Famous people make you batshit: one more note from SDCC.

No one signs up for that. Fame is one thing, sure - but giving up some "public" privacy is NOT the same as giving up personal space.

Also, acosting *you* seems like a particularly bad idea - as my 11 yr old Number One Son tells people (when gushing about the Newsflesh series), "... and she sleeps with a machette under her pillow!"

Slash at will, I say.

I watched my teenage son be kind of a jackass to Jason Carter and get what he pretty much deserved in return. I stood by ready to intervene if need be, and the kid got the lecture from me later. He wasn't being creepy, just obnoxious in that special sixteen year old boy kind of way, and Carter didn't seem particularly put out. (He was also very, very drunk, which is what my son was objecting to. I told him later it was none of his business.)

Now, I am nobody yet, though I've been mobbed a little bit when I was a speaker. No one has ever grabbed me. The day they do, I fear there will be a headline: "Middle-aged Author Punches Fan." I have a good Charisma/Intimidate roll though; I have honed it on my college freshmen. So hopefully it will all turn out for the good.

Ah, but you publicly accepted being part of my secret harem. Doing so just cause I am paralyzed is condescending. ;-P

But in all seriousness, even as much as we talk online, if I was ever in proximity for my boyfriend to wheel me near you, I would have the common courtesy to explain who I was before asking for a hug and I would not stop someone on the way to the restroom!!

"Don't go crazy because you're breathing the same air as a famous person."

Since every random encounter with famous people in my town seems to happen in the grocery store, I have this mental image of a giant, hysterical food fight breaking out. Which is super funny in my head (but would be reeeeally bad in reality, I know).

This list should apply to pregnant people, too, 'cause my buddy used to say that tons of people- like, strangers included- thought that it was totally okay to rub her belly just because she was having a baby. Which, yeah, way weird.

In the late 80's, when CBS was airing the show Beauty and the Beast, it developed a cult following right away. Overnight, there where huge international conventions, thousands of on going fanzines, and more middle aged women obsessed with Ron Perlman than you can imagine.

Misha103/Lysystratae and I were still married then, and we were at everyone of those cons. Thru the mid 90's, we spent all our secondary income on going to these events and hanging out with our fellow Tunnel folk.

But the incredible thing about these conventions, was that with the exception of Linda Hamilton, the stars all attended and went out of their way to become friends with as many fans as possible. They knew that what they were creating on the show was something that was drawing people together for charitable causes. (The profits from every convention, as well as donations from the fans and the stars went pre selected charities.)

I became friendly with Roy Dotrice and his wife, Kay. I spent a lot of time with Jay Acavone. Mr. Perlman was a little more distant, but that is BECAUSE many women literally fainted or burst into tears in his presence. I even spent hours talking life and art with Armin Shimmerman before he was skyrocketed to big fishdom as Quark.

The star we became closest to was the late Edward Albert. He was incredibly genuine, loving, always good for a smile or a hug, and became one of the group we traveled to these cons with enough so, that he attended the funeral of one our posse.

As the years after cancellation went on and on, the cons slowly died out. The stars either hit the big pond running, like Armin and Perlman...or they faded back into constant character work, but still too busy to devote time to conventions that could no longer afford to host them.

But for a coupla years, I got to walk with my idols. And, ya know, back then I got to walk, too. :-]

I can only say that behavior like this tempts me to create a "annnoyance skipping" contest, in which two strong people are selected to see how many times an annoying person can bounce when thrown into the parking lot.

I have so far resisted the temptation to suggest this idea anywhere where somebody could take me seriously.

I read his post at some point back when linked on Twitter, and I was appalled. I'm appalled again. The level of entitlement that requires....

Seriously. Famous people are people. The word's still there and it's MORE IMPORTANT than the word famous. Honest.

I cannot imagine being in his shoes, or even in yours, during any of those episodes. Scary. And aggravating, but 'scary' tops that, I think.

Yeeks. Sorry you had to deal with that.

Being both in fandom and in A&E journalism has pretty much made me immune to being starstruck -- people are people, living their lives, whether they're driving a taxi or making a movie.

I actually got worried about this at SDCC this year in regards to you because I kept on showing up in your signing lines and you have such a good face memory!

Talking with "famous" people is an odd sort of catch twenty two. You want to be near them because they're famous and yet you have to remind yourself they're people just like you. People forget that which then leads to people being idiots. They think that the fourth wall boundary still exists between them and the actor/writer/person and so much like the books/DVDs/Comics they possess and can do what they will with, they think they can do the same with the humans.

Or they're just rude jerks.

I think it's better sometimes that I don't have good facial recognition because when I talk to famous people I don't realize it until later and make less of an idiot out of myself.

"I think it's better sometimes that I don't have good facial recognition because when I talk to famous people I don't realize it until later and make less of an idiot out of myself."

Oh, man, I am the champion of this (or I would be, if I randomly ran into famous people more often). When I was a campaign staffer I had an event to blog about- and this was, like, maybe a week after I got the job- and there I was, doing my thing, chatting with the guy standing next to me... with absolutely no idea that, in the realm of politics, he was Really Quite Important. I was just like, "Oh hi there, dude in a suit, I'm Coley. Be my friend?" My boss told me who he was afterwards.

I've been getting exposed to evolutionary psychology lately, which goes with the theory that this whole notion of celebrity is an example of our brains not being properly adapted to deal with modern media.

Strangers are supposed to be unknown to us, and yet, we now can get constant exposure to and information about people who have no idea we exist. Our brains are structured to process that as "This person is someone close to me," an unfortunately, inappropriate, response.

I read Wil's post when it first went up and was appropriately shocked and appalled. I totally know where he's coming from and I'm about as far from famous as you can get. What I have instead is equal in parts to being pregnant in public: I have a service dog something about that seems to mean to the greater public that my dog is community property and can be touched, distracted, and disturbed as much as they please. (I will say this has decreased dramatically since I work German shepherds now, but it does still happen.) Of course, it doesn't just stop with the dog, I get grabbed almost as much. I once had a woman physically drag me out of the middle of the street while I was crossing it to get to work and then promptly abandon me at the opposite curb I was trying to get to!

In my situation it certainly can be argued that the manhandling is done with good intentions, but it's no less rude and, frankly, really scary. I think people really don't, well, think about their actions sometimes. Both in situations like my own and when a famous person is within their sights.

Well said! :)

When I meet famous people I clam up and feel an insane need to blend in with the woodwork. Its like my invisibility cloak fell off or something.

Meeting George RR Martin walking to the convention and getting a quick pic (cool)

Girl who asked Matt Smith to sign her burrito sleeve while being mobbed (very not good)

Actually when I went to your reading in San Francisco, I was so shy... when you waved at me across the Borderlands book table, I turned to see who you were waving at behind me.

Having worked smaller conventions for years (frequently as security for one of the guests), I agree with you 1000% - there's no need to act like an idiot. Famous people are still people, and need to be treated as such.

This just reminds me of what happened when I was out to dinner maybe a couple of months ago. Sitting across the way was Samuel L Jackson with a young man I imagine to be family. Now, they were enjoying their dinner, totally low key. I'll admit to doing some people watching, and listening, from my seat while I had dinner, but I felt it would be rude to interrupt.

As he was finishing his meal, the owners sat people next to him, who it looked like they had called in, and I watched his demeanor change to the "interacting with fans" face. He took pictures with them, and then the restaraunt owners invited everyone else in the restraunt to do likewise. As he got closer, I heard some half laughing comments from him about not being here for that. At that point, I decided that I didn't need a picture, because he was a person, and I'd gotten to see him without the public persona on.

On his way out the door, he walked by my table, and I wished him a good evening. He set one hand on my shoulder lightly, and said thanks. I felt much better about *that* interaction, than I ever would have if I'd gotten a picture when he wasn't in the mood to really give one.

So yes, another fan sounding off as to famous people are people first, and deserve the same personal space as I would want.

You acted very classy.

There's no excuse at all for the kind of selfish, thoughtless fan behavior you describe.

It's tougher to accept (though I think it's generally true, and Wheaton's description seems to confirm) that even polite expressions of thanks from fans, even those delivered in an appropriate setting, sooner or later become more of a burden than a benefit to an artist. I just can't help but feel like there's something about celebrity that unavoidably dehumanizes, or at least diminishes, both the artist and the fan -- which wouldn't be anything unusual in our commercial culture if art's purpose weren't to create lines of meaningful communication and emotional connection between people. 

I think the answer probably lies in connecting with the art, rather than the artist.

This was why I was so hesitant about approaching you at Orycon, and gave you so much space. I did not want to be a creepster, and was not willing to presume on the basis of internet acquaintance.

It's horrible to think how many people out there expect celebrities to accept inappropriate behaviour simply because they're well-known. Like they're not human at all. I hate the mindset that they should just deal with it because they 'signed up'. I imagine most celebs didn't sign up to be assaulted or treated like meat.