Not the ideal anymore

As I said before, the real problem with idolising people and others a lot is that you’re making them out to be more than what they really are, obsessed with the ideal image with your imagination until they turn out to be disappointing (actresses having a hot temper, Caitlin Snow torturing people with her dogs until Barry Allen holds her accountable for it), though bear in mind I’ve been through it.

To give you the example, you idealise the actress a lot as you think you have a lot in common with her but there are things about her that turn out to be frustrating like her habit of losing her temper a lot, animal hoarding, schizophrenic and even being rude to fans on a bad day hurts you as you’ve idealised her a lot to the point of turning her into an idol, but the idol is flawed and disappointing.

Likewise, I’d say the same things about Caitlin Snow where you think she has a lot in common with you even though she’s a practising witch who uses her dogs to hurt and kill animals, doing the same as a werewolf until Barry Allen makes her only hunt animals as a consequence of her actions. That you don’t want her to be made accountable for her actions in both comics and telly, even if Barry still does it anyways.

The problem is, if you’ve idealised the character or person but they’re nothing like your expectations (hot tempers, witchcraft and the like) that it hurts you when you realise it even if that doesn’t make them any less of it.

Idealisation and the sourness of it

I suspect if part of the problem of idealising people, fictional characters and animals is turning them into idols without knowing the faults that will disappoint others (bear in mind if the actress if a habitual animal hoarder or if Caitlin Snow’s a werewolf who tortures people with her dogs that’s going to disappoint others as they’ve idealised those so much), then that’s disturbingly true.

As I knew from experience, the problem with idealising people is that once the flaws are revealed that’s going to hurt the fan as they’ve built an idealised image of their idols but their idols are only fallible (animal hoarding, hot tempers, etc) as to be very disappointing as in expecting Flash’s Caitlin Snow to be a heroine but even then she makes mistakes by thinking she’d get away with crime as a werewolf and hurting animals with her dogs until Barry stops by making her accountable for it.

Likewise you wouldn’t want to think your idol would be accountable for their mistakes, something like caring more for the dogs than the baby that nobody wants to think they’d screw up even if they’re not the best of parents even if they are still people despite their inabilities. But that’s the hurtful part, something like expecting Caitlin to be a heroine but she screws up a lot by thinking she’d get away as a werewolf without realising Barry Allen will stop her from doing it any further.

Or if some actresses really aren’t what you expect them to be: sweet but she loses her temper a lot in front of people she knew and so cynical that it hurts your image of her as sweet and docile, even if she screws up by punching fans in the face when angry and bothered. The idol you made out of her has nothing in common with what she really is as a person or anything else, including characters.

Nobody is perfect, nobody deserves to be made into something they’re not always so (something like the actress having a hot temper that clashes with your image of her as sweet, even if having a temper doesn’t make her any less of a person just as her habit of hoarding dogs is).

Shattered ideals

I think when it come to idolising people, animals and characters there is bound to be the aftermath of hurt as I knew from experience. That’s to give the idea of the problem, the actress is idealised for her talent and relatability but fans aren’t prepared for the news like her schizophrenia, hot temper and habit of hoarding that clashes with their idealised image of her even though she’s still human (sinning and all).

Likewise people idolise Flash’s Caitlin Snow a lot but they aren’t prepared for their idol committing witchcraft with her dogs to harm animals and then being made accountable by Barry Allen for her actions by hunting only rats, even if Caitlin has to face the consequences of her actions nobody likes seeing her being this imperfect as they don’t want to be disappointed by her actions.

Or anybody and anything else, the hurt that comes with knowing either Caitlin is a witch out to hurt people in the form of a wolf and then made accountable for it or the actress being mentally ill, autistic and so into animal hoarding that nobody expects either of them to fail, even if they’re only human.

Idealisation is distortion

I guess that’s the other problem with idolatry of people and almost anything else is idealisation where you like an actress and idealise her enough to turn her into an idol, fan sites about her and stuff but upon knowing that she takes drugs, is schizophrenic, can’t even take care of her child and herself, has a hot temper and is an animal hoarder would break your heart because she has nothing in common with what you expect her to be, bear in mind some of it’s based on my experience enough to empathise with this.

Likewise, you make an idol out of The Flash’s Caitlin Snow where you think she’s cool, you make fanfictions out of her but it turns out on television that she’s an evil werewolf witch out to drink people’s and animals’ blood doing the same to Barry Allen until he holds her accountable by making her drink rat blood with her dogs instead as to minimise the problem. But one that also breaks your heart because you idealised her so much it seemed she can’t screw up at least not in your head until it turns out she screws up as a werewolf that it hurts you all the more.

Likewise you’d also feel heartbroken upon learning that dogs are vicious predators, since you think they didn’t but once caught in the act of doing it that hurts your love for them. Caitlin Snow being a blood-drinking dog-obsessed werewolf and the actress being an animal hoarder would also break your heart as it breaks your idealisation of them as similar things have happened to me before.

Are you prepared to know your idol?

I suspect the real problem with making an idol out of celebrities and anything else is idealisation, where you might idealise the actress for her beauty and talent but being human (or a sinner if one wills) she might be mentally ill, autistic, animal hoarding and not good at taking care of her own child that this is going to shock you if you knew of it and hurt you (that happened to me before).

Likewise with a fictional character, let’s say you idolise the Flash character Caitlin Snow but you’re not prepared to see her become a werewolf who uses her dogs for witchcraft and killing animals, then made accountable for it Barry Allen. You like the character so much you project onto her but you’re not prepared to her see as actually fallible and made to bear the consequences of her actions by Barry making her hunt rats it’s heartbreaking.

Then we can move onto animals, where let’s say you idealise dogs a lot but you’re not prepared to learn of them killing wild animals even if they are capable of (one of my dogs used to hunt frogs) you aren’t prepared to learn about it. Just as some would with Caitlin being an evil wolf witch or the actress being mentally unstable and irritable since youth that clashes with how you see them.

Even if they’re not perfect, you idealised them so much that learning of their flaws (Caitlin is a werewolf delighting in drinking blood, the actress is actually fiery tempered and belligerent, even a Wiccan) would shock you all the more trust me that happened to me before and this should serve as advice to those in fandoms about their favourites.

I’m only human, born of flesh and blood

In the sense that the real problem with idolising people and to some extent fictional characters is that they’re putting fallible people on a pedestal but without knowing the flaws hurt, if they did I probably felt the same way around others before. To give you the idea of the problem, that’s if Flash fans didn’t expect Caitlin Snow to not only turn out to be a werewolf witch out to drink blood from animals but also makes her dogs do the same until Barry Allen stops this and makes them hunt rats to avoid doing worse to others.

Nobody expected her to make a big mistake on television, let alone be held accountable by Barry Allen of all things or on the other side, nobody expected Barry Allen to be hard on Caitlin especially if she has a habit of hunting animals in her wolf form, but knowing she did wrong he had to make a compromise for her like hunting rats. Likewise, nobody would’ve expected a celebrity to be not only schizophrenic but also autistic, dog-hoarding and doesn’t always take care of the child.

But that would mean that person is human, they make mistakes sometimes with consequences they have to bear with. Like if Caitlin Snow commits the sins of murder and deception in the form of a wolf, but Barry’s had enough and has to make her hunt only rats to avoid seeing her offend again like she has to be held accountable for what she does. But that would mean they made a big mistake, like Caitlin killing Wally’s hamsters as a wolf.

Human after all

In the sense that the problem with idolatry’s the tendency to put such characters on a pedestal but knowing the flaws would hurt somebody (that happened to me once or twice). To wit, The Flash’s Caitlin Snow is fallible in the sense that she’s actually a werewolf who’s so spiteful as to use black magic with her dogs to attack animals and people but Barry holds her accountable by making her attack only rats to avoid offending others the next time around.

That would be just as heartbreaking to some people as they don’t expect her to do those things, even if she’s a fallible person if she ever existed in real life all the duping people as a wolf but also made accountable for her actions that’s too close to real life to be escapist. Even if that’s only natural Caitlin would have to face the consequences of her actions, but that would mean she made a big mistake by thinking she’d get away with killing things if she were a wolf.

I think some fans would feel just as bad if let’s say Stephanie Brown smacks Tim Drake around for cheating on her with another girl and watching porn that it’s if she’s not only offended by what he did (though that’s relatable to some) but also where Tim Drake faces the consequences of his mistake where Steph smacks him around for cheating on her. I might as well extend this to IRL characters where they might be neglectful with their children, lose their cool on Instagram a lot and do drugs.

But that would be disappointing to some fans if they knew their favourite celebrity isn’t what they made them out to be, that’s if they not only have mental health problems but do things that shock others like not being careful with the child or caring for animals more than the child. Such people are still sinners or at the very least, fallible like the fictional characters I mentioned before.

Somebody might make a mistake by caring for dogs more than the child, but once neglect comes they only have themselves to blame and by chance, they might learn their lesson on not doing it again the next time. Likewise DC’s Caitlin Snow thinks it’s a good idea to dupe people in the form of a wolf and kill animals with but made accountable by Barry to hunt rats only, as if even for her good spots she is still capable of doing bad.

Or at least fallible, sometimes wrong for doing things and made to mature along the way.

Fandom as religion

It’s something people have talked about before. Fandom’s not necessarily a religion, however in the formal sense of the word where a person has constant contact with a higher power (an actual deity). My opinion’s that fandom practically emerged in an increasingly secularised world.

Fandom is enthusiasm over celebrities, stories and the like but one that developed the trappings of organised religion. You have things like canon (either meaning Biblical books or a cleric), fans dressed up as their favourite character (dressing well for Sundays) and if you will, a saint.

So if the likes of Superman, Batman and Spider-Man are akin to saints (I even considered the idea of Legion of Super-Saints as in like the intergalatic Legion of Super-Heroes), then it would be logical to assume their authors are like bishops, clerics, pastors and popes.

Some likely considered that too. Bear in mind some fans do call their fansites shrines which proves my point that fandom’s something secular but one with religious pretenses. You make a shrine to a saint so some would make a shrine dedicated to their favourite character or celebrity.

Not that there’s anything wrong for as long as it’s not obsessive. (Though bear in mind some people do convert to formal religions.) Fandom’s not necessarily a religion in the formal sense of the word. But something with the pretenses of religion which makes sense to me.

Sirius, aperçus nouveaux sur l’origine de l’idolatrie. Introduction (Google Books)

INTRODUCTION

SOMMAIRE. — Exposé de quelques-unes des matières traitées dans ces Aperçus, et du but principal que l’auteur s’est proposé, lequel est d’établir:

Que les premiers hommes, prenant le tonnerre pour une voix divine, et comparant ses bruits a certains cris d’animaux, prêtèrent à I’ÊtreTonnant, invisible, inconnu, un corps en rapport avec ses accents, notamment le corps du Chien, le plus remarquable des animaux par son instinct, dont les effets prodigieux ont été parfois attribués à des Puissances surnaturelles, et, jadis, par sa force, qui paraît avoir surpassé celle du Lion; concevant l’Être-Tonnant, Génie du Bien, à l’image du Chien, commensal, ami et Protecteur de l’Homme, et l’Être-Tonnant, Génie du Mal, a l’image du Loup, Chien sauvage, antagoniste du Chien, ennemi de l’Homme5 et donnant à l’un et a l’autre, non pas les formes réelles de ces animaux, mais les formes fantastiques d’un être fabuleux, imaginaire, Chien-Dragon, Loup-Dragon, et plus tard Chien-Homme, Loup-Homme, c’est-à-dire Homme à tôte de Chien ou de Loup;

Qu’ils honorèrent, sans tes adorer, tous les animaux dont la voix leur parut offrir une analogie avec celle de PÊtre-tonnant;

Qu’ils analysèrent les différents bruits du Tonnerre avec un respect superslilieux, et les reproduisirent dans leur langage, les appliquant, en premier lieu, a la dénomination de PÊtre-Tonnant, dieu et démon, au Soleil et a la Lune envisagés comme Êtres divins, puis aux Êtres puissants et forts, et aux choses représentant force et puissance ou quelque autre idée en rappert avec les idées qui ressortent du bruit et des effets du tonnerre;

Qu’ils procédèrent de la même façon à l’égard des divers accents du Chien, Représentant vénéré de l’Être-Tonnant Roi des Gieux, sous le nom du Grand-chien; Roi des Enfers, sous le mythe mystérieux et incompris d’un immense Chien a trois têtes; Roi de la Terre, Rienfaiteur de l’Humanité, Législateur-Civilisateur suprême, sous la figure d’un HommeDieu à tête de Chien, Thoth-hermès-anubis Ou Mercure, en qui l’on doit voir une personnification idéale et païenne, avant le temps, de l’Hommc-Dieu annoncé dès l’origine du monde, par Dieu lui-même ; Père des dieux et des hommes, Père de la nature entière, sous le nom oriental du dieu Saturne, Kiun, JCydn, nom grec du Chien, duquel Plutarque lire le grec Kyein, engendrer;

En résumé,

Que de la similitude entre les bruits du Tonnerre et les cris de certains animaux est venu le culte des Animaux;

Que les mots les plus importants et les principales racines du langage universel sont une reproduction des bruits du Tonnerre et des accents du Chien, Représentant de l’Être-Tonnant,

Et que les preuves de ce grand fait historique, dont l’origine remonte évidemment aux temps primitifs, se retrouvent dans toutes les contrées du globe, nombreuses, patentes, identiques.

INTRODUCTION

SUMMARY. – Exposure of some of the subjects treated in these Insights, and of the principal aim which the author proposed, which is to establish:

That the first men, taking thunder for a divine voice, and comparing its noises to certain animal cries , lent to the Amazing Being , invisible, unknown, a body related to its accents, notably the body of the Dog , the the most remarkable of animals by its instinct, whose prodigious effects have sometimes been attributed to supernatural Powers, and, formerly, by its force, which appears to have surpassed that of the Lion; conceiving the Thundering Being, Genius of Good, like the Dog, commensal, friend and Protector of Man, and the Thundering Being, Genius of Evil, like the Wolf, Wild Dog , antagonist the Dog,enemy of Man5 and giving to one and the other, not the real forms of these animals, but the fantastic forms of a fabulous, imaginary being, Dog-Dragon, Wolf-Dragon, and later Dog – Man, Wolf-Man, that is to say Man with Dog or Wolf face;

They honored, without your love, all animals whose voice seemed to offer an analogy with that of Petre-surprising ;

That they analyzed the various noises of the Thunder with a superlilious respect, and reproduced them in their language, applying them, in the first place, to the denomination of the Thunderer, god and demon, to the Sun and to the Moon considered as divine Beings , then to powerful and strong Beings, and to things representing strength and power or some other idea to recap with the ideas that arise from the noise and the effects of thunder ;

That they proceeded in the same way with regard to the various accents of the Dog, Venerated Representative of the Thundering King of Gieux, under the name of the Big Dog ; King of the Underworld, under the mysterious and misunderstood myth of an immense Dog with three heads; King of the Earth, Nothing maker of Humanity, Legislator-Civilizer supreme, under the figure of a Man God with the head of Dog , Thoth-hermès-anubis Or Mercury, in which one must see an ideal and pagan personification, before the time, of Man-God announced from the origin of the world, by God himself; Father of gods and men, Father of all nature, under the oriental name of the god Saturn,JCydn, Greek name of the Dog, from which Plutarch read the Greek Kyein, to generate;

In summary,

That from the similarity between the sounds of Thunder and the cries of certain animals came the worship of Animals ;

That the most important words and the main roots of universal language are a reproduction of the sounds of Thunder and the accents of the Dog , Representative of the Thundering Being,

And that the proofs of this great historical fact, whose origin obviously goes back to primitive times, are found in all the regions of the globe, numerous, patent, identical.

The unthinkable bad side

When it comes to discovering someone’s or something’s bad side, it can be disappointing to some (I’ve been through it myself so). But there are others who still can’t accept it, if because they don’t like thinking their favourite is this fallible. To put it this way, Tim Drake was shown to be sometimes made evil but if he were to be caught dead fighting Steph over things like chores and him killing her pets that’s the unthinkable bad side even if it shows up.

Likewise if Steph’s shown to get angry, what if she gets mad at Tim and the other boy superheroes for bullying her a lot that she even goes berserk. Or if Caitlin Snow’s caught dead killing almost every Flash in wolf form with her threatening to kill Barry Allen. Or to put it this way, Joey Ramone openly disrespected conservatives. Perhaps most disturbingly, if his bandmate’s conservative that’s painful enough.

(Bear in mind not all conservatives are religious but they’re likelier to be sympathetic to Judeo-Christian culture and values so.)

Likewise the good side of some (unlikable) people is unthinkable. Copperhead might be a valuable ally to the Justice League even if he was a villain. Bart Allen likewise might have the maturity to accept people for their faults. Both are damning in their own right but it’s mostly due to preconceptions.

It’s like if Dana Winters was assumed to be Tim’s loving stepmother but if she’s caught dead practising black magic and threatening to kill Tim’s dad, she could have a bad side as well. Or living in sin. Whatever that is, she’s far from perfect but that might shock people if the bad side’s revealed.

Nobody likes to think their favourite celebrities did anything wrong, which I think’s the big obstacle to undoing those affections. And partly why some people have a hard time accepting that people like Michael Jackson and David Bowie could participate in sex crimes. Or if Caitlin threatens to kill Barry Allen.

As disturbing as it sounds, the bad side’s sometimes inevitable.