Bikkuri Project

A recent blog entry by Kimitsu has really got me thinking on the subject of how well we do or do not know our idols. It’s something that bloggers touch on a lot, I know, but I’d like to put in my two cents on the matter. This paragraph in particular caught my attention.

“No matter how much we learn about their personalities, we can never completely tell how much is real and how much is just marketing. Of course, it’d be great to say that they’re all amazing actors if what we see is completely made up, but once we do get to know the actual person and know for certain that it is them, we’ve crossed the intangible line that separates a fan and friend. (You can be a friend and a fan; but not a fan and a friend, if that makes any sense.) But with the high level of exposure idols get doing what they do, it’s all to easy to imagine that we’ve crossed that line.”

True…. But I’d like to take a moment to argue the other side of things, since I’d say that the above is representative of the prevailing opinion in the blogosphere. I believe that we, the fans, do in fact “know” our idols better than their casual friends, and certainly better than their casual acquaintances. We’ve watched them for countless hours doing everything from playing stupid games on TV shows, to interacting with each other behind the scenes or even on hidden camera, to performing in concert in front of thousands of fans. We’ve seen them laugh and we’ve seen them cry. We’ve watched and read interviews, and seen them reveal countless little things about themselves through their answers to questions, anecdotes, personality quizzes, and how they react to things. We’ve heard their other group members tell stories about them. Picture your favorite idol. I’d reckon that you could easily write several pages on their likes and dislikes, background, personality quirks, and other traits. Now picture someone who you consider to be a casual friend. Could you do the same for them? I know I’d be struggling to finish an entire page.

I acknowledge that everything we see and hear about our favorite idols (expect for tabloid stuff) is carefully filtered, but do you reveal all of your darkest and innermost thoughts and feelings to your acquaintances and casual friends? No. The side of yourself that you present to them is just as filtered, if not more so, than what the idols present to us. We see idols in a huge variety of situations and expressing a huge variety of emotions, while the ways in which you see your casual friends are usually much more limited. So can we know, really know, an idol? Of course not. But how many people do you think really know you? Maybe your close family members and a couple of best friends? There are plenty of things we don’t know about our idols. Important things, no doubt. There are also plenty of important things we don’t know about those whom we consider to be our friends. Kimitsu writes that the line between fan and friend is, “[when] we get to know the actual person and know for sure that it is them”. I’d argue that even with “friends”, it is nearly impossible to know for certain that what you are seeing is “them”. What you are seeing is a certain side of themself that they are choosing to present to you, and that’s the same thing you are seeing from an idol.

One may argue that there is a difference between fandom and friendship in that the idol is essentially trying to sell themself to you while a friend is not. However, I still think that even though no money is exchanging hands in a friendship, the situation is essentially the same. Aren’t trying to make a good impression on a new acquaintance, not making a casual friend privy to all the gory details of your love life, or smiling at a someone, even if you are in a bad mood, all ways of “selling yourself” to that person? The only thing it comes down to is trying to make another person like you. Even if you claim to be someone who “doesn’t care what other people think of me”, I’d imagine that you don’t mention your darkest personal secrets to casual friends or acquaintances. I’d also imagine if you think about why that is you’ll find that it’s because you don’t want them, or other people who they might tell, to think badly of you. Therefore, I’d imagine that you are a liar when you say you don’t care what other people think about you. Everyone’s selling themself. Idols are just a lot more up-front about it.

There is, of course, a big difference between the idol-fan relationship and friendship, and that is that there is no reciprocity in the idol-fan relationship. The idol knows absolutely nothing about you and they don’t care about you, at least not on a personal level. Friendship is a two-way street, so it would be incorrect to consider your favorite idol to be your friend. However, if a fan cares about an idol and knows a fair amount about them, I’d say the one-way street from that person to the idol is qualitatively no different from friendship.

Thoughts? I’m so ready to debate this!

~Celestia~

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