Journalism / Living With Russel Crowe 2
He walked, initially unnoticed, through the front door, sitting quietly in the corner of the living room. For just over two hours we sat looking at him, never making a sound. That is until my mother exclaimed: ‘Isn’t he wonderful.’
This was my first encounter with Russell Crowe, in the form of the Gladiator DVD. Since then he has gone from squatting for one night to being a full time lodger and I’m getting sick of it. Thanks to my mother I fear that there will be no getting rid of him.
I have un-wittingly entered a twilight-zone, a fan by-proxy. By merely following a link on my mother’s ‘favourites’ I have stumbled upon a vast network of mature ladies who support a celebrity in the same way that most people support a football team.
Now, before I continue, I must state one thing; I actually like the fellow. His films are good; he seems a man’s man, hell I even bought his music. But as they say, ‘familiarity breeds contempt’.
My jaundiced attitude towards him may have come from my teens when I was craving the attention that my mum lavished on this stranger. Maybe it is just fear that I too may become as hopelessly obsessed with Crowe as my Mum has. Indeed, as I write this very piece he is the topic of conversation. Why? Because he happens to have a jacket that is the same colour as mine! There is a limit to how many tenuous links a man can take.
Crowe seems to be most popular with slightly older ladies, all over the world who get their daily fix on the internet on fan forums and message-boards. The sites vary from the reasonable to the down-right reactionary ‘underground’ sites.
Now, it is not like a boy-hood crush on Scarlett Johansson or a young girl‘s obsession with Will Young. No, this is some serious organisation. The members of these sites are meticulous in their research. I stumbled on a thread that extended the briefs or boxers debate to the subject of Crowe. This was when I realised that the whole fan site phenomenon is un-controllable. (Incidentally, according to an obscure interview from 1993, I can confirm that he’s a boxers man.)
I will never look at ‘women of a certain age’ in the same way again. Gone is the comforting idea that they are interested in nothing more than scrap-booking and knitting. (Though apparently Crowe knits as well…God Help Me, I’ve seen the pictures.) Instead I wonder if they write bodice ripping fan-fic all the while swapping pictures and making giddy remarks about the size of certain ‘attributes’.
It is obviously not just Crowe sites that dominate the Web, but the most popular ones are those that discuss the more mature man. There are Pitt, Clooney and Depp sites to name a few. Whilst members from one site can appear on another and be perfectly amiable and have no altercations with the natives, there are sometimes issues. This does depend on what is going on in Hollywood at the time…If a particular star has said something critical of Crowe then the cudgels are taken up on his behalf.
The amount of sites dedicated to a specific star varies, with Russell Crowe leading the way with an entire empire, referred to by its denizens as ‘Croweland’, with domains ranging from ‘The Crowe’s Perch’ to ‘Faux Crowe’s’ (which is a site specifically for those who spend their time pretending to BE Russell Crowe on Message Boards. Nice!)
It seems that he is well and truly here to stay in my house at least, and, to tell the truth I think I’d probably miss the bloke if he went, now that I know him so well.
He can’t just roam around as he pleases, he’s gonna have to make do with the lounge, all of the walls, the screensaver, the calendar, the bookshelves, CD rack, video cabinet, and the computer and…
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This is an entertaining piece. I had no idea that people were so obsessed with celebrities. I thought it was a guilty pleasure for many, in moderation, but wow. I do think it is truly sad to see that bright, intelligent, talented women (many of who fought for equal rights) are wasting their time idolizing a man. Especially a man who’s only contribution to society is acting and singing. When are people going to wake up and obsess over something worth their time. If these women would put that energy into politics or education, they could achieve limitless goals.
This piece is well written, it kept my attention, and made me want to debate the issue. These are very positive things. Good luck.
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This is more a fan-site piece. Its not in article form because its not about anything specific. The title could read, “My mom and I like Russell Crowe.” It reads to rough for an article publishing. It needs edits of personal statements and add ons. Example: “Now, before I continue, I must state one thing;” This section does nothing but take up space in the piece. There is alot of normal speach in here which needs to be cut or cleaned up. There are structure errors and typos. “he seems a man’s man,” is an example. Overall, this is not about Crowe, its about YOU. That is why it would have to be a Fan-site piece. Its not news…just opinion. A little to much for even the Voice of the People section because you are not hitting an issue. I am sure other fans might like this, but that would be the limit. Good luck!
It is coming through much more clearly. I think maybe yes it should be a fan site peice.
This version was good, I must say I thought the previous one had more humor and flowed better.
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