As a fan.......

Where do you stand on the issue of Nic / celebrity sightings and paparazzi shots??

Are they an invasion of privacy or do you feel that it comes with the territory? do we as fans perpetuate things by sharing them?

would love to know your opinion!

For me, I have a line where I begin to feel uncomfortable. If Nic is spotted at a public event that is going to draw media attention, and someone shares that, it is different than if he's trying to keep a low profile or out with his family and so on.
I think I've pretty much shared how I feel about the 'culture of celebrity' that prescribes they are pretty much public property....just because that's the way it is, doesn't, in my view, mean that it's ok, or that I personally as a fan have to buy into that.

Wherever did it say in the rule book that being an artist or actor meant never having a shred of privacy when you step out of your door, only when the concept was created and reinvented over and over again did it become the norm.

I had this exact conversation with someone recently, and they told me that by being a Nic Cage fan and having a site meant I had bought into the culture of celebrity too...for me, a website where we can express our admiration and appreciation is not an invasion of privacy at all but a totally non invasive environment to just totally Nic out without intruding in any way on Nic's life!
And while it could be said that my admiration of the work of Nicolas Cage is disproportionately passionate, it's not in any way intruding or with any kind of an expectation.

That seems different than the expectation of the media and to some extent to public. For me, not all of the conversation I want to have is about what is going on in Nic's life, it's more about his movies....and it's true I do love to see photos of Nic, but only ones that are consensual! And it feels less intrusive to have spy photos on a movie set than pap photos when someone is not at work and is clearly not wanting to have a camera in their face!


Are there ways to be a dedicated fan without having any expectation or without intruding in any way or supporting an invasion of privacy? I think so! Perhaps we are intruding simply by having a conversation like this about another human being.........?

Bleh........I get like this sometimes, I call it my conflicted fan crisis! Lol

Anyway........where do my fellow Cagealot Castle friends stand on the subject?! I'm sure it's different for us all!

Probably a hard question for members to address here, Lula, as it is your site and you have strong feelings about the issue. Also, I think most people are used to looking at their favourite celebrity gossip site and seeing pics of the stars out walking, shopping, etc. and don't really think of the implications of those shots. I look at them myself. And many actors are complicite with the situation and arrange for the photo op sessions, it is probably easier for them that way, plus they get publicity all the time.

Nic is not of that type of course, and also, he is so famous he cannot go out without being recognized, it seems. I think he does a pretty good job at living his life in as normal a way as possible, witness numerous pics of him out at Disneyland and sghtseeing and so on, but it must take a toll on him and his family.

I don't think it is anything new, look at Elvis and the Beatles phenomenon, and I bet even the gladators got stalked by adoring fans. People have always needed/wanted someone to admire and aspire to be like, and then they like to take them down and vilify them too.That is a sad commentary but I believe it to be true.

My feelings are that we perpetuate them just by looking at them. The sites that buy the pics wouldn't do so if it wasn't getting them lots of hits. That is how the paps get their money. It is a huge business. It really is all money driven, I think.   As fans, therefore, I feel we contribute. Unless a site strictly stays on topic of movies and performances and award shows, we are contributing. We look and search for pics, we discuss the various sightings, we become experts in the image of the star as portrayed by the media. And we discuss them in ways that depersonalize them and sometimes we try to own them. I am talking in a general way, you understand.

We mythify the ones we admire, and Heaven help them when they actually turn out to be real people with all the faults and frailties of the human condition, which they invariably do.

So, I think it is an ongoing thing that has evolved with the times, and maybe with the use of cell phone cameras is changing again, so that the paps will be competing with anyone who wants to take a pic and shoot a 5 minute video and post it on you-tube. And maybe the proliferation of reality shows and stars who court fame and notoriety will take the heat off serious artists. I think not for someone of Nic's iconic status, that will never change. I have no solution unless we all suddenly realize that our own life is what we should be celebrating, and not someone on a movie screen or stage.

And I do feel that it goes with the territory to a certain extent, because I think there is the ego factor to be considered in if an actor wants to be a Movie Star, plus the fact that to stay in the higher echelons of movie stardom and the resulting fame and fortune it gives, the stars need to be in the public eye and to be considered desirable commodities. If people stop looking at their pics and stop reading about their doings they lose favour with the ones with the power annd money.

I am conflicted too, but I still look.

my brilliant NICsters,there are many many words to say,you re the pride of cagealot family

I think you summed up my "conflicted" there too voodoo child

 I bumped this topic up today because i am havng that feeling again at the moment...i can't remember what it was that triggered off the original post months ago...i think maybe that picture of Nic in the car where he had his hand over his face and really didn't want to be photographed. I guess those are the kind that are over the linefor me, there are some random press shots, or fan shots, where Nic is not at a public event where he seems happy to be photographed, but there are other times where he seems understandably uncomfortable!

I don't really have much to add to my previous comment...other than to agree voodoo child, the world has become blind to so many things that when you really stop to think about it are fundamentally a breach of another humans' rights, yet because they have become so ingrained in our mainstream culture, people consider them not only acceptable but expect them! Of course , this theme travels further than just ohots too.. sigh.....maybe it is time to turn off the google alerts, althougb i am very selective about what i actually look at and read..and circulate! I do ceom across really cool film sites by the way that report only on movies, with interviews, films news, reviews etc.. they never resort to gossip stuff !

yep ....I am having that feeling again! I mean FFS world...... why not just print Nic's pin  number and have done with it!! give the man some privacy and think ! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr:

And now that is out of my system how about let's have a discussion!!!!!!! I thought we as Nicolas Cage fans could come up with the definition of 'a fan'.

What does being a fan mean to you? what does it involve? what doesn't it involve? For example do you feel you have to watch a certain number of films per week, do you have to have seen Nic's entire filmography, do you need to join a fan site, do you need to have Nic's autograph or collect every piece of memoribillia!

I was talking to Gina a little about this today and for me it is all about honouring and celebrating the work of a great actor and the characters he brings to life, about exploring that in as many creative and inspiring ways as poss and being inspired! that is all. i have no hankering for autographs and memoribillia, but as founder of Cagealot Castle I love to have an outlet for my passion and to meet others with the same adn to share and have fun with it! I always watch several Nic movies a week because i am addicted to them and I do feel that to have a complete overview of Nic's work you have to have seen his entire filmography.

How about you?!!!!!??

 

ha ha! I have soo many days like that! wonderful clip Lady t, thank you for sharing!

Thank you for sharing your point of view Gina! I agree about enjoying seeing fan photos, but for me there is no expectation of any star to do that as graciously as Nic does. I do not agree that just because a celebrity culture exists, it is ok and just 'how it is', I feel most artists, be they musicans, or actors, or dancers or whatever, are responding to their muse and simply doing what their soul direction compels them to do, the rest of it is just a manuactured by product that they don't necessarily have to buy into.

As a fan I am grateful that we get to receive the fruit of that muse,  that is a gift that i am grateful for and have no expectation or desire for anything more. Just my view, no offense to anyone elses!  

I particularly agree with your last sentence.