Idol worship of celebrities

Watching footage of the craziness that was Beatle mania decades ago, I can understand the concern the group had for their safety. Fast forward a few decades, and it was the same way with MJ. He would just walk in a room and everybody would go nuts. Of course they are not the only celebrities that cause idol pandemonium. My main point is (No offense die-hard fans). I don’t see the Beatles as the greatest band that ever existed, British or otherwise. To me they are four guys who wanted to escape a bleak environment and make a living doing what they loved. As a result through perseverance and luck, they gifted the world with tunes that continue to charm generations. I think too often we forget celebrities of any genre are only human, and often like to put them on pedestals, but when they fail to meet our expectations, we want to throw rocks. I firmly believe we should honor their right to privacy (Although to be honest, even I like juicy gossip, sorry if I come off a bit of a hypocrite as long as it’s not malicious). Remember they have flaws, and enjoy the talent they grace us with. Of course it’s ok to criticize and have opinions, but don’t take it too far. OMG, I saw footage of Beatle fans scaling the hotel, that would freak the hell out of me. In addition. It’s not only the Fab Four I feel that way about; in my mind MJ was not the greatest entertainer on the planet either. But boy was he blessed with amazing talent in so many fields.

Myself, I see them as the greatest band that ever existed! No offence taken by me!

I also see as the greatest band ever, but realize they are human. I have been lucky enough to have met Paul in England many years ago and have also waited for hours to get a glimpse of him in Chicago, but would never do the crazy things fans have done to meet them. The same is true for other famous folks. I've waited after shows for autographs, but that's about it.

Ditto.

While I don't know Paul personally, I have had the good fortune to see Paul three times in concert. Lynner, please share the story about meeting Paul in the U.K.

As a strong Aries personality who is vehemently opposed to apple polishing and ANY form of self abasement, I readily support what you all have said above. Yeah, it's fun to scream, sing and dance your ass off. I get that. I've hopped up on the soap box many times and delivered scathing Philippics against sycophantic behavior. I don't suffer a toady gladly.

Peanut makes good points above which I fully support. No pun intended, but this topic struck a deep chord in me. The Fabs were fortunate in that music offered them a passport to a better life and a career they loved that brought joy to many people. They were only human with their share of flaws, farts, warts, wrinkles and all. The danger in placing ANYBODY on a pedastal is that a) you set yourself up for disappointment if whoever is being idolized fails or shows their ass in some way and b) that puts undue pressure on the pedastal dwellers to watch their steps lest they topple off said pedastal and break their feet of clay.

Pat Mancuso's book Do You Want to Know a Secret beautifully illustrates her point about pedastals, disappointment and not showing respect for people's privacy. It's perfectly all right and it's natural to be interested in the lives of famous and talented people and that includes gossip. I think Peanut and Lynner give good checkpoints about respecting boundaries.

Now I am about as pro-Paul as any Beatle fan can possibly be, but I don't agree with him on everything and I don't love all his songs. For example I am no fan of "Freedom" and plain dislike the song. In fact I think "Freedom" is a lousy song that is in no way reflective of Paul's vast and limitless talent. I admit it. I am also a Democrat. I also disagree with Paul's statement in 2001 about "respect whatever the [then] president says and does." I was at variance with Bush and make no bones about it.

I've also said many times that respect does not equal agreement. Listening to others' points of view and responding courteously and seriously is a demonstration of respect. Agreement is not, repeat NOT a requirement.

Now I hate sycophantic behavior and its equally disgusting inverse a sense of entitlement about as much as a person can possibly hate anything. I don't suffer a toady gladly. For example, I belong to some author/book and political discussion boards and 3D groups. On one particular board, a poster whom I shall call "Wisher" drove me bazoo. Wisher was about as big a sycophant as you could ever find. Wisher impressed others as kissing up to the author and to any parents and anybody believed to be popular who posted. Wisher would have wiped their asses and noses for them if that were possible. Another thing that irked the heck out of me was when Wisher would fawn all over and agree with anything the author or any popular participants said. If the author or any popular member said turtles fly, then Wisher would be Johnny on the Spot to echo that sentiment. That irritated me to the point where I found other things Wisher did annoying. I just could not stomach these displays of fawning servile deference.

Another thing that really bothered me was that I was often under the impression that Wisher over-identified with the people in the author's books. In one early discussion I made a general statement about being concerned that there might be readers who did this. I heralded my statement by saying I was expressing a blanket concern that was in no way directed toward any individual. Only Wisher read the subtext in my comment by announcing, "I don't do that." Horse feathers! Wisher was the reason I made that statement. Wisher must have found this a loaded personal comment as nobody else responded. That was a red flag. The author is rather well known in some circles and I think Wisher was looking for approval at any cost, even self pride. It made me sad and disgusted to see Wisher routinely engaging in self abasement.

On one occasion Wisher told the author, "Tell your children "Mark" and "Adam" we think [they're] wonderful." They might be, but we don't know them. It was just another example of how Wisher was all set to fetch and carry. I'm a strong personality by nature and was annoyed when Wisher did the foot kissing bit with me. It was then that I told Wisher off list with the author and board administrators cc'd that what Wisher was doing was having an adverse affect on me as I just cannot abide any show of servility. Attempts to ingratiate oneself to others tends to backfire and does not, repeat DOES NOT engender respect. That did the trick because now other participants can have good, objective discourse without seeing posts that praise the author just short of 2 miles to Heaven and without the star struck tone as another participant once described. I was not alone - others said the same thing in re Wisher that I did. I have said that asses and feet smell bad, so why kiss them?

I know I got off on a slightly a tangential note, but I am so adamantly opposed to hero worship. That is one thing I truly detest. People are people and admiring them and enjoying their talent and appreciating their works be it art or literature is all very well and good. Without them we'd have a dearth of information and art and a flatter, duller world. What I like is good old fashioned discourse wherein people exchange ideas and talk seriously and objectively about issues with the idea of listening to one another with respect; not bending over backward to agree and coming away learning things. I LIKE thinking and learning. I LIKE new ideas and new information. Nobody learns in an echo chamber and if everybody just agreed, you'd have only one opinion as only one person would be doing the thinking.

Deleted message - darn double post.

Addendum: John Lennon could not abide toadies and he was not into hagiolatry, either. He did not want to be worshipped and he, from all documentation detested seeing people abase themselves. I get that.

I can't help but comment in this thread, and I definitely agree in all the points stated above. May I ask, though, what advice can you give to the fans of the contemporary bands these days who have tremendous fans and do this thing called "idol worship," as if seeing the band or a member of the band as the only absolute thing in the world.

I am interested on knowing how to deal to these kinds of people, as some of these fans are quite immature, unlike in the Beatle fandom where most of the co-members are actually like my mothers or fathers.

Yes, but those old school Beatle fans were demonstrating Beatleolatry during the Fabs' heyday. True, the original crop of fans have reached the age of comfortable maturity and the Beatle fans in today's world do what we do - release pent up energy with fun screaming for our favorite Beatles; dancing our asses off and enjoying Beatle talk. As for ANY rock star or rock band's idol worshippers, I don't know what the answer is. I think it's time and maturity.

As for how to deal with them, perhaps a mental reminder that time and maturity will work wonders.

Originally Posted by beatlebangs1964

As for ANY rock star or rock band's idol worshippers, I don't know what the answer is. I think it's time and maturity.

As for how to deal with them, perhaps a mental reminder that time and maturity will work wonders.

I think that pretty much sums up everything. Thank you.