The Official Raúl E. Esparza "Spread the Love" Thread, Part 3 — Page 68

AHH! That's amazing, Kate! That's something I pretty much only dream about... or when I walk into someone on the street, I always end up thinking "oh crap, that's probably ____". Last year, I thought 100% that I had walked straight into Stephen Sondheim, but then I realized it was a hobo.

What is the MATTER with me?

I agree, Em. Stupidity (with a small side of gossip) is basically... my existence, but there's a line between being out of control and understanding what you're actually saying.

None the less, it's a difficult place with a broadway-type message board. Because the community is so small, and because almost everyone here actually knows someone/is involved with some aspect of the business... it's difficult. This is not Hollywood. There's no opportunity for tabloid-esque stuff.


EDIT FOR..EDITNESS - Raul. As the Chaperone.

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Updated On: 7/15/07 at 12:43 AM

Hee, I don't know what I would have done if I just literally crashed into him. Taye Diggs and I collided once, and it was... so awkward. But he was cool about it. I was like "OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY." Heh. As it happens, I apparently don't do composure.

I honestly just don't get why you wouldn't take the cue given in noticing that that stuff seems to be missing from here. I wouldn't call what was said "out of control," per se, but just... unnecessary and inappropriate in this venue. And again, I'm far from one of those "WE CAN ONLY TALK ABOUT HIS WORK" people, but there's a line.

I think what's... sticky about theater fandom is that because the community is very small, there's a lot of overlap. Hollywood fame and film are so wide-reaching that there's tremendous distance most of the time. But with the theater community, like you said, it's really common to be involved on multiple levels. Lots of fans also work in the industry and all that. A lot of us are only a few degrees of separation from the artists we all post about, which makes tabloid material more tenuous than it would be in Hollywood.

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Updated On: 7/15/07 at 01:02 AM

Heh, yeah, I had a striking realization of just how small when one of my favorite performers actually became my friend. Things like that kind of spin your world on its head a little bit.

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That as well. And, thus, of course, not as easily passed off as "harmless" gossip -- but that's another (subjective) story.
ETA: Just to clarify, I don't want it to look like I'm trying to protect him and deny this, or whatever. I'm certainly not the kind of person who refuses to believe that rumors often has some roots in truth and all that, but just the opposite. I just don't think we should be talking about it here, is all.

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Updated On: 7/15/07 at 01:24 AM

Datalounge Raul Esparza and BWW Love Thread Raul Esparza are two completely different people. Seeing as how I don't think either of them are correct, I don't think it hurts too much for them to bleed together a little bit.

i just wonder when people write really awful things - true or not - about people's personal lives on public forums, do they ever think about all of the other associated people that they insult or hurt? gossip is one thing, but downright nastiness is quite another.

but anyway, yay for bww and it's "love threads"! they may get a little crazy, but (almost) always in a good way

Updated On: 7/15/07 at 01:46 AM

I disagree with the conclusion, for a complicated list of reasons.

I think the devotion on these love threads is sweet and naive and slavish enough to self edit the really good stuff out anyway. It's not like a gateway drug situation where you give these kids one puff of gossip and they're going to be shooting it into their veins with fiendish abandon.

We're obviously coming at it from different perspectives. I don't think anyone here needs to be checked on what's unfair for public viewing, because maybe the biggest difference between BWW posters and Datalounge posters are that they're actually his fans.

I understand that.

I'm really no more attracted to gossip than I am turned off by the occasional weird, prohibitive, mysterious vibe I get on BWW in regards to Raul Esparza. To be perfectly honest...I don't even read Datalounge, I can't navigate it without my brain exploding.

We're not Raul's mommies. We can't protect him from himself, or from the bitter spurned lovers and jealous peers. So we shouldn't discuss the details of that kind of thing here, I agree. It's pretty base for a general and (on this thread) positive forum. But it will color things, and maybe it's best to let a discussion play itself out naturally before deciding it needs to be policed.

Someone should make a macro that says GO READ DATALOUNGE, PERVERT for whenever one of those questions is brought up. Simple, amusing.

I don't know what Datalounge is, though I suspect it has speculations about his personal life. He is entitled to his privacy but at the same time, we adore him, so we are curious. I think this site is different from some gossip site because the Raul thread is meant to unite fans of his and bring them together (while giving them an outlet to gush and gloat). When I first fell madly in love with the performer Raul Esparza, it drove me mad because people around me had absolutely no idea who he was, nor did they care. I actually joined BWW to talk about Raul, just because my handfull of friends back home were exhausted with me talking about him.

Sure there are moments we gossip, we are human. And he is human too. To say he doesn't do the same would be expecting too much from him. I do believe in instant karma, and what goes around does come around. I should hope he's smart enough not to gossip about people in the business, but it does happen. Michael Riedel makes a living from it. Sure people will write falsehoods about Raul and gossip about him. And if he reads them, they will hurt. So for that matter, I hope he stays far away from anything that might hurt him. And yet, the person in me who loves seeing him channel his pain onstage disagrees and says everything happens for a reason. It also makes me question if he would still be where he is if he hadn't experienced the hardships that he did. The actor inside of me says it all makes for good theatre. The humane part of me says it can make life a b*tch.

And that's just my 4 am rambling...


On to Patti...does anyone find it funny that Bank of America was the big sponsor for Gypsy even though Patti had that long bit on her site about the morons that Bank of America be? I haven't been able to get that off my mind...

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See this is why I love you people. You can have an intellectual debate without it turning into a pissing match! You all have raised great points.

To me, it all comes down to common sense. Plain and simple. The "regulars" around here know what is general knowledge to post publicly, or what should just be PM'd to someone to chat about. Of course you can post in publicly, the BWW police aren't going to arrest you, but it is a question of tact.

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self-admitted angst whore

haha, love it!

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