How sad is 'Fandom'?

[Junkmale]

Recently i've become increasingly depressed by certain elements of fandom in general but in some of Alizee's fans in particular.
I speak mainly of her Official Facebook page.
All she has has to do is post a picture of her shoes and within minutes there are dozens of ridiculous comments along the likes of 'I love you'...'You are beautiful' silly 'Heart' smilies and there equivalents (usually in Spanish).

It happens here from time to time too but, thankfully, not as frequently. It's really beginning to grind me down.

There has been some discussion recently about whether or not 'Zee reads the posts here.
Just imagine if she had to read page after page of the utter c*ap that is posted on her Facebook page.
Sometimes i'm not surprised she hides herself away if this is the quality of what she is expected to read and respond to.

[Toc De Mac]

Yep, it's all a little silly after a while. Once you first discover an artist, I understand the obsession , but for me now at least I just come around here to see what the latest news is.

[Corsaire]

Well, I think Alizée basically gets what she puts in.

A while ago, I commented:
"The Inked photo shoot is pretty insignificant when taken on its own, but more generally speaking, I would say there is a clearer picture emerging more and more; Alizée seems to be immature and superficial. I always thought there was a strong deeper person behind the physical beauty, but maybe this was misreading her career moves. Maybe Alizée is indeed simply interested in tattoos, pets, shopping, food, candies, childish entertainment... Maybe most of her fans like these sorts of topics, but I myself find them mortally boring. I had great hopes after a more mature Alizée showed up for UEDS, but now, I would say Alizée is either really shallow and uninteresting, or she is really hiding well the more mature and deep side of her."

Alizée is more present and many really enjoy that new found access to her that she deprived her fans of for so long. As far as I am concerned, I would say that she was far more appealing when she was less exposed because now, I have no choice but to question her maturity and what she really stands for.

Sorry if this is derailing your thread by putting the spotlight onto Alizée instead of her fans, but I really believe that, after all, she might be getting the fans that she deserves.

[LXND3R]

When I frist discovered Alizée I was quite overwhelmed with her beauty and voice but, I kept a cool head during that time and refrained from the "I love you" posts generally made by her Facebook fans. I just don't see the point of saying such things when in fact there is about 0% chance of her seeing comments like that but, I guess some people just handle fandomness better than others.

[Future Raptor Ace]

I guess its a role reversal for what it was for the Beatles in the 60s huh

[Ray4AJ]

I'm always thinking about my fandom and how I handle it, and recently I've been thinking about the effect that social media could be having on her career. It's coming up on 11 months since I first discovered Alizée, and something happened that has improved my day to day life since then. I've said before that I don't know how it happened, but I've felt like I owe her for that. At first through all of the interviews and appearances that are on Youtube I got an image of her that I knew was at least partly made up, but I've always thought that she is a good person. Maybe I'm wrong. No matter how many pictures and interviews and appearances we see, we can't really know who she is. Everyone comes up with their own impression. I suppose I can't say that my level of fandomness has reduced, but I think I'm developing a more realistic view of the situation, and of her. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a huge fan but I see her more as an individual that I don't really know, rather than a mystical being that I thought I knew.

Social media like Facebook and Twitter have really sped up that process. I look at the threads about old article translations and interviews, and I see that information about her was very limited and maybe even engineered for so long (until the last year?) that it must have been very difficult to conclude anything besides what was being served up. Now, as Corsaire described, we see her expressing herself unfiltered at times, and usually several times a day. It seems like engaging one's fans would be good for a career, and perhaps the way she does it works for her target audience, but to me it seems like maybe leaving some things to the imagination would be a better strategy. It's an industry going through changes and experimentation.

To the original thread topic, I see those comments also and I wonder what purpose those fans think those comments will serve. Maybe they crave a response that will make them feel connected with her. Good luck to them.

[Rev]

Originally Posted by Corsaire

...A while ago, I commented:
"The Inked photo shoot is pretty insignificant when taken on its own, but more generally speaking, I would say there is a clearer picture emerging more and more; Alizée seems to be immature and superficial. I always thought there was a strong deeper person behind the physical beauty, but maybe this was misreading her career moves. Maybe Alizée is indeed simply interested in tattoos, pets, shopping, food, candies, childish entertainment... Maybe most of her fans like these sorts of topics, but I myself find them mortally boring. I had great hopes after a more mature Alizée showed up for UEDS, but now, I would say Alizée is either really shallow and uninteresting, or she is really hiding well the more mature and deep side of her."...

As to how mature she is I cannot comment, however, she most definitely does have a deep side to her.

[Corsaire]

Originally Posted by Rev

As to how mature she is I cannot comment, however, she most definitely does have a deep side to her. That is the part of her life that she has managed to keep hidden most successfully (although there are hints, if you have a sufficiently alert eye).

She really is a really, really nice person.

It is hard to tell for sure but I would say that she always seemed to be a kind and generous person. What I have come to question is why she has almost exclusively shown superficiality since she started to be more opened and sharing. Evidently, there is the possibility that she is hiding a deeper side to her, but I am starting to wonder about that. If you see hints to that effect, why not share them?

Edit:
Actually, it is sharing time, Rev:
http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/show...462#post238462

[Junkmale]

Originally Posted by Future Raptor Ace

I guess its a role reversal for what it was for the Beatles in the 60s huh

Interesting point FRA.
I wonder had there been an Internet in the time of The Beatles or say Elvis's heyday what the outcome would have been?
It just seems so sad to me that the art of actual intelligent debate seems to be dying somewhat. Social Media seems to be playing a part in that i think.

[Lili4ever]

it's facebook. Very few gives at least one second of thought, when posting such things. And i don't think we can blame anyone for posting such stuff. We, people, are attracted to beauty. And there are a lot of men, who would kill to be with her