I know part of the problem with fans is that they think the actor is the same as the character and, having watched the character and been privy to their thoughts, actions, etc., feel they have a relationship. Still wrong in all possible ways. I remember during the height of Dynasty's popularity, John Forsythe was in a store and a woman came up and started hitting him with her purse for being mean to poor Crystal. sigh.

And I'm enjoying our lolCass

I have to work Thursday night again, because apparently my boss hates me (not really), and every night I've closed I haven't gotten home until after ten. Closer to 10:30 last time. So ... I could watch at 8 p.m. board time, but I know that's rough for other East Coast folks who don't like to stay up as late.

It's just me, but I really, really liked Sundays because I never have to work past 7 p.m. EST. And I really miss the W&P fun.

::mournful puppy dog eyes::

Are Pete and Jilli joining us? Will there be adorable looming?

part of the problem with fans is that they think the actor is the same as the character and, having watched the character and been privy to their thoughts, actions, etc., feel they have a relationship.

This is actually a sign of a serious psychological problem, and I hope it's not the case for most of the scary fans, because that would mean that there are way more actively psychotic people who watch television than I'd like to think there are.

Yes, hello, was an impressionable adolescent when that guy killed Rebecca Schaefer.

(And anyway, one of the things JDM gets interviewed about is the people who run into him in the grocery store and burst into tears about the fact that Denny Duquette died. One presumes, since they saw the "dead body" on their TV screens being really really dead, they know Denny Duquette is not alive, and the person in the grocery store is actually someone else. And yet? Weepiness on aisle three.)

Weepiness, while dumb, is harmless. Tackling and unwanted fondling, NSM.

People who watch soap operas seem to be especially prone to the actor=character problem. Especially if they're socially isolated.

I can see crying over a character death, since that's what Shonda was trying to get. I can see being prompted into that by bumping into the actor. I think it's oversharing, and I can't imagine it, but I did end up getting a bit emotional over Wesley's death when I spoke to Alexis Denisof.

No hands in new places, though.

No hands in new places, though.

This is what's so scary to me.

I remember reading something about when silent films were new, and how strangely intimate it seemed to see those faces so big, and so *close* there in the dark, after the relative distance and perspective difference of watching a stage play.

Clearly, that intimacy is a bit much for some fans.

I have only been to one convention convention, and it was for La Femme Nikita.

Nothing terribly embarassing happened at that one, right? There was the stampede into the ballroom. Oh, and the actor who tried to sell his crappy paintings at the auction and got sulky when no one wanted them.

People who watch soap operas seem to be especially prone to the actor=character problem.

Longterm actors, that doesn't surprise me as much -- when you spend 20 years playing the same role, the association is pretty close. OTOH, there are weekly soap magazines that are constantly showcasing the actors and asking them, "So, are you like your character at all?" and the answer is inevitably something like, "You mean, did I get my sister pregnant and throw myself off a cliff when I realized who she was, only to wash up ashore on a mystical island and suffer from total anmesia? Not really."

(I will say, being a soap veteran means always being able to play "Who is that guy" bingo. I haven't watched soaps in probably 8 years, and I still spot So-and-so from ATWT on Law & Order, e.g. The soap memory is long.)

Clearly, that intimacy is a bit much for some fans.

Come the HDTV revolution, scary fans will be walking up to actors saying, "You have 11,426 pores on your face. You know how I know? I counted."

Nothing terribly embarassing happened at that one, right?

Nothing that perspective hasn't taught me is pretty normal. But hearing y'all talk--sheesh. Serious lack of upbringing or balanced thinking sometimes.

The inability to separate character from actor happens with people who attend stage plays, too. I've had friends who are actively avoided or booed at in public situations after they've played a particularly nasty character. I think it's the fact that an emotional response gets triggered, and seeing the actor in a different setting can still recall that response. Of course, acting on the response is what separates the fidiots from the normal people.