Like many of you, I've gone to YouTube to trash pop stars. Mostly, I've made derogatory comments about Mariah Carey, P Diddy, Gene Simmons, and Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen fans fought back the hardest, one of them calling me a pedophile for disliking The Boss. Another called me a commie. I responded and compared them to extremist Muslims in their devotion.
When I was in high school, the other brand of extreme fans were deadheads. A friend of mine listened to them all the time. He loaned me Dead tapes, and while I liked most of their songs, it was their jamming I detested. The pushiest he got was when he insisted that I listen to an entire Live Dead album. I brought it home, put it on the stereo, and after five minutes, walked out of the room. Luckily, he was easy to get along with, and we exchanged tapes of our favorite bands. However, there was always friction between deadheads and employees (my nickname for fans of the boss).
Back then, the bands you liked marked you as a particular person. I remember one student who was ostracized simply for enjoying New Wave. I recall how my deadhead buddy would always say, "Fuck the New Wave, bring back the Old Wave." Now I laugh about it, as the memory of another friend talking about a weird kid who always wore a cowboy hat and listened to country music plagued the school. It was like that movie, Colors, but with bands.
Now that I'm an adult, I get revenge by going to pop video sites and posting ugly comments. Is there anyone who has flamed an extreme fan into thinking their idol can do wrong? And what were the most hateful reactions you've gotten?
Post Edited (02-05-08 21:52)
