In a society where everything that occurred five minutes ago was old, everything that is occurring now is the greatest thing ever, and the things that will occur five minutes from now are to be the defining attributes of existence itself, it is easy to get lost in a sea of hype, frustration, anger, and above all: RAPID FANDOM.
Spreading quicker than rabies, and with just as much drool, fandom is a modern bane. It provides people easy access to self-absolution in their superiority.They are machines which by their own definition can alienate, dismiss, or downright insult anyone who fails to adhere to the strict guidelines that supply. The crux of it all being: their idealized deity is so without fault that anything they have done is amazing, anything they will do is going to be amazing, and if you don't accept those two aspects as indisputable fact then you are unworthy.
Now before any of you go "but but Uni, Kurosawa" I'd point you to the fact that I have given Kurosawa negative film reviews, I don't believe he is infallible, and I have several friends, blogging and in real life, who can't stand his films. But that's not a common thing. In fact, if I could easily openly insult them all, lambaste their lack of cinematic knowledge, and cast them aside in a series of violent outbursts. And you know what? I'd probably get thirty comments about how right I am to do so. And I would be so wrong it would move discourse to tears were it to possess human emotions.
But that's the way we are. You can become a fan of something on facebook, follow that thing on twitter, read fan dedicated websites, books, fanfictions, stories, news stories, get a google reader to only pick out positive news stories on that thing you love so well. Why? Because that thing just so happened to make several things you kind of enjoy. No wonder people don't know how to disagree on anything anymore. With a near infinite domain of knowledge at our disposal, we have found an amazing way of boxing ourselves in to extremes that even our grandfathers would be shocked by. All in the name of self-absolutism.
I like Christopher Nolan. I quite like Memento (in my top 100). I don't need a spare change of pants when I learn he's making a movie. I haven't flipped out because Johnny Depp made a cameo on MTV, nor do I believe Joseph Gordon-Levitt has the sun shine out of his ass because he's whimsical and likable. Tim Burton is fine, but he's done better than most of his recent work, and Daft Punk's score to Tron Legacy was fine. I don't hate any of these people. I just have the (socially dictated) unfortunate stance of enjoying them to an extent and that being the end of it.
To be honest, making great films (or in some cases marginally enjoyable ones) doesn't earn my love, respect, or admiration. It certainly doesn't earn my faith that you'll never make a bad one (in some cases I'd argue a few of you already have). Every great filmmaker in history has made bad films, it's just a part of life. So by what right should we bestow unto them such confidence? Isn't a blind belief that because of the troubles in the 'real' world, those we appreciate in the 'cinematic' world will never let us down?
Liking actors/actresses, writers/directors should be more than merely accepting their creations as gospel, it should be liking them for who they are and what they bring to the table. Odd Couple 2 is a film so bad I needed a heart transplant just to get through the first half, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy Jack Lemmon or Walter Mathau. The gross simplification that one's ability to like someone is directly related to what they produce undermines the very aspect of liking someone. You don't found a romance solely on someone's ability to constantly produce good coffee. Sure it might be the reason you notice them, but that's a kickstart, sooner or later you've got to kick it into second gear and try and find out more.
Otherwise you're little more than a groupie in a sea of flailing fish, each trying to be heard, none saying anything different.
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