Among David Archuleta’s incredible qualities is his big ol’ heart and how quickly he is ready to use it to inspire and give back.  It was very clear, not only how David chose to inspire with song but also how he literally put his money where his mouth is in encouraging his fans to donate to charities.

Since his time in the limelight, David has done what he could to promote charity work – Invisible Children, Rising Star Outreach, the Lisa Lopes Foundation, etc. – and his Arch Angels have matched him in kind – from donating the most funds for Stand Up 2 Cancer to building the Angels for a Cause network.  David has given us so much, and we are so eager and willing to give because he urges us to.

That’s what is often called Star Power, and it’s a quality that many celebrities have adopted: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, and the Star Power charity poster boy himself, Bono from U2.  I am impressed most by David’s efforts, of course, not just because I’m a hardcore David fan but because he’s perhaps the one with the least money out of these celebs, and he’s already mobilizing on behalf of the less fortunate to bring attention to their needs.  AI gave him a platform from which to launch himself, and already, charity work is at the core of what he wishes to do with his talents and career.

I think of David’s star power and charity work because we are in the midst of a terrible tragedy that unfolded in Haiti last week with a devastating earthquake.  Tonight, a telethon, spearheaded by Clooney and Wyclef Jean, airs on all the major networks at 8 pm EST to request donations for this disaster. I’m so pleased that David will be apart of the musical spectacle, as he already has faith that we will adhere to his tweet last week imploring us to “not be afraid and give what we can.”

I think of David and his sincerity because this past week fellow music artist Wyclef came under scrutiny when his NGO, Yele Haiti, which managed to raise $2 million in donations, was accused of corruption and financial mismanagement.  Considering that Wyclef immediately requested aid through his foundation the day that the disaster struck and that he immediately flew down to the island to do what he could to help, I find it suspect that certain journalists and gossip mongers took the time to dig up dirt and sling mud at his efforts.  I do not doubt he has made mistakes, but I personally don’t see anything wrong if he was able to raise that many donations in such a short period of time (he accepted $5 text donations).  I pay more to see a movie for crying out loud; you only hope that those who are raising funds for a disaster will put the money to good use.

A high profile celebrity spearheading his own organization hardly seems scandalous to me, and knowing that he was helping to bury his fellow Haitians last week, I’d rather hear about these efforts than to hear him defend Yele Haiti, which was an active NGO long before the Haiti earthquake. Still, if a spotlight has shown suddenly on his organization, at least he now knows he has to be above board with his financial dealings.

I raise the specter of Wyclef’s Yele Haiti because it’s indicative of Star Power and its ability to mobilize so quickly even as it is also subject to public scrutiny.  What David is doing (and what others tend to do) makes the most sense: partnering up with existing charities and using one’s high profile status to bring attention to the work such organizations conduct and how our donations will be used to support such work.

I tend to have an ambivalent attitude towards charity organizations myself.  I do not hesitate to donate in the wake of disasters, but in the long term, my philosophy tends to be:

Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day.  Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat forever.

The charity I cherish is the one in which what we give lasts a lifetime. I only pray that this terrible disaster is an immense opportunity for nation-building and a stronger Haiti.  To waste this opportunity with scandal, corruption, and failed humanity would be a sin and a crime.

I’m all about education, and someone like David can teach us so much: about faith, hope, and above all these, charity.

Hello Gorgeous

Janet Jackson is on my mind of late, having tuned in to her interview on November 18 with Robin Roberts and also having recently purchased her retrospective album, Number Ones. Talk about taking a trip down memory lane!  I’ve been doing a “happy dance,” literally, since I bought it. Jamming to haven’t-heard-in-decades tracks like “Diamonds” and “Rhythm Nation” (her best album bar none), and singing at the top of my lungs to “Love Will Never Do Without You.”

See, I came of age when Janet Jackson came out with her third album, Control, which placed her on the world map of pop music and which was the first of her collaboration with the Minneapolis team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. I was in junior high in the Bronx, a young black girl learning to write poetry and other creative stuff.  I was dealing with my changing body, and here comes Janet Jackson taking “control” over her own body and her own mind.

“When I was 17, I did what people told me/ did what my father said and let my mother mold me/ But now I’m all grown up.”

From learning how to mouth off to the “Nasty” boys on the streets and in school to getting affirmation that I could say to that special guy, “Let’s wait awhile.” But perhaps the more salient message came from when I actually tried to reenact her choreography from her “The Pleasure Principle” music video and twisted my ankle trying to do that move with the chair thing.

Lesson learned: “Do not try this at home.”

Yep, those were the days. I had gone from my crush on her big brother, Michael, to finding the perfect role model, and I seemed to grow up right along with her.  By the time of her Superbowl scandal, when I was tripping over certain faux pas on the job, and feeling my alienation at times as a professional black woman, Justin Timberlake’s disrobing of her felt like a metaphorical disrobing of sorts. I was too angry at the world, and I was hurt by the persecution of my childhood hero.  But like Janet, I too survived and strived.

So, I bring up Janet Jackson here because one of my regulars on Soul David (might have been Desertrat or BrooklynDawn) expressed desire to see David follow in the trajectory of Janet instead of Michael Jackson. In particular, looking forward to David producing a Control-like album.

“When I was 17, I did what people told me…”

Whatever aspects of David that we think already exerts this control, there is still a persistent image  out there that he’s not (in control, that is).  And at some point, I imagine David will, like Janet, like Michael, find that magical pairing with the right producer or producing team, who will take those particular “David sounds” and take them to the next level.  Beyond the sound is the image of “maturing,” and wondering how best he will project that maturity.  Yes, declaring control and independence will definitely come with the package.  And while female empowerment looks very different from a man declaring his power, I look forward to how David will make this same statement.

Obviously, from what he has revealed about pop album #2, David is already moving in that direction.  But I’ll still be waiting for the magic to occur when the stars align him with the perfect production pairing.

- Hello Gorgeous

It wasn’t until I finally received  my physical CD and popped it into my surround sound stereo that I actually heard Christmas from the Heart.   David’s vocals boomed loudly and earnestly, with orchestral and synthesized instrumentals embellishing that one-of-a-kind Voice.  It was during the opening carol, “Joy to the World,” that I was truly transported.  In the lingo of Black church goers, David “took me to church” on this one.  It was during the “break down,” which routinely occurs in much of gospel and R&B songs that allow for vocal improvisation and free-styling, that got me in a spiritual mode.

“And wonders / and wooooooonders …. ooooooof / hi-i-i-is looooooooooooooove”

Gah! The lovely crevices and valleys that David’s vocals journey on that “love” note surpasses.

“Hi-i-is Looove / He rules the world with His truth and grace” (wow, I’m hearing that Kirk Franklin inspiration right here) … Fade out. *Swoon.*

This, my friends, is David “testifying,” and it’s such a grand testimony.  David is on fire towards the end of the song (indeed, a YouTube commenter describes David’s vocals at the end of JTTW as “sick,” and I’m inclined to agree).  Was David having a “Holy Ghost” moment? I would not be surprised because the boy was feeling it.

So, that’s the spiritual journey I’m on just from Track no. 1.  It’s during this time that I start reading the liner notes, and I think: “Aha! No wonder I’m feeling this way.” Have you all read David’s acknowledgements?

I first would like to thank God, who comes first in all of this.  It’s because of Him that I’ve gotten the chance to do something I love so much.  I dedicate this Christmas album especially to Him, and our Savior, Jesus Christ.  May it be another way I can give back to them, and to all those who listen to the songs as well so that they can feel the spirit and message within them.

Feel the spirit?  Did David just write that?

My mind is blown.  How old is he again, and how in heck did he wind up on American Idol and on Simon Fuller’s Jive record label?

He is scary, I’m telling you.  No wonder so many in the public try to dismiss him as some “teen pop star” or some “Disney tween.” They couldn’t handle the Voice if they didn’t.

Between David’s liner notes and his vocal skills, inspired by everything from gospel to classical to traditional hymns to Spanish ballads, which all get showcased on this album through one carol or another, it’s quite apparent how bold David has become in declaring his spiritual influences without being the least bit preachy.  He’s not trying to “convert.” He’s only trying to get us to “feel” it.

And we do “feel” it.  If I could rename this album, I would call it Christmas Lullaby, because David’s Voice elicits the feeling of one who is singing the Baby Jesus to sleep, as Rascal already noted in his review.  ”Hush, little Baby, don’t you weep.  For you are here to save the world with grace and love.”

That’s the mantra, the leitmotif as it were, on every song on this album – especially on the more soulful ballads, like “What Child is This” (a masterpiece in and of itself, from David’s trademark humming to the grand strings that enter the song), “Silent Night,” “Ave Maria,” and “O Holy Night.”  A bit more on “What Child is This”: as others have commented, specifically Raelovingangels, it’s as if David’s soft vocals capture the humility and simplicity of Baby Jesus tucked away in a manger while the orchestra signals in epic sweep how world-transforming this event has become.

Secular and non-Christian listeners can stand back in wonder at the Voice, while Christian listeners pick up on the nuances and subtleties.  (And I imagine Mormon listeners can detect other subtleties that non-LDSers would miss.)  Most effective are Kurt Bestor’s syncretization of numerous Christmas hymns, providing that subtext for the “spirit” of Christmas.  Whether it’s the echo of Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” slipping in on “Angels We Have Heard on High,” or “Carol of the Bells” intruding on the Spanish carol, “Riu Riu Chiu.”

This is a gorgeous call to worship, delivered by the Voice.  After giving us an album so profound, I cannot imagine the Voice going back to pop fluff.  His gifts are too precious, and his calling too great.  After CFTH, I look forward to David “taking us to church” through different genres of music – whether in an actual house of worship or just through our very bodies.  This is a soul meditation and one that might inspire us to contemplate the “true meaning” of Christmas and cut down on holiday expenses during a recession this coming Christmas season.  Well, except to gift everyone we know a copy of Christmas from the Heart.

~ HelloGorgeous

Archies, I know how you feel. David is simply amazing, and we want everyone else to know. His latest efforts with Christmas from the Heart confirm this. Yet, we must accept that our truly great artists are not going to be immediately accepted and adored on a mass scale. Heck, our greatest and most influential people in history – think Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. – were GUNNED DOWN. Heck, Jesus was CRUCIFIED!

Perspective, my peeps. I say this because I don’t know what’s more embarrassing: the knucklehead tone-deaf reviewers who give David’s Christmas from the Heart a bad review or the army of Archies who come out of the woodwork to leave hate-filled comments. Let’s all learn to be more like David and respond to the haters by simply IGNORING them. That’s what David would do. Heck, David would simply say in response to their negativity, “Gee, that’s unfortunate,” or “That’s too bad,” and move on.

Seriously, any review that begins by describing first David’s physical appearance that amounts to the belittling of how young he looks for his age is not a review that is based on the music. It’s based on his image, which they think is “uncool” and so, no way, no how is that reviewer going to have a heart that grows seven sizes like the Grinch. It just ain’t gonna happen.

So, let’s ignore the haters. Pity them, yes, for clogging up their eardrums for no other reason than that they don’t want to admit to a “former American Idol’s” genuine talent, but honestly, leaving negative comments only proves their point that you have to be an insane cult-like Archie fan to like David’s music.

One day, they too will see the light, but in the mean time, you can’t force the cave-dwellers to come out of the darkness. They must desire the light on their own.

Meanwhile, let’s go back to “dissecting away” at some of these awe-inspiring gems on the album.

Another great selection: O Holy Night.

Not sure why this track hasn’t topped the Archie polls, but after What Child is This and Riu Riu Chiu, it is his most accomplished vocally.

- HelloGorgeous

(Thank you, HG! We invite people to comment at the original article over at SoulDavid – Eds.)

Arch Angels are notorious for using hyperbole whenever we’re enraptured by David’s Voice.  There’s even a running joke – “David is the second coming of Jesus.”

Child, please.  Let me dial it up a notch:  With David on Planet Earth, who needs the second coming of Jesus?

That’s right, I said it (church-going rebel that I am).  And no, David “chrianyday” sweetie, don’t take it personally.  Keep staying grounded as you read Job 38 (“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations … while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”).  See, David is here representing, and in his Voice I hear those morning stars and angels rejoicing at the earth’s foundations.

“The kingdom of heaven is inside you and all around you” (The Gospel According to Thomas).

See, I could forget how toxic and near-the-brink-of-destruction our world is when David sings.  When David sings, I could forget the circling of the wagon that descended on Washington on September 12.  When David sings, I cannot hear the hate-filled messages seeping through the cracks of our information overload society, nor the corporate-controlled noise pollution passing itself off as current pop music.  Amidst the din of this social and cultural breakdown is the Voice crying out in that distant wilderness:

Cuando no estas junto a mi -iii-iiii.

And there in that extended note, my heart melts, and my soul opens.  It’s those little “Soul David” licks that spice up a song.  A Latina in the fanbase helps a sistah out with the translation: “When you’re not by my side [the world seems different].”  And when David is not by our sides, the world is different.  It’s just noise that our tone-deaf ears have become accustomed to with our corporate-sponsored hearing aids.  But one graceful note, one seductive vocal run, takes us back to the origin of music – the invocation of spirit, the deep-down rumbling where body meets soul in ecstasy, the transcendence from our material world onto another plane.  Amazing grace, how sweet the sound… We were once deaf, but now we hear it loud and clear.

Es que te has convertido / En parte de mi alma (You have become part of my heart)

The first whoop and holler rises up from the Spanish-speaking audience, as my hand raises to testify to its meaning before I understood the words.  Sing it, David!

And not once, not twice, but three separate times, the audience erupts into spontaneous applause before he even finishes the song.  In a week filled with political and musical controversy, hate, rudeness, and disrespect – a week that was designed to celebrate the best in music – David reminded us what music does best.  It closes the distance, it fills us up with exultation and longing.  It reverberates in its acoustic rendering of love, peace, and soul. A voice in the musical wilderness providing the balm to the heart and a prophecy for all our lost souls.

But the words of the prophets are not written on subway walls.  As novelist Toni Morrison once wrote, “In the beginning, there were no words.  There was only sound.”  And David sounds the trumpet:

Amada mia estoy, oh / Contigo

No translation needed.

- Hello Gorgeous

Special thanks to Juan M. for the use of his artwork!

If there’s anything I’m most impressed with about the Arch Angels, it’s the way we  support David Archuleta.  Our track record speaks for itself.

Want to see him honored as a teen star at the Teen Choice Awards? No problem.  Just organize until the producers not only invite him as a presenter but actually invent a completely new category just for his fans.  The result?  David wins the first ever award for “Most Fanatic Fans.”

Want to contribute the most money in David’s name for Stand Up 2 Cancer? Done!

Want to support David’s first single “Crush” on the Hot 100?  Done!

Want to push David’s first video for “Crush” to No. 1 on the VH1 Countdown? Done!

Want to mobilize David to be Mr. Twitter Universe?  Done!

Want to help David win 3 Awards at TCA?  Done!

So, now that we’ve proven that we’ll promote David Archuleta and support him every step of the way, how about we, as a fan community, think bigger and better?  I’m raising this question because I’ve been a bit concerned with some “defeatist” discussions on my Soul David blog and here when it comes to David’s career and the path that his management has taken.  We’ve proven ourselves already.  If some persuasion is necessary, why not see how far we can mobilize our fan power?

Over the years, I’ve been in awe at what the Internet can do when it comes to mobilizing fans.  Back when Brokeback Mountain lost the Oscar in 2006, so many lovers of that movie, who had gathered at a fan forum, mobilized their outrage and raised the required $25,000 to pay for a full-page Ad in Variety Magazine to express their discontent.  It was so successful, they had debates about how best to use the “surplus” money.  In the realm of music, hip-hop artists like Missy Elliot have staged online contests to get her fans to name her next CD.  And, as was mentioned in previous discussions, singer Jill Sobule turned to her fans to finance her album.  She has described the experience as “liberating,” as I’m sure it was for all involved.

David may not need to rely on his fans to finance an album at this point since he’s already signed to a major label, but I wonder if the Archies would be willing to mobilize for his promotion in big ways.  I’m not talking You Tube vids or Twitter news and spams.  What if we raised the necessary moolah that his label or management doesn’t spend to really get his name out there?  What if we too invested in a full page ad or a well-placed commercial or billboard?  Instead of having individuals making their own home-made placards and promo fliers, what if we collectively got together to invest in something huge or even something as simple as paying for a top-notch web designer to get his official site looking professional?

We’d have to be careful of course, for the same Brokeback Mountain forum that mobilized for a movie ad and various charities for rural gays (in honor of the movie) had a scandal when one of the forum members absconded with the money during other fundraising projects (we’ve already had a brush with this early on in the Archie community).  Perhaps his official site should include a special donations section for such fundraising projects.

What I’m really suggesting is: rather than go around in circles arguing about how David is “managed” – with various fans telling other fans that we have no “business” doing so – I say, let’s really step up and mobilize in the ways that count.  Why concede certain decisions when we’ve all shown that we are invested in David’s success in one way or another?

If anyone can mobilize in a big way, the Arch Angels sure can!

~ Hello Gorgeous ]]> http://www.thedavidchronicles.com/2009/08/macro-managing-david/feed/ 289 http://www.thedavidchronicles.com/2009/07/the-digital-superstar-future-possibilities/ http://www.thedavidchronicles.com/2009/07/the-digital-superstar-future-possibilities/#comments Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:00:03 +0000 hell0g0rge0us http://www.thedavidchronicles.com/?p=8101 I’ve been pondering David Segal’s editorial in the New York Times, in which he argues that fame on the level of Michael Jackson’s, will never be the same again, and that, in the wake of digital culture, the superstar may have also died with MJ.  Arguing that digital culture is much too fragmented to deliver a global star that can unite all of our interests, Segal predicts that we will never have another icon like Michael Jackson and that we may never see another global outpouring of grief as we have with MJ’s death.

While I think it’s very possible that the global superstardom of Michael Jackson may never be replicated, that he may have closed an era of iconicity (the kind that we saw with a Marilyn Monroe or Elvis Presley), I’m not sure I am ready to declare the death of the superstar.  Most of these icons were transformed into superstars, thanks to radio, movies, televisions, and big ol’ posters and billboards.  There is a reason why they became larger than life (their images often literally were) and why we seemed to know them so intimately: their voices or faces entered into our homes via TV and radio.  That’s the paradox of superstardom. These celebrities seem so intimate, yet they are so far out of our grasp.

Enter digital culture to alter that perspective.  Those of us who expect our stars to appear in the places we often expect, such as TV or radio, complain incessantly when David’s label seems to limit his presence in these media.  Yet, David has kept up a constant, and I must say, very intimate correspondence.  He tweets to us when he’s feeling sick or suffering from insomnia or when he’s eating Thai food.  He leaves text messages or voice mails like a friend or lover would.  He blogs, vlogs, and generally gives the impression that he and his fans are super tight.

I think of this relationship David has created with his fans and wonder how differently we might have interpreted Michael Jackson had he too kept this kind of digital communication.  What if, like David, MJ tweeted to his gazillion fans (that is, before Twitter crashed)?  What if he tweeted about his kids?  What if he tweeted that he couldn’t sleep, which, apparently, he couldn’t?  Would fans have been so shocked by his sudden passing? Would fans had tried to intervene?

I am saddened that with his global superstardom, Michael Jackson never did have something like digital communication when his star was on the rise.  If he had, perhaps superstardom might not have frightened him as it eventually did, warping his relationship with the public that seemed to adore and ridicule him.

Last Tuesday’s memorial managed to humanize him for the first time in a very long time. I can’t help but feel twitter or blogging might have done the same thing.

It’s because of this interactivity of digital culture why I believe the nature of stardom will inevitably change.  However, that certainly doesn’t rule out the potential for another superstar to unite the globe and take his talent through the stratosphere.  David may be able to live up to this potential, already commanding the digital tools at hand.

- Hello Gorgeous

1. They have a “Third World” connection (MIA, who was born in London, has parental roots in Sri Lanka. David, who was born in Miami, has parental roots in Honduras).

2. They both want to use pop music to send a global message.

In short, both are committed to using music as “inspiration” for action. But that’s where the similarities end. MIA is hardcore in her message: Coming from a war-torn country, surviving as a political refugee, and living in poverty (both in South Asia and in the UK) her message is one of political agitation, which addresses everything from terrorism to refugee status to immigrant rights to globalization. Her popular, Grammy-nominated Paper Planes is a prime example.

David, coming from a much more sheltered life and growing up in a religious faith that still preaches missionary work and charity, has a message that is equally global and politically urgent. In contrast to MIA’s dystopic worldview of warfare and global poverty, David’s is the more optimistic and hopeful message of love, joy, peace, and charity.

Despite these differences, I was intrigued by what these two artists had to offer in their respective genres. MIA, who is every bit a lover of world pop as David, uses hip-hop, ragga, dance, and bhangra to rap about Third World realities in a way that the First World would care. David’s divine and soulful voice elevated John Lennon’s “Imagine” in a way that made a soldier cry in a war-torn country. MIA agitates, David soothes. MIA raps about the destruction of our world; David sings about its eventual rejuvenation.

I get excited about what these two distinct artists could do to the current music scene. MIA’s critically-acclaimed sophomore album, Kala, was produced around the world (so the lore goes) when she was denied a visa in the U.S. to work with Timbaland. The visa denial was presumably because her seemingly pro-PLO and Tamil Tigers lyrics (See, for example, her video Sunshowers) from her debut album made her questionable in the eyes of our Homeland Security office. Her music gives us insight into what world pop music could sound like. Producing different tracks in countries like Trinidad, Nigeria, Bangladesh, and Australia, MIA showcased the ultimate remix possibilities of hip hop and made the genre exciting again (at least for me).

What MIA does to hip hop, I would love for David to do with pop. His international tour this year inspired in me a vision for David to do something similar: To produce different world tracks that capture the spirit of some of his favorite countries: the Philippines, the UK, Honduras, perhaps even Uganda (in homage to his Invisible Children charity). If anyone can rejuvenate a “world” sound infused with his commitment to pop and soul, David is the one.

More than a potential “king” or “prince” of pop, perhaps he’s destined to become the Ambassador of Pop.

~ Hello Gorgeous

What is this “Youth Culture” we keep talking about, and what is the role of a label like Jive in shaping this? Most importantly, what affect will any of this have on David’s artistry?

Youth Culture is a complete fabrication, which the music industry has been quite adept at shaping — from Elvis’s reign in the 1950s to the Beatles’ domination in the ’60s to the current dictatorship of hip-hop culture.

And young people have always been willful in what they define as their culture, which means Moms and Dads are certainly not allowed to join in. Recently, this has also meant not liking what commercial culture defines as “cool,” hence the immediate dismissal of an artist coming off of the power machine of American Idol, or coming from Disney.

In short, YouTube, Myspace, and offline underground artists rule because of the belief that they are not part of The Machine. These artists also rule because the cool crew — the teens and young adult demographic who know better than to be spoonfed a commercial star, in ways that their naive counterparts, the tweens, or their out-of-touch elders do not — get to decide what they think is cool and not what TPTB think is cool.

And marketers are clear about this, which is why they make very important decisions to market their artists in order to seem as if they’re not involved in marketing artists at all (for the apparent “lack” of marketing David to certain markets seems to be part of the master plan).

Amid these “Culture Wars,” David makes his appearance. And what initially started out as a lovefest — especially after his celebrated “Imagine” performance — soon descended into a Love Him or Hate Him competition (which, to me, both indicate David’s uniqueness and his undeniable artistry).

The Jive marketing strategy, and even the debates about which youth culture matters (the tween culture, for example, has become viable precisely because teens and young adults are too cynical to buy into commercial pop), now have a genuine challenge in David, who in short can be described as the Youth who sings like he’s “grown.”

It’s clear Jive has undertaken considerable time and effort to carefully plot out the space that David will presently occupy in commercial pop — a clear Disney platform with generic pop songs on Radio Disney. In a parallel effort, outside of this corporate American bubble, Jive has strategically flown him to Asia to greet and perform for his Asian fan base and then placed David on a U.K. tour with the most popular British boy band.

These efforts indicate that Jive, while seeming to not  be strategizing for that crucial demographic (the teens and young adults who still have more legitimacy of being “cool”) is making plans for their discovery of David’s “real” music — like Zero Gravity for example — all the same. But outside the glare of commercial pop music, on the Internet or in a concert, where David’s artistry can still shine.

Yet, I cannot help but ask, had the journey started with Jive and not with American Idol, would David have been able to make the heart connection with us, his Arch Angels, in the ways that reality TV allowed him? Or, would other forces have disrupted the flow?

- Hello Gorgeous

So, last Monday, I read with fascination a discussion that ensued about David Cook’s recent myspace post calling out his “scary fans.” Not surprisingly, a debate got under way about the difference between a “normal” fan vs. a “crazy” fan, the difference between being “obsessive” and being a full on gunning-down-Selena-style lunatic. So, how in this conversation do I go from shaking my head at some of the shenanigans that full-on lunatic stalker-fans engage in to seeing someone lumping “an adult who gushes on about the beauty of an 18-year-old” in the same category as a crazy fan who bugs her idol’s tour bus with a GPS tracker? Since I recognize myself in the former scenario vs. the latter, I am definitely having a “hold up…wait a minute!” reaction.

Let me get this straight since the David Archuleta Bus is the first serious ride I’ve ever taken in the world of fandom. Because I’ve decided that I like an 18 year old who charmed me through my TV screen last year and have been following him ever since. Because I love his voice, his beauty, and what I assume to be his sweet personality and have found an online community of fellow David admirers who love the same qualities. Because he is mentioned in 14 posts in a sea of 400+ posts on my personal blog, and is the subject of four fan videos that I created just for a whole lot of fun. Because I went to one concert of his when he came to town. Because I bought his CD and downloaded his iTunes stuff. I could go on and on, but how do any of these actions even remotely place me in the same category as a stalker-fan who bugs her idol’s tour bus with a GPS tracker? Oh! Because I’m over 30 and gushing over an 18 year old!

What I find remarkably limited about this conversation – a conversation I think is worth having – is the sexist and ageist stereotyping going on, so that instead of just rightly calling out certain disrespectful (and, quite frankly, ILLEGAL) behavior on the part of obsessive fans – because that’s the problem more than what people personally choose to do for their own enjoyment – assumptions are made about who “crazy” fans are “over there” vs. the “normal” fans we all assume ourselves to be. Such assumptions made (did you know, for example, that Arch Angels are really Claymates who needed to find a new American Idol? Funny to me because Ruben Studdard was the reason I started watching American Idol religiously to begin with), especially ones that assume Idol stalker-fans are either “unattractive” or “fat” or “bored housewives,” do nothing to address the ways that stalker-fans who show no respect for the artist they admire should be roundly dismissed or chastised for their bad behavior. Instead, these assumptions are designed to belittle mostly women and girls who dare to go over the top in their love and appreciation for the artist and his music. Ever notice how when guys develop obsessions over music or sports or gaming, and travel to every concert or fan conference and every sports event, they’re not called “stalker-fans,” they’re just called “hardcore fans”?

I’m bringing this up because I find it disturbing that it would be so easy to lump all fans in the same category of “crazy,” especially those of us (women in particular, who have often been characterized in patriarchal societies as “hysterical” since we have “wombs”) who publicly declare our love and admiration for David Archuleta (as if the story is about him but somehow Archies are a “point of reference”). For I do believe there is a difference between disrespectful obsessive behavior and just your average ODD when you log in to your favorite fan site on a regular basis and get your latest David news or watch your latest David YouTube video. I don’t have certain resources to travel to several concerts, but for those fans who do, more power to ‘em is what I say! As long as nobody is getting hurt. Fortunately, JD (and prior to that, ND) has never made me or anyone else feel like a “bad fan” because we didn’t or couldn’t attend David’s solo tour. Perhaps in not being judgmental in these ways, I’ve never thought to question which of us was “normal” and who is “the crazy over there.” Besides, we’re already so self-critical and mature enough to know the boundaries of our fandom, we don’t need to point fingers at anyone but ourselves – if we care to or worry about it at all.

Having said all this, I would be remiss to also not mention that, within every fandom, and David’s is hardly unique in this way, the boundaries have been drawn, and JD is here precisely because ND’s blog owner no longer felt his views were welcome. Needless to say, hierarchies are established – from those who think they have an “in” with the artist (or the artist’s family member or band member) to those who create “insider” groups within a fan site.  Regardless, I always have to ask the basic question: why am I apart of this community? Or any community? Someone or something binds us together. Here, it is the love of the artist and his music. When that stops being the point, it’s time to move on, or it’s time to regroup and refocus.

I’ve never had the desire to be a groupie. If an artist is in town, and I want to see him, I see him. Or, if I have an opportunity to travel somewhere for vacation or to meet up with members of said community, that’s the enjoyment and the pleasures of fandom, I would think. Music is such a personal gift, a direct connection straight to the heart, that there’s a reason that music artists, more than any other celebrity, inspires the fanaticism. But, to me, whenever fanaticism bumps up against respect issues and privacy issues, then we have a problem. Traveling hours to see your favorite artist in concert is about love and respect. Calling up your favorite artist’s hotel room number or tracking his tour bus, that requires a restraining order.

At the end of the day, where’s the fun and the joy that started us on this journey? I hope we, as JDers, will always keep this goal in mind and not ever lose sight of this aspect of our love and enjoyment of David.

- Hello Gorgeous