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Post by mllemass on Mar 13, 2018 12:33:38 GMT
We've talked about this topic before - spending a ridiculous amount of money to attend a fan event. I wish I could do it and I'm jealous of people who can!
I don't follow anything to do with sports, but a few times a year the tv sports news will do a story about a big game taking place somewhere, and they'll broadcast a few minutes live outside the arena as fans arrive. They always ask some fans how much they paid for their tickets. Regular box-office prices are usually in the hundreds of dollars, but last minute tickets are in the thousands. Nobody ridicules them for throwing away their money because being an excited fan is encouraged! But it always makes me think that I wouldn't go see that game for free, never mind for thousands of dollars.
I think I've mentioned this before - I used to know someone whose sister and brother-in-law were really into car stereos. That's actually how they met and fell in love - at a car stereo convention. After they were married, every bit of extra money went into travelling around North America to attend the conventions. I thought my friend was making it up when she told me about it!
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Post by ellie on Mar 13, 2018 12:50:10 GMT
Of course people are entitled to spend their money however they want and, as I said earlier, good luck to those who go to Star Sanctum. I hope they enjoy it.
That said, I don‘t think it’s petty or “haterish” to look slightly askance at people being prepared to pay thousands just to be in the same room as an actor. No more so than it is to raise an eyebrow at the idea of people paying €20k for a handbag. To each their own and all that but, to quote the old pop song, there are things that “make you go hmn.”! 😄
This isn’t about BC, it’s a general point about all such things.
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Post by miriel68 on Mar 13, 2018 12:54:40 GMT
Sorry but it’s their money and I don’t see any reason to criticise anyone for spending their money any way they want if it isn’t harming anyone. It certainly doesn’t make them insane and so what if they are well off enough to do this. :-)) Well, of course it is their money. So if you are a milllionaire and spend money on the collection of 500 Birkin handbags (I read about people who do just that) it is your right, but I don't see why am I not allowed to feel critical about it: I am not going to steal their collection or ask them to give it away. I did spend quite a lot of money on BC, as well - for example to see him playing Hamlet. I would willingly spend money to attend Letters Live and to see him in a new play. I did attend one convention in London (didn't really like it, not my cup of tea) and I can see how it can be, for example, an occasion to meet other fans and make friends with other admirers of the same show/actor. I paid about 30 pounds and it was a right amount of money for such a thing. Now I am asking: you are paying 1000 for what? A possibility of seeing you idol? So yes, I feel a bit disturbed thinking about fans who are willing to spend this amount of money for a convention. I don't really think they are millionaires TBH.
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Post by miriel68 on Mar 13, 2018 13:05:18 GMT
Of course people are entitled to spend their money however they want and, as I said earlier, good luck to those who go to Star Sanctum. I hope they enjoy it. That said, I don‘t think it’s petty or “haterish” to look slightly askance at people being prepared to pay thousands just to be in the same room as an actor. No more so than it is to raise an eyebrow at the idea of people paying €20k for a handbag. To each their own and all that but, to quote the old pop song, there are things that “make you go hmn.”! 😄 This isn’t about BC, it’s a general point about all such things. Lol, ellie we posted almost at the same time and I see that we think very much alike (even concerning handbags!). So yes, the people do different things with their money. They go to a peepshows and still we could say they don't harm anyone, so what's the problem? Conventions are part of the mass culture today and they seem harmless enough, but they do aliment or encourage certain behaviours that I feel uneasy about. |
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Post by roverpup on Mar 13, 2018 13:26:56 GMT
I was responding to this remark -
“Cannot help thinking that asking (and paying) this amount of money for such an event is insane.”
I have done some things that I am sure someone could have said that (paid exorbitant amounts of cash to do things I wanted to do). And I don’t think of myself as “insane” for doing so at all.
This whole thing of being critical of someone following their passions (and if fan conventions are their passion then it is worth it to them) just feels wrong to me - and that is just my opinion on this matter. I know people on here aren’t “hater-ish” when they criticise folks who go to these conventions and pay big bucks to do so, but it is exactly the type of talk I see all over the hater sites, so to me there is a parallel of some sorts.
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Post by sgev1977 on Mar 13, 2018 13:53:31 GMT
I think the situation is insane, too. It's at least for me because it's indeed a LOT of money! It doesn't necessarily means the persons who spend those amounts of money are really "certified" insane. As you said, they probably have the means or they really enjoy those things so much that they doesn't care too much about the sacrifices they do to go there.
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Post by ellie on Mar 13, 2018 13:56:04 GMT
I’m pretty sure the term insane was being used broadly as emphasis rather than saying that the poster thought the people were literally insane. People frequently say things are insane or mad without meaning it literally.
There is absolutely no parallel whatsoever with expressing surprise at people paying huge amounts of money for attendance at a convention and the sort of thing that is said on the hater sites.
Haters are particular groups of people with specific malevolent purpose and opinions. Expressing a less than positive view about something in general does not put a person remotely in that space.
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Post by sgev1977 on Mar 13, 2018 14:05:27 GMT
I’m pretty sure the term insane was being used broadly as emphasis rather than saying that the poster thought the people were literally insane. People frequently say things are insane or mad without meaning it literally. There is absolutely no parallel whatsoever with expressing surprise at people paying huge amounts of money for attendance at a convention and the sort of thing that is said on the hater sites. Haters are particular groups of people with specific malevolent purpose and opinions. Expressing a less than positive view about something in general does not put a person remotely in that space. Exactly! We all can do "insane" things. It doesn't mean we are really insane and I doubt the intention was to describe those fans as insane people. The point is the situation is crazy because for a lot of us is unimaginable to spend those amounts of money to be a few minutes with a celebrity in the same room. |
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Post by queenzod on Mar 13, 2018 15:54:15 GMT
In 1982 I spent $75 to go see Frank Sinatra in a tiny club in Detroit. That was a huge sum of money for me and other people thought I was insane, lol. Tickets to concerts back then ran about $7, I think, so this was the equivalent of thousands (for me). I didn’t care. I’ve adored his music for decades and the opportunity to see a legend in a small venue was...well, I couldn’t not do it. To this day, I’m so glad I did it! He was old, his voice was mostly gone, and I did not care. I sat in that room with 200 other people and soaked it up. Still, one of the great memories of my life.
I don’t blink at folks paying what they want to. Look at Janet Fong. She spends zillions traveling the world to see Ben. She loves it, and she’s creating a lifetime of memories. More power to her. 😃
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Post by MagdaFR on Mar 13, 2018 16:07:13 GMT
Speaking of obsessed...is Lichtblickpink who posts about BC on Twitter, the same as Vixypink, the Australian fan who followed him places and thought she was dating him? I just noticed the similar name and wondered. No, she has nothing to do with with her. She's Swiss, I think. |
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