Kind of sums up how I feel about this shit
So there I was, gathering some writing prompts to attempt to work with my dear writing sister Ursula on the spark of an idea that she has, when I end up sidetracked by stupid children on Tumblr talking out their ass about shit they know nothing about.
I know, cry me a river, Cie. Not like this is an uncommon occurrence, sadly.
So I got sidetracked by replying to their bullshit, because a lot of the time I overlook complete and utter ignorance, but sometimes I just can’t. This was one of those times. Then I ended up unfollowing the blog I found this shit on and blocking the OP and their cheerleader because I can’t be arsed to deal with their crap.
A while ago, a smart blogger whom I respect pointed out that even with the Destiehellers and their omnipresent bullshit, the Supernatural fandom is not the worst of the fandoms. She stated that comics fans tend to be pretty bad as far as attacking people who don’t agree with their fan theories. I’ve never really associated much with that fandom, but over the years I’ve found music fandoms to be pretty brutal, and with the teenagers on Tumblr deciding to jump in the game, it’s gone to a new level of awful.
I used to follow a few of these Tumblrs for the pictures they posted. I don’t follow many of them at all any more. Some of them are nice young folks who really appreciate the music, and I appreciate them. They are not the ones I’m talking about.
Just like with Destiehellers and C0ckles Stans, these young women are hypocritical and disrespectful as well as delusional. Here are a few examples.
On one occasion, a Tumblr I was following reblogged a drawing of a member of The Who. It was a beautiful free-hand drawing, excellent quality. I was about to sing the praises of the artist, when I saw the caption.
“I drew this picture of our Daddy.”
Stifling my urge to barf, I sped away without comment or reblog.
I would venture to say that the majority of these men do not want to get busy with women young enough to be their granddaughters, let alone underage girls. Most of them have long since settled down and had families. They aren’t interested in reliving their young and wild years fooling around with children who have no idea what the hell they’re talking about.
I find this sort of thing incredibly disrespectful, to be honest. It reduces these musicians to how attractive they may have looked in some picture taken 30, 40, or in some cases, 50 years ago. It negates the hard work that went into their creations. It negates their personal struggles. It reduces them to objects rather than human beings.
As well, these young “ladies” (and I use the term loosely) are often rude to older fans who may actually have had experiences meeting members of these bands, who may have been among the first to hear the band when they were first starting out, who may have been fans of the band for many years and may feel sorrow when a person who has, in a sense, been “with us” all of our lives becomes ill or dies. Although I later determined that the attacks were coming from one person with multiple accounts, I was targeted primarily for my age when I expressed dismay after learning that someone I considered to be a longtime personal hero was terminally ill.
The person making these attacks has written lengthy posts about how regardless of the more than forty year age difference between her and the object of her affections, she is the one person who truly loves him. Never mind that his children and fucking GRANDCHILDREN are devastated by his fucking terminal illness. Of course she is encouraged by her followers, who tell her things such as “he’d be crazy not to fall in love with you!!!11!”
Not only is this cringe-worthy as fuck, it’s disrespectful as hell.
That being said, it’s hilarious that I was called a bitter old bitch when the person they’re laying their claim on is more than ten years older than I am.
I’m not saying that people never develop powerful feelings for actors or musicians. They do. But there is a way of expressing these feelings which is respectful, and there is a way of expressing them which is completely rude, self-centered, and entitled. All too many of the fan girl contingent opt for the latter.
It doesn’t upset me to be aging, although the worsening of certain of my ailments in a political climate which is threatening to tear away health care options is concerning. It doesn’t sadden me to see the musical heroes who helped me through my own difficult teenage years aging. It does sadden me to see them becoming the victims of devastating disease processes. It saddens me to see them dying.
Oftentimes watching videos of my favorite bands is like looking through a telescope at a dead world light years away. It breaks my heart, and it disgusts me all the more that there are those people out there who reduce these fascinating, creative individuals to nothing more than a “cute boy” who they want to fuck, or whom they want to imagine boning his band mate.
I’m not trying to say my generation was perfect. Overall, we were kind of a bunch of assholes. But we didn’t do shit like this. We couldn’t have imagined doing shit like this.
Just before writing this, I found a wonderful image of David Bowie on my dash.
David Bowie meant--no--make that MEANS a lot to me. The creative world lost a shining star when he died. The world as a whole lost a kind and compassionate spirit when he died. But truly, most importantly, his children lost a loving, caring father, and his wife lost her soul mate. Still, some of these entitled sorts think it’s okay to gush about how they wish they could be his groupie. Honestly, what the hell is wrong with you?
I’ll wrap things up with a couple of images from that dead world light years away. I suppose I’m melodramatic, but it really does get to me that these real, vulnerable, mortal people are seen as nothing but dolls to play with by some.
Cie
David Bowie (RIP 2016, age 69, cancer)
David Cassidy (diagnosed with dementia, age 66)
Jani Lane (died 2011, age 47, complications of alcoholism and substance abuse)
Malcolm Young (diagnosed with dementia at age 55, current age 64)
John Lennon (murdered 1980, age 40. I heard about it on the radio the morning of his murder and couldn’t believe it.)
Dimebag Darrell (murdered 2004, age 38)
Respect them.
