sssn n n o o e sss sss o e e L L L g g g n n n i i i y y y ... on a Pedestal.pdf · Unlike The Biebs, Andrew did not don the angel wings and dutifully shoulder his public persona

An account of my self-funded sabbatical, my search for meaning, and a way to assure my friends and family that Ihaven't dropped off the face of the earth. "If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never havea friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be cynical. Well, that's nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs allthe time and build your wings on the way down." -- Ray Bradbury

FFFlllyyyiiinnnggg LLLeeessssssooonnnsss

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2012

Prison on a Pedestal

I read Chris Richards' concert review in the Washington Posttoday (Bieber Live: Less Than Believable) about last night'sJustin Bieber concert at Washington DC's Verizon Center. Thefans had a great night. The business side of the BieberEmpire had a great night. Apparently, The Biebs did not havea great night. Richards wrote, “The star didn’t seem to wantto be there. His audience didn’t seem to want to beanywhere else.”

One photo that ran with the article showed Bieberdescending onto the stage, strapped into a harness that sported 15-foot "angel wings"fashioned from cymbals, guitars, and other musical paraphernalia. This was no angel,just an 18-year-old kid who had posted a little music video on YouTube just a fewshort years ago, and who had been transformed into a hugely successful commercialproduct.

Beiber's fans have created an image in their own minds of what he must be like,incorporating a large dose of their own hopes, dreams, and needs, with a smallsprinkling of what's left of the actual human that is Justin. The business end of hismammoth commercial enterprise relies on the human that is Justin to occupy thislarger-than-life persona, born of the union between preteen fantasy and savvymarketing, in order to continue generating the huge amounts of money that theenterprise needs in order to perpetuate itself.

Bieber did not work his way up through smoky bars and small-town auditoriums. He isnot grounded by a small following of fans who have been with him since thebeginning, and who know him close-up. No, he burst into international fame overnightthrough the magic of social media. His far-flung fans enjoy a one-sided familiarity,the illusion of knowing this person whom they have never met. Like Sovietologists,they search out and dissect the tiniest factoids for some small insight into thismythical being. One wonders if they would turn away in disappointment if theycaught an accidental glimpse of the man-boy behind the curtain.

Chris Richards immersed himself in this online world in preparation for yesterday'sconcert and wrote an article about it earlier this week. Says Richards, "On Twitter,Bieber’s name is tweeted roughly every second of the day, and he’s amassed morethan 29 million followers. ... Tweeting at Justin Bieber is like sending a prayer toGod. You hope you’ll be answered, but the real comfort comes from believing he canhear you.”

Quoting one of Bieber's Twitter fans: “Dear Justin Drew Bieber...can you notice meand follow me? I EXIST.”

Share this on Facebook

Tweet this

View stats

(NEW) Appointment gadget >>

SHARE IT

SUBSCRIBE TO

Posts

Comments

FOLLOW BY EMAIL

Email address... Submit

FOLLOWERS

I own all of thephotos I post onthis blog, exceptwhere otherwisenoted, because Ishot these photosmyself.

ABOUT PHOTOS

ABOUT ME

insightsobservationslearning movingaheaddirectionspreparationslisteninginspiration smallthings quietliberation plansAndrew De Leonadjustmentsbeginningsmetaphors

LABELS

1Share More Next Blog» Create Blog Sign In

Flying Lessons: Prison on a Pedestal http://verbal-aviation.blogspot.com/2012/11/prison-on-pedestal.html

1 of 5 1/15/13 7:47 PM

Watching Bieber perform, Richards mused, "Makes ya wonder: Did Bieber even wantto be onstage? Were his dreamy doe eyes actually spaced-out stares of exhaustion?His vocals — a mix of live singing and pre-recorded backing tracks — lacked a pulseand frequently sounded Bible-paper thin." The commercial persona had grown solarge that it was becoming too heavy for the human being to carry.

I have no idea what this kind of dual existence must be like on this scale. Not evenclose. I do know, however, what it's like to be burdened with someone else'sexpectations of what I should be like. I know how miserable I can make myself when Itry to be the person that someone else expects me to be. Someone sees some smallpart of me that they like, or that fits in with their agenda. They don't really know therest of me -- my hopes, dreams, needs, and desires. Nor do they want to know.

Sometimes, it goes beyond not caring enough to find out. I once dated a young manfor more than two years before I could no longer bend and distort myself to satisfy hisdemands that I become the ideal woman that he had created in his mind. I was justas deluded about him as he was about me. I had mistaken his ego and coercivenessfor confidence and leadership. I had thought that he would continue to care about meafter I became a "sure thing". Had he bothered to know me on an intimate level,however, I would have ceased to be the blank slate on which he could draw hisfantasy woman. Not knowing me was central to his agenda.

More recently, my need for comfort and support in the face of an impending job loss(mine) revealed the weaknesses in my year-long relationship with a man who hadmade his life into a shrine memorializing a traumatic event from his teenage years --30 years before. Again, I was just as deluded as he was. I mistook his appearance ofvulnerability and his willingness to talk about his trauma for true sensitivity andopenness. When I became the vulnerable one, however, it became apparent that hehad no interest in reciprocating my care and concern. The painful story that he hadshared with me was well rehearsed and intended to solicit empathy from tender-hearted women. When I allowed myself to step back and observe him, I heard himrecite his tale many times, almost exactly word for word, and then bask in the rescuefantasies of his carefully selected audience.

One of my discoveries about the government contracting world is the extent to whichcontracting companies engage in creating a shiny, enticing product with which to winover the government agents in charge of awarding the contracts. This includesrecruiting and hiring highly credentialed people to back up a rosy picture of what thecontract could be at its most ambitious and innovative. Once the ink is dry and realitysets in, the job usually turns out to be much less challenging and satisfying than thepicture in the contract proposal. The "science communications" job turns out to beaggregating dry prose for quarterly reports and cobbling together exhibits for tradeshows. If your manager knew how deeply you yearned to write informative, engagingarticles about research and its context in society, he or she would be forced toacknowledge how deeply unsatisfying your actual job was. It would be that muchharder to report up the chain of command that all is well, and the worker bees arehappily productive. So much easier just not to know. Your boss is not your friend.

I have also experienced real friendship and real concern for others in my life. Thebiggest difference that I see is that the more I find out about the person, the better Ilike them. I don't have to agree with the person, nor do I have to share all of theirinterests. Getting my preconceived notions blown to bits feels like a good thing. Hereare real human beings, with all their strengths, weaknesses, quirks, and personalhistories, and I like them better the more I know.

I do not normally join celebrity fan groups -- I left breathless boy-band worshipbehind with my adolescence. However, I am following the emerging career of AndrewDe Leon. Like Justin Bieber, he became famous overnight (he auditioned for America'sGot Talent, and the videos are all over YouTube). He has a very active Twitteraccount. His fan base spans around the world.

Nancy McGuire

Science writer,living in theWashington, DCmetropolitan area.Wide range ofinterests, specialfocus on physicaland materialssciences,engineering, andcomputationalsciences. Profilephoto by LindaMcGuire.

View my completeprofile

► 2013 (2)

▼ 2012 (57)

► December(4)

▼ November(3)

Don't GoThere

Prison on aPedestal

The StormThis Time

► October (2)

► September(5)

► August (3)

► July (5)

► June (3)

► May (5)

► April (7)

► March (5)

► February (7)

► January (8)

BLOG ARCHIVE


2 of 5 1/15/13 7:47 PM

Posted by Nancy McGuire at 3:28 PM

Labels: Andrew De Leon, insights, listening, observations

Unlike The Biebs, he was not immediately picked up by a high-level talent scout andcatapulted to platinum-record fame and fortune. He's back home now, working hisway through small-venue performances and sessions in a local recording studio. Hisfamily and long-time friends are in close proximity, and he still has time for trips toWalMart and The Cheesecake Factory. He makes videos for his fans, but they are themusings (and belches and funny faces) of a very normal 20-year-old, not the lavishlyproduced performances of a rock superstar. I find that very reassuring. Andrew is stilla human being.

Recently, he released a song, "The Devil's Knight", that he wrote himself. If you hadreally listened to his earlier interviews, the dark style and lyrics of the song wouldhave come as no surprise. Andrew may have sung opera, art songs, and Ave Mariaduring the talent competition, but he made no secret of his admiration for MarilynManson and Rob Zombie as well. He toned down his Goth makeup for his televisionappearances, but he also let it be known that he was a makeup artist for low-budgethorror flicks.

Predictably, some of his fans were scandalized and let it be known that they would nolonger be following him. I check in now and then on his Twitter page, and I could seeit coming. The fans who had cooed and fussed over him, the ones who tweeted him asif they were sending prayers to a deity, the ones who begged him for just one littlereply -- how much of their version of Andrew was really a creation of their ownminds? The hyper-religious fans who left him because of the dark metaphors in hissong -- well, really, what did they expect? One especially astute line from his songstates, "Perfection to the blind, true devil lies inside. No lies when I tell you that mysoul is in the night."

Unlike The Biebs, Andrew did not don the angel wings and dutifully shoulder hispublic persona for the fantasy-fulfillment of his fans. Part of the reason that he didnot go further in the talent competitions is that he refused to be the clean, neatlypackaged product that fills up the seats in the Las Vegas theaters. Andrew's reactionto the loss of his disillusioned fans? "Apparently I have lost my 'Christian' fans due toThe Devil's Knight. How many f***s given? Zero. I still have you guys <3." (That's asideways heart at the end, in case you didn't know.) Mr. De Leon isn't much of adiplomat. I find that very encouraging.

Update: On November 17, Andrew De Leon tweeted me: "I came across your articleabout me. I wish more people could be as understanding as you. <3"

+1 Recommend this on Google

Replies

Reply

8 comments:

barrygalef November 6, 2012 at 4:32 PM

I really enjoyed this post, Nancy. You have a lot of hard-won wisdom, and you conveyit well. I'd say that the, or at a, theme of your piece is the value of authenticity -- andthat's not something that can be commodified.

Reply

Nancy McGuire November 6, 2012 at 8:45 PM

Thank you, Barry!

Miriam Kline November 6, 2012 at 9:00 PM

Wow! you're an excellent writer Nancy!<3 I thoroughly enjoyed the entire article and


3 of 5 1/15/13 7:47 PM

Newer Post Older PostHome

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Replies

Reply

Replies

Reply

Enter your comment...

Comment as: Select profile...

Publish Preview

I'm not much of a reader, it takes a lot to get me interested in a book or anarticle...I'm so honored to say that you're my very good Facebook friend! You're asaccomplished at writing as Andrew is at singing! Thank you for writing the article, hasAndrew seen it yet? Shine on! as you always say!:) Very cool!<3

Reply


Thanks, Miriam! High praise indeed. I sent Andrew a tweet, but I don'tgenerally hear back from him. I'm not going to beg for his attention like theBieber fans in my posting!

Shadowangel442 November 18, 2012 at 3:28 PM

I hope you don't mind but I used the part of the post about Andrew for my Tumblr Blog..... AndrewDeLeonBlog.tumblr.com ....

Reply


Thanks for the quote! Especially, thanks for the link back to my blog. Youwouldn't believe how many people think it's ok to just cut-and-paste with nocitations.

Toisons January 3, 2013 at 4:19 PM

hehehehe...Well done,Madam!Well done!

Reply

Anna heath January 3, 2013 at 5:43 PM

Bravo, well said!

Reply


4 of 5 1/15/13 7:47 PM

Copyright 2012 Nancy K. McGuire. Picture Window template. Template images by digi_guru. Powered by Blogger.


5 of 5 1/15/13 7:47 PM

Documents

sssn n n o o e sss sss o e e L L L g g g n n n i i i y y y ... on a Pedestal.pdf · Unlike The Biebs, Andrew did not don the angel wings and dutifully shoulder his public persona