(Photo by: Gregory Nolan, source)
I am sure every single one of us can call themselves a fan of something. It doesn't really matter what in particular it is.
Following this direction, though, I am no exception. I've been traveling quite a bit to attend shows. I've been tossed into fandoms. Having experienced their love and hatred, I started wondering what does it mean to be a fan of music today. Every single show I went to, I would watch the crowd and try to find the answer for it.
Being a fan means I can escape my world in the duration of a song.
The best thing is to attend concerts for the music. A lot of music fans today have lost sight in that. Having seen recent events taking place with popular artist fanbases involved, I get an alerting feeling that this is not the primary thing the majority of people looks for.
For a lot of young music fans, it's all about the next big thing and who's going to swoon over others. They want a handsome frontman who's going to make them do anything. Looks shouldn't matter when it comes to music. It should be all about the music and lyrics and the band having the gift to take us to another world.
I am a huge believer that musicians are people too. Indeed, they are very public people. But they have certain things they'd like to keep private, just like any other person. I would not want to be met at the airport and be harassed for a photo. I would not want someone to grab my face in order to kiss me. I would not want my friends to be stalked and have their lives screened just because they know me.
To put things straight, this is their job. Yes, it's a job that makes them happy, it's a job that lets them impact people, do all kinds of awesome things, and it's a job that lets us know them to a certain extent- but it's still their JOB. And you wouldn't want to grab your grocery store cashier's face to kiss them or ask a shop assistant in a bookshop for an autograph/photo, would you? I don't think so. I have a job as well and I know what it feels like to come back home and complain about crazy people I come across at work and how it sometimes makes me feel. We don't want to make them hate their jobs, do we?
We are a very lucky fan base in that the members share parts of their personal lives with us, but where they draw the line of what they are comfortable with is where we should too. If no pictures of their significant others are posted for us to see, then we shouldn't go looking for them. Even if we know where their plane is landing, why should we go hunting for them?
When they are not okay with something, they should be allowed to admit it, just like anyone else. We sometimes forget that even though we think we know them really well, this is only an illusion. If they are out and about doing their own thing, then it's not our time to be with them and demand things. There is time when they want to see us, when it's okay to be loud and fangirl a bit. Yes, I know not all of us can afford to go to shows. Trust me. I do know. But that doesn't entitle you to go and find a way to spend time with them. When you see your professor at a grocery store, the most you do is say hi, right? The boys deserve that same level of respect.
I usually go with the argument "If you respected them, you would not treat them like that" but celebrities are humans too, granted more public and more popular but that doesn't make them not human. At the end of the day, they should not "get used to it". You wouldn't tell a sexual abuse victim to do so either, it's not right.
The band doesn't owe us ANYTHING and if you believe that then honestly, stop buying their albums/merch/etc. It is perfectly fine to get upset with this behaviour and I know stalking is worth prosecuting. Lots of other people would do it if such things happen to them. This not only makes the fans look bad, but it also makes the band uncomfortable. THE BAND, IS NOT HERE FOR US- THE FANS, no matter WHAT they say. Yes, they need people to buy their albums, but correct me if I'm wrong - you don't make things only to get popularity or to win favour. At least not all the time, you make things because there is something inside of you TELLING you to, because you have to put those ideas of you down.
Moral arguments are never an easy thing to solve because they are almost always based on opinion alone. Nothing is black and white. Some fans believe that their personal lives are strictly personal, and we shouldn’t indulge in it at all, other than what the band gives us, if that. Yet, as it is seen, some fans disagree with this, despite a strong response from bands' members. Some fans believe that the band is the one that owes us something since we are their fans, and to backlash at us is simply disrespectful and ridiculous because we made them, so to speak.
It is needless to say, however, that these arguments will not be settled anytime soon. People are different so they will always clash, especially in large groups. One thing is certain - every human deserves respect and should use common sense when it comes to living their lives.
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