UK, the BBC has finally told us it is going to air in September (sometime the week of the 18th) as opposed to October or November as it has the last two years. I can barely wait. Not because Lucas North is my favorite character. He’s not, but I just love watching RA in action, and I usually love to read/hear his interviews.

The latest one on the BBC site is very interesting as it seems to say something by what it doesn’t say. When RA has been interviewed about an upcoming series, he oftentimes gives something away in how he talks about his character. This particular interview makes me think Lucas survives. There is absolutely no language implying he will be no more. If anything, there is language to the effect that he will survive as head of section D. The talk of him being under the microscope is mere plot summary. What’s interesting is when he speaks of Lucas’ bittersweet receipt of the job and of having to acquire Beth. There is everything in this language to suggest it will be difficult but nothing to suggest he will not succeed. Then there is the telling comment about Lucas’ past and new revelations taking him to the “very edge” but nothing in those comments to suggest he might go over it.

I have a confession. I’ve found myself wanting RA not to be quite so talkative about the characters and plots in these interviews and sometimes find myself wanting to say, “Richard, shut up. I love you, but shut up.” And of course I can’t help but think of him having talked in past interviews about spoilers being the bane of his existence, so then I want to ask: what are you doing? I realize these interviews are done in advance of the series wrapping, and with a show like Spooks, the actors can give something away without realizing it, so I’m not really down on RA.

Am I the only one who feels this way? Maybe I should read the Spooks Forum to find out what others think; however, for a while now I haven’t been inclined to read such places for fear the exposure will have a chance of making my voice stale. That is nothing against the forum. It is me. I’m weak and need to stay away so I can form my own conclusions, put my own spin on things. But sometimes I need a little confirmation of what I’m thinking. Hence this post. And certainly it’s fine to disagree with me.

Honestly, I hope that once again RA’s character has a fantastic death or end where we are still talking about it years later ala Tom Quinn. So I would love to be wrong in what I’m thinking about his survival. Unfortunately, I’m almost never surprised by endings and don’t need any help understanding what’s coming. I hate that about myself, and I probably am being a little harsh on RA in resignation that once again the end will be a foregone conclusion. But oh, how great if Richard really has thrown us a red herring.

For the regular readers of this blog:

I’m struggling with my diary entry on BTS. That entry is very personal, and no, it’s not what you may be thinking. I write about my family a lot in my journal entries, but it’s one thing for me to write about them and obviously another to publish. I want to leave in enough that it has some energy but don’t want to compromise anyone, and again, it’s not what you may be thinking. Hope you understand and will bear with me, and I hope the wait is worth it.

Screencap courtesy of the BBC website. That’s not exactly a capture, but it does appear to be RA in character for Lucas.

September 3, 2010
Categories: Interviews, Spooks . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 16 Comments

Yes, I’m Going to Talk about Between the Sheets

But I’ll be back tomorrow to talk about it. It will be in all its stimulating detail. Well, maybe not all of its detail but enough.

And I haven’t forgotten about my review of Strike Back, which I mentioned to Servetus. But logically it has to come behind a couple of diary entries, so it will be this weekend before I post it. If I can do it sooner, I will.

Thanks for being patient. :D

A pic in the meantime:

I’m not sure how to categorize this post. Maybe housekeeping. Certainly not a tangent although the thought of ‘Between the Sheets’ makes me feel one coming on. I’ll spare you. Hopefully.

edit:

Oops! I was moving too fast and forgot the picture. I don’t remember where this picture is from. It’s one of the few that has no tags in my photo album. If someone knows where it came from, let me know. Until then, I adore this picture. It’s one I’ve never posted anywhere or commented on, yet it might truly be my favorite.

One more edit:

Just to be clear. I know where the picture was taken. I’m just not sure whom to credit with it.

September 1, 2010
Categories: Uncategorized . Tags: , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 4 Comments

Diary of an RA Fan — Part 21 Now I’ve Done It

See Diary Part 20 here, or to access all entries, hit “The Diary” tab above.

Entry — And Still Fall, 2008:

I’m not sure I can read any more of the Armitage Army forum. There are some lovely people there, but I’m scaring myself, and then I discover this! Just the title alone has made me really stop and think about what I’m doing. But haven’t I been doing that all along the way? Haven’t I gut checked myself so much that I’ve worn myself out with it? It seems I’m so tightly bound with circumspection that I’m a small package which bores me silly. And now it seems I can’t even have a little fetish that doesn’t make me stereotypical and potentially a nut case. CWS? What the hell? I guess the first stage isn’t so bad, and that’s certainly where I fit, but just knowing there is a scale creeps me out.

A few days later:

I feel so dumb most of the time when I’m reading all of these web pages about Richard Armitage, and now I’ve made a few posts on the Army site which have sort of wearied me. All I know at this moment is that I’m tired of typing the words Richard Armitage. It feels funny to type his name. It hits me sometimes when I get to his last name that I’m almost incessantly discussing someone I do not know and never will. But somehow it feels like I know him. NOOOOO! That sounds like something further up the CW Scale. I will bust a gut before moving up that scale or even looking like I have. I don’t even want to type anything less formal than Richard Armitage. Maybe I should make that Mr. Armitage. No, that just sounds uh, I don’t know what it sounds like. A bit of the lady doth protest too much? Yeah, that would almost be like banging a gong and saying, “I’ve got a problem and need to keep my distance!”

Anything less than his full name just seems too personal. But isn’t pondering whether it’s personal kind of creepy as well? Why do I care if I’m too personal? Hell, I don’t know. I just know I’m a bit creeped out at myself, but I can’t seem to stop watching his stuff. I really do think he’s a great actor the likes of which I’m not sure I’ve ever seen. But I feel like a fool being on a fan site. It really bothers me. Mostly because it jacks with the image I have of myself. Hang what anyone else may think. The identity I embrace does not include being a fan. It’s just not me. So why the hell am I doing this, and why am I writing journal entries about it?

But the other fans are interesting, and I’m finding new sources for watching Richard Armitage’s performances. Maybe I’ll stay.

A few more days later:

I mentioned that I was curious about ‘Between the Sheets,’ and someone at the Army forum sent me a zip file of it. So I’ll get to watch it without having to order it. What am I saying?! No, if I watch it for free now, I’ll have to buy it, and I’m not sure I want to buy this. And I still hate the name of that show. No imagination. If I can submerge my conscience long enough, I’ll start watching sometime soon. What am I thinking? Besides, I’m doing a stutter step at what I’ve read on the Army site. It seems the watchword for ‘Between the Sheets’ is peaches. Whatever the hell that means. I didn’t delve any further. I don’t want to feel any dumber than I already do.

See Diary Part 22 here.

September 1, 2010
Categories: Uncategorized . Tags: , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 28 Comments

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