The Greatest Love Of All?

I have written here before on the subject of those lamentable people out there who hide behind the anonymity of the internet to attack others with hateful and vicious remarks. I was unfortunate to come across it again the other day; this time it was the Twitter Tweens…

Hopefully, most of you will know the name of Rebecca Caine, the beautiful and talented Soprano who originated the role of Cosette in Les Miserables. If you don’t, why are you reading a blog that mostly posts on musical theatre? ;-)

She unfortunately found herself at the centre of an online mob assault, subjected to a great volume of vile and appallingly foul insults. Ms Caine’s crime? To ‘unfollow’ one of the Jonas Brothers and dare to call them dull…*collective gasp*

The shock! The horror!

As the Twitter Tweens posted these hate-messages on a public domain where all and sundry could view them in their despicable glory, I have no qualms about displaying a few of them here:

·         HeartJonasSwift - Lauren Jonas ♥ @RebeccaCaine:  you also called him dull you friggen retard.

·         shardieburns13 - Shardie Burns @RebeccaCaine:  you wouldn't know what it's like to have fans. Who are you again.

·         xox_Jennie - jennieee jonas ♡ @rebeccacaine: sorry but your day leave from the old people's home is done now, get back to where you belong. Xoxox

·         iThinkJonas - Mrs Joe Jonas♥ @RebeccaCaine: HA consider yourself the most hated woman alive! FAME WHORE! its more like dedcation fans!! Gtfo

·         HeartJonasSwift Lauren Jonas ♥ @RebeccaCaine: You diss Nick, then his fans will come after you, just saying.

·         pollymgreene - Polly @RebeccaCaine: i am not surprised that there is a few seats left. who would want to see you?

(In response to a tweet by Rebecca Caine regarding the Sunday night ‘Three Phantoms’ concert)

For the record, these were all taken directly from the Twitter site, so all spellings and grammar are as originally posted – well…..that’s another topic for another day!

I find it unbelievable that there are teenage girls out there somewhere, sitting in their bedrooms and pouring out a torrent of abuse towards a person who unfollowed a boyband member as she found his comments dull!!! Seriously girls?

Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence in today’s world. The celebrity culture has taken over our society and is brainwashing young girls into idolising people to the point of blind obsession. Many of the girls whose messages I reprinted above, have pictures of the Jonas Brothers as their profile photo and call themselves names such as ‘Mrs Jonas’ – they have no identity of their own.  Their idolisation of celebrity figures is corrupting their sense of self. The teenage years are all about finding out who they are as a person; how are they ever going to discover their own self-worth if they are allowing their lives to be dominated by what is nothing more than a projected public image?

These girls have tied up their characters and personalities in an American boyband – The Jonas Brothers. They cover their bedroom walls with posters of these three brothers’ faces, buying up the numerous t-shirts, bags, hats, jewellery, books, dvd’s, etc and shoving each other out of the way to grab the latest album. They spend hours ‘googling’ them on the internet and proclaiming how much they love them, swearing that they will one day marry whichever brother they’ve attached themselves to. ..

They call themselves fans; perhaps fanatics is more apt. Those who can appreciate talent and can admire someone for the work they do; THOSE are the one who can call themselves fans. These girls have gone so far beyond that! They have completely absorbed themselves into someone else’s life and that is where fandom becomes unhealthy obsession.

I remember when I was reading the autobiography of Billie Piper, coming across a section that described the time she was dating Richie Neville – a member of the former boyband 5ive who were the JLS of their time. She received constant hate mail and was unable to be seen out in public with him; it got to the point where she was even receiving death threats! This is where unhealthy obsession leads, breeding hatred in them for those who don’t share in it or stand in their way of it. Just look at a couple of the message posted online after Disney star Demi Lovato confirmed she was dating Joe Jonas:

·         SHE’S SUCH A SL*T. I HATE @DDLOVATO. SHE RUINS LIVES. DEMI, STAY AWAY FROM JOE. I WILL KILL YOU IF YOU GO NEAR HIM.

·         thanks for broke my heart…now i only cry…i hate you b*tch

(I had to look up who this girl was…does this make me ‘out-of-touch’ or do I just have my own life?)

This boy lives in another country and is completely unattainable to them, yet they react with anger and devastation when he is simply living his life. ‘Fans’ such as these put the people they follow up on a pedestal and speak about them as though they were Gods. GIRLS! People like the Jonas Brothers, who have achieved a level of fame, are just that – people! They are just like you and me, with flaws and faults of their own. The blind fixation on their perfection will be nothing but detrimental to you…

I feel sorry for these girls who base their happiness in life on fantasies. Their lives are consumed by the idolisation of strangers they think they know, to the extent where if it was lost, they would have nothing, just empty space with no idea how to fill it.

However, I feel most sorry for those on the receiving end of it. I cannot imagine how hard it must be for them to have to deal with this level of obsession! The fame-game is a dangerous one to play; it has sucked in many a celebrity who come to buy into their own hype. A young mind can be easily susceptible to worship and adoration from fans and the reported nervous breakdowns, drug/alcohol addictions and occasional early deaths, all show us what can occur when that happens. The transformation from child to adult is a confusing and difficult period as it is, but when you go through it with that type of attention focused on you, from fans to the media, it is unsurprising that some go of the rails.

Of course, not all of them turn out like this. Those on the flip side of the celebrity coin are just trying to live a normal life despite all the madness that surrounds them. Fame can be the price they pay for the chance to play their music or act onscreen…or whatever their passion is. For those celebrities, can one comprehend what life must be like for them? They are expected to surrender their life over to the public, to reveal every tiny detail about themselves to the thousands of people who want a piece of them! To be the object of such obsession must be a distressing and frightening thing to experience. It is often said that there is a fine line between love and hate and we’ve all heard tales of the celebrities who have become victims of those that stepped from one side to the other…

Rebecca Caine expressed an opinion, which everyone has the right to do so. She responded with class and composure when faced with such hate-filled outpourings from delusional fans and refused to be intimidated by it. She has the advantage of maturity, which provides you with perspective in life; something these girls have not found yet – one can only hope that one day they will! Perspective allows you to look at a situation such as this and find humour in it, then turn away and continuing to live your life, unaffected and indifferent.

Two days later, and these girls are still ranting and raving about it to each other online! Do they not realise that the greatest happiness in life comes not from hero-worship and celebrity crushes, but loving yourself? If they would take the time to focus on their own lives and find out who they are, without needing to be validated by someone else, they would understand that these fanatical obsessions are pointless!!! Fulfillment in life comes from what YOU do, contentment comes from being happy with who YOU are, and real love can only come from real connections with real people…

There are many people whose passion and creativity I admire and feel inspired by, but I am loathe to call myself a fan of them because of the association I put on that word; images of fourteen year old girls screaming and crying and fainting at the sight of the object of their obsession!

Unfortunately, these girls aren’t going to change their ways until they have grown up enough to understand what I’m trying to say here, and when that day comes, I wager they will look back on this time and groan with embarrassment and shame!

Talent is there to be enjoyed, of course, but also respected. You can love a piece of music or delight in a performance – but don’t let that appreciation consume you. You should never define yourself by somebody else, and you should never use positive creativity to express negativity. Please, love yourself first and foremost…

Remember…create, love, inspire!

Miss Julie xxx

PS. While the Jonas Brothers may not be my cup of tea, I have nothing personal against them. This post is not an critique of them, but the obsessed young girls who blindly idolise celebrities such as them.

PPS. If I haven’t posted by this time next week, please alert the police as the Jonas mob may have come for me… ;-)