The film “Lonely Boy” is a short
film about the Canadian Paul Anka, who is a singer, songwriter, musician, pop star,
teen idol. It follows him as he travels,
performs, encounters his fans, and writes music in between. The film at first seems like a performance
documentary, and it is, but there’s a bit more to this one. As the audience follows Paul Anka throughout
his life as a pop star, it becomes clear that in spite of all his screaming
fans and loyal followers, he really is (as one of his more popular songs says)
just a “lonely boy.” His life, while
glamorous and well presented, is somewhat empty. This is an interesting thought about
celebrities. I have always thought that
I wouldn’t like to be a celebrity, because (apart from not being able to go
anywhere without being recognized) it would be difficult to know who your real
friends are. In addition, there would constantly
be people you didn’t even know criticizing your life and your choices and your
work. This isn’t to say that I want to
go through life completely anonymous (which isn’t exactly true, if I could, I
would love to be totally invisible most of the time), but having too much
recognition is less than desirable. Even
the people that loved you wouldn’t even love you for being a person; they love
you for your songs and your looks and only in large groups. This brings me to the thoughts I have on
so-called “fandom” and such things.
Logically and morally, this type of behavior seems totally irrational,
and it is, but I myself have fallen victim to fan girl screaming and
things. I think that it’s a human
reaction. This is especially true when
people are in large groups and capable of encouraging and bolstering each
other.
I have seen a few documentaries about celebrities and most have portrayed a pretty positive representation of fame. Most of the films revolved around how the celebrities became famous and how their lives are so much better because they get to do what they love (whether it be singing, performing, or acting) as their job. It is interesting to me that this film seemed to go in a very different direction. From reading your response, it seems like this film wanted to portray this celebrity as a very sympathetic character. This was very interesting to me. I really want to watch this film now.
ReplyDeleteA lot of times when we read or watch things about celebrities we tend to forget that, at the end of the day, they are just human beings with the same feelings and emotions as everyone else. I really loved how this film made you think about how you would feel if you were famous, and reading your response made me do the same.