In Which Brad Finds a Tok'ra Ally
Today was a mighty fine day. It didn't start off so hot - Beth had a mild depressive spell, so I met her for lunch, and in the process met her co-workers. That was a lot of fun, and I know it helped pick up Beth's spirits.
Then this afternoon, I spoke with a friend who used to work on the set of Stargate SG-1. He saw that I was a big Stargate fan from a prior blog entry and very kindly offered to send me a little something. What he might not have realized (or maybe he did - I don't know) is that Beth is a Super-Mega-Huge SG-1 fan, whereas I'm only a Mega-Huge fan. :-) When I told her this news, it really made her day.
This is an interesting phenomenon for me - I'm not usually the Drooling Fanboy type. Sure, I love Star Wars and have a large collection of vintage toys, but a large part of that dates back to fond memories I have of it from my childhood. I went to a SciFi convention in Austin 2 years ago (my first and last) and I realized at that time that there were some lines I wasn't meant to cross. So it was with some alarm that I discovered myself asking fanboy-like questions about Stargate earlier today.
In defense of my inner geek, I should say that a lot of the technical aspects involved with shooting the show, as well as some insights into what "celebrities" are really like, interest me. In a way, it's like asking a magician how the tricks are performed - the backstage stuff, ya know?
With regards to celebrities, no, I'm not interested in what they eat or drink per se, I'm more interested in how they handle being a celebrity. The reason for this is somewhat selfish...
Ever since MacMAME and my Westlake work, I get people who e-mail me (or in days before my phone was unlisted, called me) and basically gushed about how they were a fan of my work, yadda yadda. In fact, about once every 2 weeks someone randomly strikes up a conversation with me on iChat about how much they love Mac games, my work, etc and hey, could they add me to their iChat list? Well, I'm no celebrity, of that I have no doubt. Yet to some people, I sorta-kinda-am because I play a visible, public and easily-understood role in bringing games to the Mac. More than once, I've posted to a forum for the first time publicly and had someone exclaim, "Wow, it's *the* Brad Oliver!" While it's possible they're being facetious, I always get the impression they're dead serious (mainly because I used to get phone calls just like that), and it kinda freaks me out.
It also means that my ability to be frank and blunt is somewhat diminished. If someone tells me that they absolutely love Game X - and Game X is a project which I hate with an intensity so strong that it'll give rats cancer (yes, there are a few of those), what do I do? In most cases, I try to kindly emphasize the game's strengths without trying to directly say I think this game is complete garbage.
Similarly, if someone tells me that they're My Number One Fan, I can't help but think of Kathy Bates in Misery. I'm not big on (intentionally) blowing people off, but it's hard to say "no, leave me off your iChat list" without sounding like a pompous ass. There's a fine line to being "open" and maintaining a level of privacy, and I don't think I've got it yet. If I were to become a world-famous actor, I wonder if I'd implode with all the tongue-biting I'd have to do, or if I'd flush my career down the toilet with a series of incredibly misunderstood (or more likely, fully understood) actions. I don't want to be unapproachable at all, but I don't really want strangers to bother me. That's my paradox.
How do truly famous folks do it?
Comments
Just ask yourself... W4D?! What Would Wil Wheaton Do?! Or better yet, ask him yourself. ;)
Posted by: lyssa | September 17, 2003 09:01 AM
If they only knew the "real" Brad Oliver.
I'm still waiting for your episode on Driven.
I imagine that it would be really difficult to be a celebrity because you would have to question the motives of everyone you met. Imagine the chewing gum that you discarded becomes a bidding war on Ebay. Those are only the tweeky things that people do that are publicized.
Posted by: spazdog | September 17, 2003 12:54 PM
Yeah, it's disturbing to think what kind of exposes my ex-roomates would write about me.
"He never went to class - he just sat around all day playing Maelstrom in his underwear!"
"He had a fetish for Catholic school girls!"
"Homework? He didn't know the meaning of the word."
Ah, the misty water-colored memories...
Posted by: Brad Oliver | September 17, 2003 04:38 PM
Some of the best lessons learned have been on my adventures with the Bradman. Like, never puke out the front window of a car when the back window is open. I think Melissa is still probably scarred from that one.
Meeeeemooooory all alone in the moonlight.
If you combine those with the adventures with Simps, then I lived a lifetime in five years of college.
Posted by: spazdog | September 18, 2003 08:58 AM