Adam, Fandom and Me
This post began as a comment to eleanor_lavish as a reaction to the Out fiasco. When it very quickly became apparent that I was just starting to sort of spew out my personal thoughts on Adam-fandom in general into the comment box, it became its own post instead
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I am with you on the not wanting to wander into too much controversy over at ontd_ai these days, or any days, but this one just... got me right in the gut.
The only place we differ is that I didn't much mind Hicklin's call to action for Adam not to mess this up. Hicklin isn't telling Adam how to be gay, in my interpretation of it. He's saying the same thing you are - which is that Adam is going to be besieged on all sides, and that his very existence is political as much as he doesn't want it to be, and that he needs to ACT and not REACT, needs to be the one in control of his own image, needs to set his own boundaries, needs to be the pioneer he is without surrounding himself with people who limit how "gay" he can be in a gay magazine.
To tell you the truth, I kind of want to tell Adam the same thing. "You're doing something extraordinary, and we want you to succeed beyond your wildest dreams, without once compromising who you are. DON'T MESS IT UP, ADAM, BY SURROUNDING YOURSELF WITH BIGOTS.
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Oh, yes, I completely see your point there. It never occured to me to interpret that comment that way, which is especially odd since I found it exceptionally out of place considering the context of the rest of the letter. But, yes, I can completely see that side now. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.
But with that new interpretation in mind, I think it's a little off-putting and slightly hypocritical for him to call Adam out like that inside the same issue where his magazine (regardless of their ultimate presumably good intentions) is... using him as a cash cow. It's a business, after all, and their agenda might be to promote and express gay culture but it's also to make money. So to me that comes across as a little like he's calling Adam out for having questionable judgment and not surrounding himself with people that have his best interests at heart, while he sits back and counts all the money that Adam on the cover of that self-same issue made his magazine. He could have at least included the letter in maybe the ( ... )
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I see complete validity in your interpretation of that comment and it DOES make much more sense in context. Though, I still mean the same things I said, but in an 'this is where my mind and gut immediately went and I really hope I'm wrong' kind of way.
As to your new points... Publicists tell reporters the topics they can't talk about in interviews all the time. Adam doesn't want to be political about gay issues, so (in a COMPLETELY wrong and out of line way) Adam's management told her not to talk about them. I don't blame her for being shocked and offended at all. I don't blame Hicklin for being offended on her behalf and on behalf of the magazine either. I just read some hypocrisy from his timing and his tone, I guess?
Ugh, controversy.
And I'm sorry this whole thing got to you so much. Sometimes things just really strike a nerve. Your frustration with it and with Adam in that way is completely warrented.
*hugshugs*
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Lambert says he was unprepared for public scrutiny and constant speculation. Nor was he eager to be a role model.
"I don't want to be a gay poster child, but I am by default, because there aren't that many," he says. "Like it or not, it's projected on me. I'm not saying, 'Do what I do.' I say, 'Do what you do.' "
Which, on the one hand, at least he's saying it, but on the other if he is aware that it's projected on him, why does he act like saying it's just about the music is going to somehow make it so. I mean, I guess the answer is because he's a singer and not someone who seems to enjoy thinking about politics, but sometimes it confronts you, and you don't have much of a choice.
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I hadn't seen that quote, so thanks for bringing it up. It's a tough situation he's in, man. I understand (and ideally agree with) his desire to just make it be about the music. But the situation isn't ideal and it has to be about other things too. And because of the state of America right now, the biggest other thing is his gayness. I hope this is the start of him acknowledging it more. Not to say that I expect (or really, even WANT if it's going to be disingenuous) him to act (as opposed to react) on it, but to own that it's reality and making smart, positive choices on how to respond to it instead of just ignoring it.
Does that make sense? I'm really sleepy right now.
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I think this kind of thing is another point in the first part of my post here; that if I shy away from the actual fandom parts of being an Adam fan, I can be reminded less often of the ways this philosophy is being constantly tested and prodded at.
Thanks for all the conversation on this. You're totally right; hearing and being involved with rational discussion on the topic really DOES help. <3
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