A true fan no more...(Long post)

[lowbeam]

MYGOGT expressed this better than I could, and I also have two daughters

Originally Posted by MYGOGT

I do feel your pain. And we don't take it lightly I can assure you. And I am one of the older men that "creeps" you out.
Understand that us older guys, at least this one, can relate to Alizee as more of a daughter than a "hottie". I feel a sense of pride in this young lady like I do in my own two daughters, each with their own accomplishments. She is a beautiful woman; to that we all can agree. That may catch our eyes at first, but it is her inner person that captures our hearts. The pride in me grows greater the more I learn about her. That said I hope it takes some of the old guy creepiness out of it for you.
The forums are about people with a common interest coming together. Some of which will make lifelong bonds. It is true that interest will ebb and flow just as sure as the tides.
I am not a man of words so I think I'll leave it at that.
Good luck to you, and do stop in now and again.

For me the experience is more than Alizée, it's the other fans and the places she leads me. How did an old fart like me wind up jammed in a car with the Mexican Fan Club racing around Monterrey singing Décollage at the top of our lungs? How did I wind up in Paris surrounded by friends from all over the world?

The people I have met through her - Reho, Sir Wood, Roman, Jenny, RMJ, Scruffy and many others, are decent, good people and I am so glad that I have the honor of making their acquaintance.

Originally Posted by lefty12357

@Karla, It would be sad to see you leave here. A lot of this really is about the people.

Don't leave Karla, we need more ladies here. We (the male forum population) should do everything we can to make our female members comfortable. They are precious, like Alizée.

[thekidEm]

this thread is depressing but somehow it's understandable that people come and go in this situation, when an artist "changes" or put out a new release. Things change. It's inevitable.

I basically agree with what HelixSix said regarding the Mylene era. Everything was pretty much "manufactured", image and music. I personally was not fond of that "lolita" image I'm happy that "Lolita" image gave her recognition & success though.
But one thing that hasn't changed is her personality. As a new fan, I've spent a lot of time lately watching every interview I can find online. In my opinion, I think she is still the same person she was 10 years ago. She certainly has grown up, mature, has changed her style & looks but the essence is still there. It's her personality that has has won me over to become a fan of hers, regardless of the kind of music she makes. Of course, I like her music (electro/techno/dance are not the type that I listen to) but music alone won't make me a fan of someone.
It's rare these days when you've become a superstar (the momentum of Alizée may have slowed down now, but I believe she was one from 2000-2004), you can still remain grounded and unaffected by the glamourous showbiz life.

The only thing I don't like about Alizée is those tattooes, which I still don't get the fascination but I can get pass that, no big deal, though the tattooes kind of destroy her beauty. Like some said, it may be part of her culture.

I'm glad that she is taking risks in her music career, becoming a genuine artist and true to heself. I think she is still at this stage experimenting different sounds, finding one which she belongs with.

[VVVACCPLPNLY]

Well, I have never lied to anybody about my thoughs of Alizée. I honestly believe the MCÉ era Alizée was most attractive. I would honestly say that to her, could I meet her. I love that music the best. I do. And Gourmandises Alizée is my second favorite. That is my second favorite disc. I would tell her that, too. Psychédélices Alizée is my third favorite. That is my least favorite disc. UEdS is my least favorite Alizée. UEdS is a very, very close third favorite album. Ther are no lies when it comes to me and Alizée. Do I think leaving Myléne (can someone correct my accent mark?) was a bad move? Not at all. I think leaving her (who cares whose idea it was?) was an amazing career move. It broadened her horizons. It allowed her to make more than pop for the sake of pop. As for her image: who gives? She isn't trying to look pretty for you. The tattoos are no problem for me, but my grandfather (on my mom's side) and father have quite a few, ten or so each. I personally want one or two. With the make up, no way does she wear it on a daily basis. With the hair, do you think she wore that ÀCC at home? If not for the fact the current hair is so simple, she probably wouldn't wear it, either. That ponytail? No way. I think all of it is immensly attractive. From eating strawberries, to playing in a fish tank, to dancing in a pretend fashion show, to, well, however you would reference the LC mv. Not much action in that one. Anyways, this is my complete and honest opinion. You are all just as entitled to yours'. But please don't think I am dishonest about liking UEdS. I honestly thought I wouldn't. I don't get why people like Mes Fantômes so much. It is good, but not spectacular. I disagree with many points with many people. But I won't ever lie to you. I'll tell you the honest-to-goodness truth. Ask me anything, and you'll get a straight answer. And shintsu, you are one of many fans here who is not a *true fan. There are plenty like you still here. They could probably be your best friends. Drop by the chatbox!

[Tiwaz]

I'm an Alizée fan, not a Myléne fan. Yea, just like everybody else i fell for the lolita, but I realize she grew up and continues to evolve and Im not gonna try to hang on to something that is in past now.
I rather enjoy watching her break free from the past. If what she's doing defines her own personality, and not to something she don't want to be, I say go for it, be it new hairstyle, tattoos, different music.

And +1 on what pepelepew said.

Originally Posted by pepelepew

She is a beautiful person inside and out. I love her unique voice, smile, personal integrity, big heart. I like all of her music to date. I don't have any preconcieved notions about her musical career path except hopeful that she obtains the success she desires and deserves.

The things that some other fans complain about like her change in attire, musical style, hairstyle, general appearance are a big part of what keeps me interested.

Alizee is a positive force and not a train wreck like so many other musicians/artists.

[Brent]

you guys are making me have a yoonyul attack by the minute

[Tchaikovsky]

Originally Posted by Karlalizee

i can understand your feelings. i feel less and less of an alizee fan and more and more of a fan of the people on this website. sometimes it creeps me out a little that i am one of the few girls in this site while the majority of her fans in europe are girls. i am not sure how long i will last on here. the girl who introduced me to this site has long gone, and i have thought many times of leaving myself. guess we will just have to wait and see.

much love and good luck shintsu,

karla

No, don't go Karla!

[stephenfalken]

Shintsu: "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all".

Most of us have never met Lili and never will, so we necessarily love an ideal in place of the real person. I've always found it intriguing that in art, the approach of an ideal can be a very specific, personal matter.

I had a few moments of your feeling during the Psychedelices years, but maybe it's easier for me, being older (47). I sort of looked at Alizee as a child anyway, and I was able to escape most of that lolita attraction. But man, that sailor outfit almost drove us ALL crazy, lol.

At any rate, your points are valid, if not too forgiving. She is going to change, just like you and me. What will you do with your new self? Hopefully something good and loving. I feel good and loving when I support someone I admire, like Alizee.

She's going through a lot inside herself right now, which is why I think she's exploring the Edie Sedgwick angle to such an extent. I've decided to stick with her process and see where she goes. I like her and hope she does well.

Just like you, we all feel the loss and regret of precious things we must leave behind in time and space. It's one of the hallmarks of humanity, one of our eternal griefs and greatest strengths. If you will, go back to the beginning of this message now, and re-read that quote from Tennyson. Good luck, fellow seeker.

[puffyrock2]

The old music and old videos will always be there for us to watch. The 2003 Alizee is the one i fell in love with too, but female performers change their looks/music at a rapid pace (like Alizee's idol Madonna). Although the old Alizee will always be closer to my heart, i'm still along for the ride for whatever the future holds.

[another_alizee_fan]

Originally Posted by HelixSix

I guess if her saying that hurts you or anybody else it detracts from what kind of fan you were. She was a puppet that Mylene knew exactly what to do with. If you thought that image and style was the real Alizée then you were probably blinded by sex appeal as most guys were.

No, it's not over sex appeal, it has absolutely nothing to do with sex at all and if you think that then you really have no idea of what I'm talking about. I know that there are fans out there that know exactly what I mean and how I feel, it goes beyond fandom. It's not that she's changing, time inevitably changes all, but it's that how she so blatantly and apathetically killed Lolita, the girl that many of us loved so much. To me, it felt like Alizée died and it hurt so much that she didn't seem to either know or care about how it affected some fans.

Of course, I'm not going to drop Alizée like a hot rock because I can't. Like many of you I fell in love with Alizée (Mylène's Lolita Alizée) years ago and she still tugs on my heartstrings to this very day. And I know she will be there forever because I still think of her everyday. I truly believe that a woman like Alizée, or at least my image/memory of her, comes around only once in a great while. I'm only happy to know that I've seen at least one of them in my lifetime. Nuff said.

[Deepwaters]

Originally Posted by Shintsu

On a somewhat more creepy note there do seem to be quite a bit of considerably older fans of her. It kind of seems like a 50 year old guy being crazy nuts fanboy over Hannah Montana or Justin Bleiber - it just creeps you out. I'm not going to say I think it's impossible for someone older to be a fan of someone younger, but again it does border being a little creepy. I imagine Alizee's biggest fan base is the 13-19 and 20-30 demographic, but to see people outside that demographic be infatuated fans creeps me out - no offense.

As another older guy here, I'm going to respond to this, and then I'll have something general to say about people who are no longer fans.

Shintsu, as Alizée herself continues to mature, it becomes increasingly less and less true that her biggest fan base is among younger people. She appealed primarily to teenagers when she was herself a teenager. Today, she presents a much more centered, mature, serious, focused, artistic, and creative side, which appeals more to older people -- by that I really mean "adults," of course, not just middle-aged people -- than to kids. And by the same token, this new image appeals less to teenagers, so we should naturally expect teens that find old videos of the Gourmandises-era Alizée really appealing would not like the new Alizée. She's getting older, and so is her fan base.

Now fans of Alizée, especially grown-up ones, aren't hitting on her when we express appreciation for her music or her performances. That would be ridiculous. We've never met her. Or, if some of us have met her, it was in a tightly-controlled celebrity-fan situation where real one-on-one interaction leading to friendship, let alone romance, was impossible. She's a lovely woman, certainly, but from our point of view she is mainly an artist and a splendid human being. We love her work, and we wish her well.

I will not join MYGOGT in saying that I think of her as a "daughter." We are not related. She is not my daughter, she has a father in Ajaccio and I am certainly not going to imagine myself usurping his role in her life. I think of her as an artist I respect and admire, and as a person I like and would, should circumstances permit, befriend.

That said, I also want to point out that one becomes less concerned about age differences as one matures. The creepy thing about one of us hitting on Alizée, if that were going on which it isn't, really has nothing to do with the age difference IMO, but rather with the fact that obsessing over and chasing after celebrities when you don't know them personally is pretty creepy, regardless of relative age. That kind of thing scares people. But an attraction between people with 20 years or even more between them is not uncommon, and as long as both are adults I see nothing wrong with it.

(Probably you'll "get" this the first time you, in your 20s, draw the attention of an older but still very attractive woman. )

About the fact that you, or anyone else, no longer consider yourself her fan, that happens. She's changing. She appeals today to a different audience than the Alizée of 16 did. If you're not in the group she appeals to, then you're just not. You don't owe her your loyalty as a fan. Either you like what she's doing or you don't. I suggest you listen to the music you want to hear, and not make a bid deal out of it.