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| Michael Fassbender |
As the month of May is approaching, I found myself dreading how I would have to update the FF blog because there has not been anything of value to update the blog on. I have deliberately laid low in the past two months and became very occupied with other interests, and was curious if any fans of the community would reach out to me with tips or just to check in with me. Only one person did, Christine, when she made her annual donation to The Bike Experience. Thanks Christine! I reckon everyone else was busy and stood on the sidelines to see if I was going to write something. But nothing… and that saddens me after all this time, and perhaps, this is an omen of what is to come.
But the fact is, Michael Fassbender is in a transition in his life and he’s no longer producing work as an actor that would give me the information I need to support him via Fassinating Fassbender. I started this blog with the intention to follow and support Michael’s career, and I have successfully done that. I’m proud of what I have done to create this space, often at great financial expense, during challenging times in my personal and professional life, my health, all while also having to defend myself against those who found no value in the hard work I put into this fan community. I guess when you consider all that, this is why events of the past 8 months or so have been difficult to understand and process. Unlike other long-time fans, I’m unwilling to overlook obvious things about Fassbender’s personal and professional life that are a concern to me. It's not a hand wringing, pearl clutching concern, but more of a 'Wait. WTF?' kind of concern. I’m unable to play along blindly and use up my free time to write about… what? Race car driving? Random fan photos in restaurants? Airport photos? Really?
Stepping away for these past couple of months from being a superfan of Michael had lend me great perspective. As I have come to enjoy the works of other artists, I really like just being a regular fan. I’m enjoying sitting back and reading the twitter accounts and Instagram accounts of the superfans who keep curiously strong tabs on a young actor. I’m able to filter out the junk I don’t care about, and make note of the information I find useful and interesting. I don’t have to worry about impressing a management team so that I can get information/interviews, I don’t have to worry about what I write as to not offend, and I don’t have to set Google alerts to stay uber on top of information anymore because I don’t have that stress that I created by being a superfan, and relaying points of view and information to my fellow fans. Another thing that is very important is that I no longer feel the need to protect or defend Michael Fassbender. He’s an otherwise rich, famous person who has very well paid people to help him manage his fabulous life. I’m still trying to create a fabulous life for myself here in LA, so I don’t need to be the unpaid, under appreciated cyber guard dog for a two-time Academy Award nominated actor. I’m done. But I guess you already came to that conclusion.
While I wish Michael Fassbender the best and I will continue to enjoy his work, but at a less extreme level, it’s time for me to cease updating Fassinating Fassbender. It has been my pride and joy for nearly 10 years. September of this year will be the 10th anniversary of FF, but I don’t have the incentive or motivation to pretend that I’m in a healthy, productive, or mutually beneficial superfan relationship with Fassbender and his management team. I don’t have the support of fellow fans as they too have moved on.
The blog will remain here for some time to serve as an archive. I have put too much into this blog to just have it come up as an Error 404 by the summer. That’s not fair to me or you. I won’t say that I will never post here again; I may in the event of some extremely hot news about Michael, and that may come sometime this year. Or, I may just write about him as an aside at my other blog, Theatre of Zen, in a generic ‘celebrity news’ write up. I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.
I do want to thank everyone who has enjoyed reading FF over the years. As I’ve stated many times, I maintained this blog and community as a fellow fan along with you. There have been many, many fun times. I have met in person so many cool Fassinators, and traveled to places to meet them. I’m proud that Michael and his management company Troika, for the most part found value and appreciated my support over the years. But all good things come to an end, and the time is now for Fassinating Fassbender. How will this decision affect FF at Facebook? Especially in light of the privacy breech at Facebook, a social media format that I never really liked, I will delete that by mid-summer. So if you have any comments or just wanted to post your thoughts about anything related to Michael Fassbender, or my decision, please feel free to post your thoughts HERE in the comments section of this post.
If you are interested in me as a person in general, you can still follow me at my other blog, on my Instagram, at Twitter, or if you want to just email me, please do so. I’ll still be very receptive to participate in a Michael Fassbender chit chat, or if you want to share something with me and seek my opinion/POV. Don’t be shy. If my decision doesn't sit well with you, please share your thoughts, again, I'm not going anywhere, y'all can find me easily. But I need to separate myself from something that's not allowing me to have creative fun anymore. Although FF will become an archive, I’ll still be just as active at my other social media outlets, if not MORE active now that I’m in LA and enjoying the wide variety of interests that are available for a California girl who loves the LA life.
Thanks!