Yo Fantards, The Guests don’t want to be your BFF.

May 27, 2009 at 5:25 pm | Posted in Rants | 3 Comments
Tags: animenext, fantards, lolwaitwhat?, rage, stupidity

I’m not a person who cares about guest lists. It’s really not why I go to a con. But since I had piles of forums marked as having unread topics in them, I figured I’d look into the Guest area of AnimeNext’s forums to see if anything actually interesting was in there. Turns out there was.

Topic Link: Click

Warning: Post may not flow all to well, I’m really just letting off some steam.

The topic, titled “Why do so many of the guests suck this year?” gave me a big “what?” I looked into the topic, and found a person whining about the guest list because they can’t get what they want. I make a quick post up pointing out actors/actresses do have lives outside of their job and can’t always make it to cons and whatnot. I also made the comment that any celebrity is just as normal as the guy or girl who works at McDonalds.

So then the original poster comes back, and the only post this person responds to is mine, complaining that they’re not in the mood to listen to what’s true. Cue more whining and complaining about how someone who they seem to idolize goes to sooo many cons but never to AnimeNext. Please go whine somewhere else, or stop trolling, pick one.

I keep my reply to the post short and sweet and just give it in bullets/short number list. People have opinions and not everyone thinks the guest list is bad (and some of us don’t care either way), and since the poster had claimed to be able to make a better list I commented “Yes, you can have a better guest list made up in your head, have fun trying to actually getting a hold of them and asking they come to a convention.” The poster also seemed to be under the impression the staff is who decides if a guest can come or not, so I said that is no where near the case.

So then enter another poster. They suddenly feel the need to say that they don’t agree with my statement in that a celebrity is no less normal than the guy or girl at McDonalds, saying they have a responcibility to the fans to go to events.

EH WHA?

So I reponded to the poster:

How exactly are they so different from the guy (or girl) at McDonalds? That guy (or girl) at McDonalds could be famous too, or could get famous is he (or she) wanted to.

While people in the entertainment business tend to have an idea of what they are getting into when they start going to auditions the fact of the matter is that it’s not REALLY part of the job description. The job is to portray a role in voice and/or acting (for any sort of actor/actress), NOT to be haunted with the media and fans. How does people complaining about privacy issues bother YOU? It’s NOT, nor will it ever be, part of the job description. They are people too, since when did being a celebrity give the media and fans the RIGHT the invade their lives? Also, going to events is another thing that is NOT part of the job. They can go if they want, but if they don’t want to go to events they have every right to turn every event down. They are NOT responsibilities, they are choices and ONLY that. There is no law (in the US, and I’m quite sure in either of the acting unions) that states they MUST go to events. It should also be said again, there is NO law stating conventions need to invite guests.

So seriously, think of them as PEOPLE, which is what they are, not these mini gods some of you may think of them as.

And they responded back…

Im sorry, but I just dont agree with that. There are things expected of people when they’re in the lime-light. Media jobs are all about fans, and keeping fans happy, so yes it is a responcibility of the celebrity to make appearences to keep the fans happy, because that is what they want. They are different then people who work in McDonalds, because the kid who works behind the counter of the local McDonalds is not the voice of a popular anime, or the leading role in a Major Motion Picture, they arent people that everybody knows their name and listens to their voice or watch them in their living room on a daily basis. I’m not talking about the potential to be a celebrity, I am talking about the people who already are, so yes it is there responcibilty to keep their fans happy with appearences. I never said that they have to go to EVERY convention, I said that it is a responcibilty to attend some, I also clearly said that they didn’t have to go to the ones that I want or he wants or she wants, just go to some.

If a celebrity constantly turned down every offer to appear in public then nobody would like them, they wouldnt be idolized as they are, and they would no longer have a career. So yea to re-state: It is the responcibilty of the celebrity, whos career is fan-based, to appear at public events, this case being a voice actor at a convention.

And then once again I responded…

These types of things that as you say are “expected” of these people are because fans want to meet their favorite character/character’s voice. Their job has not, and will never be, to make the fans happy. Their job is portray the role as the director/staff wants it done, which is in general what leads to fans. Also, I’m quite sure some McDonald’s people may have their names known places, even if it’s as small as a town.

The point of the job is NOT to get fans, it is to portray a role. Their job IS NOT fan-based, it is based on their skill in portraying the personality they are given. Also, the determining factor for a role is the director’s opinion on if the person fits the role as they imagine it. The fans have NO real pull in who is chosen by the director. Yes, if a director is going for a name actor/actress the fan count may have a small pull, but if the actor can’t play the role they won’t hire them. Public Events don’t even determine the fans, the roles and how well they portray them do (which half the time aren’t even like the actor/actress at all, but that’s besides the point).

At this point in the post I copy-pasted the definitions of Actor from both Wikipedia and Dictionary.com.

I see nothing about pleasing fans in either of those definitions. And if acting was fan-based, then how did anyone ever GET big? Last I checked you don’t get invited to events for being the dude who walks past the main character in a TV show, but trust me that’s where just about everyone starts off. And I highly doubt fans come from the events, the come from the roles the person portrays.

Also, if you listen to an actor/actress’s voice in your house everyday, I do believe that’s a little creepy, unless it’s like some commercial or common TV show (if you watch an anime with the same voice actor in every one every day, that is really not normal).

You are however, correct in saying Media is to feed the fans for the most part. But why does that make it A-OK to invade a person’s life just because they are a celebrity?

And once again the other poster responds.

I know the definition of actor, but it means nothing. A literal definition means nothing to me for example the definition of mother is: A female Parent. The definition for parent is: A mother or Father, neither of those definitions descripe the role of parents or mother or fathers in a childs life. So completely ignoring the definitions…

Media jobs are about fans, just because the fans dont choose which actor plays a certain role doesnt mean that it doesnt affect who will watch or listen to whatever it is. If an actor/voice actor has a bad reputation, then that will absolutely affect their next role. Lindsay Lohan lost a lot of roles because of her party girl image, while on the set of Georgia Rule she acted like a wild child and nobody wanted to work with her for a while. Britney Spears, nuff said, (although she did make some-what of a comeback considering she is still the butt of every joke).

So lets just take a step back for a second, did I say that actors/voice actors had to stand in musemes and wave and smile at everybody to please the world? No. Did I say that they should be kept in cages and stared at as if in some kind of zoo? No. I said that they should attend SOME conventions and public events, and have a responcibilty to their fans, NOT that is was their job as an actor on a certain film to attend these events.

Who said that it was A-OK to invade a persons privacy? I said that it was expected before going into this particular career. I guess your right though it makes perfect sence to get into a career as a media figure when you want to live a private, personal life huh?

I finally am sick of trying to explain and prove the truth and leave with one last post:

You know what? I’m done arguing with a wall. I will say one last thing:

“I said that they should attend SOME conventions and public events, and have a responcibilty to their fans, NOT that is was their job as an actor on a certain film to attend these events.”

Keyword: Should.

Should =/= Responsibility.

And now the other poster tries to pull one on me, calling me a wall as well as immature. And the poster’s final statement to me?

yes they should attend events should, such as conventions,but they do have a responcibilty to their fans, whether it be atteding an event or signing an autograph. (Attending events is the most popular way of meeting fans and what-not so it only seems logcal for said celebrities to do so)

Well, since I had decided I was done with the argument, I didn’t respond. Of course, that doesn’t stop other people from making points as well. Another poster comes in to prove my point, but what really got me ticked was the reponse the fantard made next:

I agree, they are normal people I never said that they were robots. I did, however, say that they have a responcibility to their fans (mostly the screaming/squealing fangirls/boys) to meet and greet. There are those fans that truly do love like absolutely love these celebrities to no end. Fans count for a big part in the entertainment business, (especially music) yes celebrities are people, but they are people who owe it to their fans to meet and greet. Just to show their appreciation to the fans for standing by them for so long through their careers, and as I said before the most popular way to do that (rather then getting mauled in the streets) is to be the person who shows up to some sort of public event (in this case a convention.)

They have NO responsibility to the MORONS that need to get their heads examined, AKA: The Screaming, Squealing Fantard community. Really, that actually IS a problem. None of the actors/actresses actually WANT to deal with those people. What made this moron think they WANT to deal with them? The fact they love the actor/actress so much is sort of a problem. It’s one thing to be like “You’re a cool actor/actress.” but another to be all “OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG IT’S SO-AND-SOOOOO~!” and fantard-like.

Actors and actresses, hell let’s broaden this, Anyone in the entertainment business has NO OBLIGATION WHAT SO EVER to their fans. They don’t need to meet and greet, they don’t need to sign autographs, they don’t need to do ANY of this crap. Sometimes they enjoy it, I’m quite sure some of them do sometimes, but trust me I’m also quite sure basically none of them enjoy the fantard who wants to be their “best friend foreverrrrrr”. There is no responcibility to thank their fans, their fans are NOT who chooses who gets the lead role in a movie or a play or whatever. The director is. As I said in one of the posts I made, no matter how many fans an actor/actress may have, if they can’t play the part, they don’t get the role. That’s how it works. Get used to it, most people aren’t out to please the fantards.