What and Who is a fan?
Today, when the world is a smaller place and boundaries are being blurred on internet, this question is more pertinent than it ever was .It’s very easy to form virtual teams and groups with like minded people and create forums for discussing your views through the medium of internet. But what is the main idea behind all these activities? It is to celebrate an artist’s talent, to spread the happiness and cheer that his/her mastery of a craft infuses in us as viewers. As a fan, even when we look for additional information on the object of our idolization, outside of their role, it’s driven by a curiosity born out of the respect for their talent. A fan is a viewer who establishes an emotional connects with a particular artist, more than a generic viewer, because the amount of inspiration they receive is, sometimes life changing for them. In short, being a fan or an admirer is all about love. Love and Respect.
Still fans are generally not regarded with a lot of respect. Celebrities are generally wary of them. Why people who are capable of so much love and passion towards a person they don’t even know, are not given due respect? The answer is very disturbing as it needs some major soul searching. The fact of the matter is that it doesn’t take a lot for us to cross the thin line between admiration and obsession.
Tragically, an artist who impresses us with his craft soon becomes an object. We start deluding ourselves into believing that just watching them on screen gives us a right to judge them, decide for them and treat them as our property. In my opinion it is a dangerous trait and not at all to be taken lightly. We as civilization cannot indulge this attitude. It’s high time we contemplate on this issue and set a code of conduct for fans. Are we sick? Do we have issues in our own lives which reflect in our attitude towards celebrities?
Different people connect with different actors. Some people like some actors, other like others. It is a simple fact. Choices differ just as in case of food or dresses. The difference here is that your choice is a living breathing person. When to prove your choice is better, you start degrading the other, you cross that line. Free Speech is an asset, open forums and discussions are a boon if used with maturity. As viewers, we have a right to criticize the skills of an actor if we don’t find it at par, the same way as we extol the skills of someone we like. But the minute these discussions turn into fights, the criticism turns personal, language becomes derogatory, the whole point of communication and fandom Is wasted. Unfortunately that’s what happens most of the time in case of TV Celebrities.
I am appalled how a nation which claims to have a high intelligence, fails to realize an obvious fact: TV Actors act. They play a part. They are not what you see them on screen. Is it really rocket science to figure that out? And why does the media encourage this delusional concept by using their character names even while reporting real life news about them? Why do channels issue advisories to actors to be cautious as to “not to hurt sentiments of the viewers” in their personal life? Isn’t it criminal to encourage the sick make believe world of some people as the price of an actor’s personal life?
Let me cite an example of Mohit Raina, an actor who has crossed all boundaries of excellence by bringing a formless abstract God like Mahadev alive. He is being revered and praised all over the country which he totally deserves. But as real as he seems on screen as Mahadev, assuming he is a God off screen too is plain stupid. Why oh why, should an actor of such pure talent should be subjected to such baseless pressure. Are we so immature, that to watch Devon ke Dev Mahadev with reverence, we need to believe that Mohit Raina is Mahadev in his real life? Why will any detail that hints to the fact that he is just an ordinary guy off screen should disturb us? If it does, I am sorry to say, there is something wrong with us. If falling in love with a character he plays on screen, leads us into believing that we have a right to pry into or judge his personality off screen, we have serious issues. If he is being revered for his talent, it shows our maturity, but if he is being revered for being Mahadev, it shows our stupidity.
In Today’s age, through social forums miracles are possible. Interacting with someone you idolize personally is a dream come true. Mohit Raina’s Fan club was created 8 months ago out of the sheer delight of finding our inspiration on twitter in flesh and blood. We made a circle around him, a strong family which bonded through one single thread: our love for him. We made friends, we wrote articles, we made pages and we discussed his talent and his role endlessly. We also made a promise: that come what may we will never cross any lines. We tried to be model fans and did not let hate enter our circle.
Today we are left heartbroken as Mohit has left twitter. We don’t know why. We can only wonder if it was something we did. We can only wonder if he gave in to spammers or trolls. We can only wonder if he just got bored of us. We can only wonder as we are left behind, abandoned. We wanted to make a change in the world of fans. We wanted to establish a model world where fans and stars could keep in touch without mediators. We wanted TV stars to see fans in a new light: not obsessed spammers but real people with hearts. But we failed because the truth is something else: Even if you try your best, you can’t evade reality: Reality is that a lot of us don’t know how to handle ourselves with grace, a lot of us don’t know how not to cross the line, we don’t know how not to treat our own inspiration as an object of our obsession. It’s a colossal failure that we couldn’t keep Mohit Raina on twitter. Yes, Love was defeated.
@Mohit_FC (Twitter)
