Fame and Fanboy Fails…
MythBusters is coming to East Lansing next month!
When my wife was looking at tickets, she noticed that for an additional dungload of money, you could get into a backstage reception with Adam and Jamie.
My initial reaction was a kind of dignified Kermit flail. Of course I want to meet the MythBusters!!! Then I stopped to ask myself why I wanted to meet them. I mean, it would be nice to be able to say how much I enjoy their show, but why would introverted me want to cram into a room full of strangers, all trying to get a few minutes of Adam and Jamie’s time? What is it I really think is going to happen?
Yeah, probably not.
I bumped into Neil Gaiman at an event five years or so back, and blurted out something like, “Hi, I’m flarglsnuffpumps. Glablestib Neil Gaiman!!! Bububububbb.” I might have also peed myself a little. He gave me a polite nod and promptly fled. I retreated to the nearest room, which I dubbed my Broom Closet of Shame, and didn’t come out until it was time to go home.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t quite that bad, but I suffered a definite verbal and mental derail.
Why? Gaiman is a very successful author, but so what? He’s a guy who writes highly popular books and comics. I’ve met hundreds of other authors. Why was this any different?
Since then, I’ve been on the receiving end a few times. Sometimes it’s online: a Twitter comment like, “OMG, @jimchines answered me!!! BEST DAY EVER!” Once it was a flying hugsquee as I stepped off the elevator and someone saw my nametag. It’s flattering and good for my ego, but each time, I end up feeling a little baffled. I’m just a geeky 37-year-old guy who writes books, cracks the occasional fart joke, and spends too much time online.
I’ve become friends with some pretty well-known authors over the years, including New York Times bestsellers and folks who’ve won pretty much every SF/F award out there. When I see them at conventions, I don’t think, “Yay, I get to hang out with Famous Big Name Author!” They’re just friends, people I haven’t seen in a while who happen to write great books.
That’s the disconnect.
When we think of Famous People, we’re generally not thinking about people. We’re thinking about the idea of those people, our mental constructs of the people who gave us a favorite show, movie, song, book, or whatever. Everything we love about their work gets imbued into this glowing icon of awesomeness.
This can be … problematic. The brain shorts out when trying to reconcile that construct with the real person standing in front of us. I feel bad for Gaiman, and I wish I could apologize for adding an uncomfortable interaction to his weekend.
And then you get people who start to feel a sense of ownership, which can lead to truly vile outpourings when and if their celebrity does something they disapprove of…
I think I’ve got it mostly sorted out in my head. I think about Fandom Fest, where I’ll be a guest of honor alongside folks like Bruce Campbell and James Marsters, and I’m fairly sure I won’t spontaneously wet myself when and if I bump into them. I’m hopeful that I could meet them, shake their hands, and simply tell them how much I’ve enjoyed their work.
We ended up passing on the MythBusters reception tickets. Much as I love and appreciate their show, I’m still an introvert, and I don’t generally like trying to mingle through a room full of strangers. So we’ll just go and see them do some experiments on stage, and that should be a lot of fun.
Fame is weird. It creates bizarrely obsessive and possessive dynamics. It’s a barrier, even as it builds an illusion of familiarity. (If you don’t understand how it’s a barrier, imagine Gaiman at a con, trying to hang out at the bar and chat with other writers…)
There are times that my very low-level “celebrity” as a fantasy author has been a lot of fun. But overall, I’m very happy to not have to deal with rock star levels of fame.
JanArrah
February 27, 2012 @ 9:45 am
My experience with famous people is that they are USED to you spewing out the dumbest things and babbling incoherently. They just are. I’ve yet to hear of someone that hasn’t had this issue once even the most out-going famous people have had moments where they just can’t shut up or say the dumbest things that they don’t know why they said it. It’s part of being nervous. I am sure I would babble incoherently to Neil Gaiman since he glows and is so amazing lol. I did babble incoherently to his wife, though she wasn’t his wife at the time.
Erik Lundqvist (@erik_lundqvist)
February 27, 2012 @ 9:54 am
So true. I decided against going to Alastair Reynold’s book signing in London. It would have been the death of me.
Kathryn
February 27, 2012 @ 10:08 am
The only author signing I’ve been to is Adrian Tchaikovsky, and that was at a small comics shop in a near city. I didn’t squee or anything, but I was the only one queueing. It was kinda cool.
That said, I did have a bit of a freeze moment once. There was a big Transformers convention in the UK (still is, AFAIK) and one year David Kaye was the VA guest. Yes, David Kaye as in Megatron. I completely froze up, I think I barely said a word to him.
Jim C. Hines
February 27, 2012 @ 10:21 am
For consolation, I tell myself that this sort of thing happens frequently enough that the next time I bump into Gaiman, he’ll have no recollection of that moment and I can try again.
It’s made me appreciate the big names who are gracious with their babbling fans. I’ve seen the ones who aren’t, too. Very strong lesson in how I want to be with my own fans…
Jim C. Hines
February 27, 2012 @ 10:22 am
I’m sorry, but I’m too old school. Frank Welker will always be Megatron to me…
Kate
February 27, 2012 @ 11:01 am
I think the only reason I didn’t go ARGLSNARKFLF GAIMAN WHUT when I met him was because…I met him when he tripped over my recently-reconstructed leg at an Amanda Palmer concert and we nearly caused massive physical injury to each other. Realizing that one of your favourite authors just tripped over you and nearly face-planted into a bar is made much less awkward by immense pain and said author’s incredibly English stream of apologies.
…I’m sort of not afraid of famous-people interactions anymore after this.
mattw
February 27, 2012 @ 12:01 pm
You were very nice to me at WindyCon two years ago and signed all of my goblin books. I don’t think I made too much of an ass of myself, and if I did, you didn’t show it.
Mike
February 27, 2012 @ 1:05 pm
In all honesty, this is part of the beauty of twitter. I dismissed it for a long time as hipster techno crap. My wife convinced me it would be fun to follow because Wil Wheaton is hilarious as a person. Mostly I follow authors and New York Giants players. Its refreshing to see these people as people. As someone who is working on being a writer while holding down a horrible day job, it is strangely motivating to see published authors deal with a sick kid. Not that I want their kids to be sick. It’s more of a “He’s a regular guy who is a dad ontop of everything else.” Logically I know authors don’t pull things out of their butts, but logic doesn’t always play nice when I’m staring at a blank page or am too busy to get the word I have written.
That said, when I was at Boskone I still couldn’t bring myself to go up to any of the authors I knew. Scalzi was busy each time I saw him and some woman looked like she was hitting on Myke Cole after the pannel. I didn’t want to be “That Creepy Awkward Guy” with nothing real to say nor did I want to be disrespectful while they were clearly doing something else.
Jim C. Hines
February 27, 2012 @ 1:12 pm
It’s one of the things I love about the internet, seeing these people as *people*. Doesn’t always make it all the way through my brain, but I (usually) enjoy those glimpses into famous-person-as-actual-human being.
If it helps, the next time you encounter either of those folks, try saying the following:
For Scalzi: “Jim Hines called. He needs more pink thongs.”
For Cole: “Du’ud the half-orc wanted to warn you that he’s rallying the goblins to overthrow their human oppressors.”
Jim C. Hines
February 27, 2012 @ 1:13 pm
I double-checked, and you’re not on my, “Avoid These Asses at All Costs!” list, so we’re cool 😉
Are you going to be at WindyCon this year?
Miss Bliss
February 27, 2012 @ 2:05 pm
I’ve spent my entire adult life working in the entertainment industry. Mostly live theatre but a little television. I have seen actors go through the most astounding gyrations just to get into a theatre unmolested by fans. Not that they weren’t very grateful for their success and popularity but, like you, some of them are very, very introverted people. One guy was so intensely shy that even after working on a show with him for a month he would barely look up when riding the elevator with his dresser and the rest of the crew. This has deeply affected the choices I make when I attend a Con or a signing. I don’t mind speaking to someone at a booth or a signing table. I figure that person agreed to this interaction so it’s ok to speak to them and squee a little and then move on. But if I just see someone walking around the Con or, heaven forbid, just accidentally in public somewhere I generally can’t bring myself to speak to them or acknowledge them in any way. I figure if you are out in public you would probably like to just get on with whatever it is you are doing and not get jumped by the likes of me. I know some people like to be noticed and spoken to, certainly more common at a Con, but it’s still almost impossible for me to break the habit of leaving famous people alone. Just about the only thing I ever want to say to people is “Thanks for all the great art. Hope you keep doing it ’cause it makes the world better.” No need to tackle someone just to say that.
Berry
February 27, 2012 @ 2:32 pm
I once did that when I met Ansel Adams. He was very gracious about it.
mattw
February 27, 2012 @ 2:55 pm
I didn’t make it last year, but would like to get there this year, especially since I don’t think I’ll be able to make it to Chicon 7. If I remember in time, I’d like to try and sign up to have something critiqued by a professional.
Famous People « Stuff and/or Junk
February 27, 2012 @ 6:29 pm
[…] whole thing is an expansion on the comment I threw down today over on Jim C Hines’ blog entry called “Fame and Fanboy Fails..” He gave me some good thoughts and after I sent the comment, I had another thought and was all like […]
Shannon
February 28, 2012 @ 7:38 am
I ran into Lois McMaster Bujold at something or other several years ago, and babbled about (of all people) Neil Gaiman. Bujold has near-mythic status in my mind. Alas, there was no handy broom closet to hide in afterward. There was, however, a convenient wall to bang my head on.
Jim C. Hines
February 28, 2012 @ 10:27 am
It definitely works as an icebreaker!
Beth
February 28, 2012 @ 5:08 pm
At the next con, try being there early and sign up for a kaffeeklatsch or two. They are a very good way to relate to an author in a small group casual setting without being intruding.
Jeff Linder
February 29, 2012 @ 11:22 am
This is why I put up with being a con chair for a few years, because it gave me the chance to not only invite authors I like (Sorry Jim, didn’t know of you then!) but meet them in a more casual setting.
It can be very intimidating to walk up to an actor or author in a signing line or at a table during a con. They are trying to be as gracious as they can while moving as many people as possible through the line. In addition, I have noticed that many authors and even more actors have developed ‘con personas’ often due to experiences noted above (it’s worse for genre actors known for one role as there are many many fans who cannot distinguish between TV and Real Life – I’ve personally seen someone yell at James Marsters because his accent was different than they expected and they were offended he was not actually British). Even just in the hallways, the guests are always in ‘con mode’.
It’s only when you can get them behind the scenes in a green room, or maybe a private dinner, or the dead dog party after the con when the ‘real’ guests can come out. I’ll forever treasure the memory of a conversation I had with my first invited guests (Spider and Jeanne Robinson) that had absolutely nothing to do with SF books and let me see them as people, not authors.
Neil Gaiman is a perfect example. I ‘met’ him first at a con, very polite, very formal, love your work, etc.. Some time later we ended up sharing a table for a while at the Nebula’s in Philly and it was a very different type of conversation because of the venue.
Jim C. Hines
March 1, 2012 @ 8:07 am
“This is why I put up with being a con chair for a few years, because it gave me the chance to not only invite authors I like but meet them in a more casual setting.”
That makes total sense. One of the things I’ve liked about my occasional GoH gig was getting a little quieter, behind-the-scenes time with the other guests to just relax a bit and hang out. It’s a very different setting, with much less pressure for everyone to be “on.”
Ian Osmond
March 4, 2012 @ 1:19 pm
The great thing about Boskone is that you CAN do things like that, though. The great thing about fandom IN GENERAL. The people who show up at Boskone are all fans. Some of these fans ALSO write science fiction books.
Honestly, the GoH is probably the person who it’s HARDEST to talk to — especially when they take their job as seriously as Scalzi did. Scalzi did such an amazing job on panels, doing interviews, and doing all that other stuff that he just plain didn’t have TIME to hang out with people.
But I managed to hang out with Jim MacDonald and Debra Doyle, Elizabeth Bear (we went out drinking twice), Charlie Stross, Bruce Shneier, Bruce Coville and Jane Yolen briefly, Guy Consalmagnio, bunches of other people. Because, well, for the most part, people at Boskone are just, y’know, PEOPLE, the kind of people you like.
I think that a LOT of people end up meeting Charlie Stross because they’re walking through the con suite, and hear a couple people having some sort of interesting argument about technology and economics and stuff, and they lean in to listen, and they throw their two cents in, and jump into the friendly debate, and half an hour later, decided to introduce themselves — and find out that they’ve been arguing with Stross — who is just that damn fun to talk to. I think the best way to get to meet authors at Boskone is “try not to look at people’s name badges until you’re already comfortable talking to them.”