ANYWAY, I need a topic for a persuasive speech in my public speaking class (25% of final grade), where we have to try to affect our audience's beliefs on a particular topic. One of the potential topics I'm considering is celebrity culture/fandom (perhaps narrowed down further to actors), and how - unlike the common stereotype - being in celebrity fandom can often be educational, productive, inspirational and generally positive.

I have a ton of anecdotal testimonies and such from celeb fans that I've collected through the years from here and elsewhere, so in that area I'm good to go and don't really need any more. :D
But it probably wouldn't be a very good speech if I'm just going to say "people think celebrity fans are X, but here's a bunch of quotes from fans saying otherwise!". So I'm hoping to have some varied format, and any suggestions there would be welcome!

Also, most of the 'professional' research on celebrity culture I've found has been generally negative, written by outsiders freaking out at us crazy people. Some of it just makes me angry. So I'm a bit worried about the variation in my sources if it's mostly going to be fan testimonies.

General questions!

- What kind of topics/misconceptions on celebrity culture do you suggest I cover?

- Do you know of any charities/movements/other good stuff that's emerged as a result of a celebrity fandom? Right now off the top of my head I have Random Acts and Sylar's Army, as well as Keanu fandom's fundraising efforts for StandUp2Cancer, but more suggestions are always welcome!

- Do you think there's a difference between celebrity fans who exist within a fandom and those who are more isolated in their obsession?
- Similarly, is there a proper distinction towards those who are obsessed with specific celebrities as opposed to celebrities in general? What about depth vs. breadth of obsession? (e.g. someone intensely obsessed with Keanu and Keanu alone vs. someone mildly interested in about a hundred actors)

- Where is the line between healthy/unhealthy obsession, when it comes to celebrities? ...I'm actually having a hard time figuring this out, because I'd think that if there were a line, I probably crossed it long ago - I mean, I built this site - but at the same time I consider myself perfectly sane at least when it comes to fandom. :|

- Links to any scholarly articles or books (preferably available online) in favour of celebrity fandom (as opposed to fandom in general; I have some of those) would be greatly appreciated, if you already know of any! (if you don't, don't go to the trouble of looking.)

Thanks!

I found this old power point ebook (a little out of date) but it does have relevant info and terms for your speech.

http://ebookbrowse.com/the-psychology-of-celebrity-and-fandom-ppt-d137248197

Hope I can help. Cheers!

On second thought... better not. DON'T go there. Only after you're done with the school stuff- and even then I'd advice against it.

http://winchester.academia.edu/DavidGiles/Papers/706064/Parasocial_interaction_A_review_of_the_literature_and_a_model_for_future_research

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Ani - you think you crossed that line? YOU?
... take a look at Topix lately and see what 'crossing the line' really means.

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XD
Hence my wondering about where one draws the line and how. As in, in terms of fandom activity I might be further along than those people - I'm guessing none of them worked 6 hours for 40 days straight compiling and copyediting about a thousand Keanu articles >_> - but despite that possibly have a healthier involvement in fandom.

(don't ask me how much time I spent editing Funkie's emails for the thankyoukeanu.com site. the answer would be two full weekends ;))

it's a particle, it's a wave ;) :D

Passing thought - you were looking for positives from fandom right? Well the skillsets acquired and the persistance necessary to complete 240 hours worth of an activity is remarkable to say the least. Besides many of those acquired skillsets are transferable to many different tasks so that has got to be a positive right?

Any chance we'll get to read (or hear!) your speech? Maybe you could Skype us all in that day in class... ;D

@BlueGem heh, doubt I can do a recording, but I'll post the text!

@lizaird: Looking through your links!
okay I definitely fall into the 'intense-personal' category of fan.
ahaha the one on parasocial interaction had this: "In keeping with the call by Reeves and Anderson (1991) for the study of media to enrich psychology..."

reeves and anderson
REEVES AND ANDERSON

:D

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REEVES AND ANDERSON

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The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us.

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Definitely not!

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Where is the line between healthy/unhealthy obsession,

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I do check routinely and often different sites related to KR fandom, but over the years I have learned it is more about other like minded individuals than KR himself. Over the years I have developed virtual friends and call it "acquaintances" because of my interest in KR. Because the social circle in my RL has dwindled I find solace in having these Virtual friends.

We all have different priorities in life, and what matters to one is often different in value to another. There is a new type of event happening and it comes from the marketing world. It may be of interest to your background for this speech. Market Trending is very valuable and how people and why people make the choices they do have an effect on marketing trends. Check this out and look at the trending segments in particular clanning.

http://www.faithpopcorn.com/

I have been called 'obsessed' by Iflipout and her/his kind. no comment on that. ;)

And please don't get me started on 'the medical pov'. If it were up to 'them', we'd all live on prozac pills and sleepwalk through life.

@lizaird, my life is so busy that it is hard to get together with my local friends, so I take solace, too, in my virtual friends. It widens my world. Otherwise, I would likely never meet and "talk with" someone from Norway, the Philippines, or Japan!

Anyway, Ani, there's always "Jing" or "Snagit" for recording ;D

I was also thinking about what you asked about other celeb fandoms that have led to charitable or other activities. I don't know if this counts, but a group of fans within Beauty and the Beast fandom years ago created a group called Band of Angels, which was involved in emotional support and charitable activities connected with the late actor Edward Albert, Jr. B&B fandom had always featured charity auctions at its conventions (even the virtual ones) and Edward Albert - who played a recurring character on the 1980s CBS TV series - was a very popular guest at the Cons and usually emceed the charity auctions. Older folks might recall him as having been in a film called Butterflies are Free many years ago.

I met him several times and always enjoyed having him at the events, although I was not what I would call a major fan of his. The last time I saw him was in 2001 in NYC (just before 9-11); he called his dad (the actor Eddie Albert, who starred in a 1960s American TV show called "Green Acres") on his cell phone because it was his 95th birthday, put the phone on speaker, and had the entire Convention audience (several hundred of us) sing Happy Birthday to him. He was that kind of guy - took care of this dad through Alzheimer's to the end, although he himself was already ill with cancer.

This subgroup of fans honored Edward Albert by creating BOA (Band of Angels) and he was actually quite heavily involved in it - he would send personal thank you's to donors and also send autographs and notes upon request to members who had asked on the behalf of others (usually people who were terminally ill or had some other crisis going on in which a note of encouragement from their favorite actor held great meaning). I don't know if BOA is still active (Albert died, unfortunately only in his mid-fifties, a few years ago), but I might be able to find out if you want to talk to the founder - I think I am on a Facebook group with her. There are YouTube videos of his appearances - the founder writes on one of them that "The occasion was his fan club meeting, but from that meeting was born the group Band of Angels - a group to provide family and support to each other and those who cross our paths. Edward's love and generosity of spirit touched many lives and the love he shared continues on as his legacy. "

I don't know if that's the kind of thing you are looking for, but thought I would share it!

(for some reason I didn't get notifications. argh. I don't know if it's Yahoo!Mail or WINM that's responsible.)