For the record, while nice arms do happen to be one of my favorite male physical features, my "OMG ARMS" comments when it comes to Adam are pretty tongue-in-cheek. I know this thread, for the most part, is a place amongst people I know I can joke around with, and who won't take me too seriously if I say something like that. His arms are nice, but they're not his selling point, nor one of legitimate infatuation. I'm just being silly. It's sort of to the point where it's like, the expected reaction when someone posts a picture in which Adam's arms are prominently featured -- so now I do it just out of playfulness.
I suppose Craww's point is valid, in the sense that appreciative remarks about physical attributes can very well be used, hypothetically, to cover for hurtful criticisms, but I want to make very clear that that's not my intent at
all. Skittle's post to which she replied, I think, was not meant to be taken quite so literally as "well, see, we think he's really hot, so therefore we're not mean spirited!" but rather that from the
overall feel of the group, we're obviously not mean; clearly, we're fans of his. Take what's implicit, which is, I'd think, the opposite of mean.
This is just my personal opinion -- I think a lot of people in fandoms find this kind of harsh -- but as someone who supports a performer's work, I think I (we, really) reserve the right to be critical. That's not a statement that can be taken to mean that people who subscribe to it are less of a fan, or something. It's a different kind of criticism than that done out of genuine dislike for a performer's work. Part of their professional territory is having a backbone, not being
too thin-skinned, etc, so as long as criticism isn't meant to be hurtful, I think it's all part of the give-and-take, so to speak. I don't believe in blind adoration, nor in overbearing censorship of opinion just because of who might be reading -- and that's not spin, I've said it directly to a performer, on more than one occasion. Honestly, in a lot of cases (such as this one), I don't really feel the need to constantly make disclaimers and explain myself, because the fact that I adore Adam and his work is not something that would take rocket science to figure out. I don't make fun of him out of malicious intent, so therefore it would be impossible that I use compliments about his looks to cover up for the fact that I like, take some sort of thrill in hurting him. I'd assume any even casual reader of the boards, and this thread in particular, could figure out that even my criticism is said out of affection and support; it's not as paradoxical as it may seem. I think the same holds true for the thread as a whole -- it seems pretty easy to see that we appreciate far more than his looks, as opposed to them being the only thing we actually like, and just using them to give ourselves permission to be mean and awful.
I, like many others, was hooked at first by his voice. I've probably told the story a number of times, but the first time I saw him was in Aida, and we ran into some friends of my parents' at the theater -- their daughter knew of Adam from Rent, and was going on about how cute he was. I looked at her like she had five heads. I just wasn't thinking that way, I guess. I loved his performance, but as far as "he's such a cutie!" I could not possibly have cared less. Obviously, I think he's a good-looking guy, to put it mildly, but looks alone would never have kept me hooked for so many years. I'm a little more complex than that.
And there's a lot more to appreciate about him than that, too.
ETA -- Allie, you can't get away from the awkward, can you?
I hope the show is going well overall, though! And Dancin, I hope you feel better soon.
And whoa, that's a long post. Lo siento.
A work of art is an invitation to love.
Updated On: 1/22/07 at 02:15 PM
And I honestly think its a good thing that we do critisize (sp?) about some of his choices. You can't agree with everything Adam does, you should hold you're own opinions and be open for others as well. I know this post won't make a ton of sense (I can't help it I got 2 hours of sleep last night) but all and all, were fans. We're not going to jump all over him and say "I-MUST-AGREE-WITH-EVERYTHING-ADAM-DOESSSS"; we hold our own opinions and that why this thread is here.
