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| That Smile. |
It is October now and I feel that I can officially write about and discuss things Oscar 2014. With Michael Fassbender in all likelihood not in the mix this year (in the remote chance that he’s even nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical for Frank at the Golden Globes) for any Oscar consideration this season, my blood pressure will thankfully remain low and I won’t feel the need to be on the defensive for performances and films I have a ‘fanship’ investment to win. That meaning I am not a hardcore fan of any particular person or film title that I’m staunchly rooting for this year. Sure, I have my eyes on a few favorites, but my support for them is nothing like supporting Michael Fassbender and his projects.
At the moment, Michael is in New Zealand filming ‘The Light Between Oceans’, and so far, he has fallen off the radar from the public eye on this undisclosed and protected set. So Fassinators are left to reminisce over his impressive film catalog and thousands of images posted all through the internet. I would like to take this moment to review what it is about the actor Michael Fassbender, which keeps my interest in him unwavering. I have addressed before that when someone takes on the responsibility to develop a creative endeavor in support of a celebrity, she or he needs to be serious about it and maintain an active level of interest in the celebrity’s career to continue regularly updating their fan websites of supportive information on the celebrity. I don’t believe in parroting the most mundane, outdated, and irrelevant tidbits about Michael, just to keep Fassinating Fassbender fresh, the readers would be bored. So I believe it’s ok to be a little quiet for a short while, if only to take a personal breather and to maintain a sense of integrity and selectivity for the blog.
If you are subscribed to the Michael Fassbender Google alerts, you would know that in the past six weeks or so, Google has been squeezing blood from a stone in their alerts with dull repetitive headlines related to Fassbender. Any for-profit “entertainment” website that has basic knowledge of SEO, website optimization, monetization, and keywords to lure readers to their sites, know how to use Michael Fassbender’s name in any context of their article to generate hits. Subsequently, a link to said website will pop up on the Google alert as supposedly relevant news on Michael. This is testament to his star power and name brand for marketers and pseudo-gossip writers to use him for click & bait titles and articles. Case in point, a Google search for Michael today brings up first page results for two articles that are pure bait click jobs. One August 2014 article by IndieWire, in record breaking shamelessness, deliberately creates a provocative title by misrepresenting a quote from Michael and misconstrues the context of those words to garner more hits to the website for that article. Another article posted today, October 2nd, by Grantland, totally uses Michael Fassbender’s name in a tongue in cheek manner for the promotion of a film that he’s not even starring in. In the movie set to be released on Friday, Ben Affleck stars in David Fincher’s ‘Gone Girl’, and it’s reported that Ben has a nude scene where the viewer has a glimpse of his penis. So naturally since it’s so rare and apparently so daring for an A-list male actor to do frontal nudity, Grantland’s inclination is to make fun of Affleck’s purported nude scene and take creative license to pretend to interview Michael Fassbender’s penis in a satire article.
We get it, it’s funny when an actor is brave enough to do a nude scene, especially when he’s good looking, very well known, talented, won or been nominated for an Academy Award. We get it that Hollywood and entertainment writers do not really take men serious when they do full-frontal nude scenes. Women’s bodies are the ones to be exploited and fawned over to the point that it’s expected, demanded, and the norm. After all, they’re just, women, the second class human beings who are the objects of constant sexual desire by most straight men the world over, especially the ones in power. Men are above having to be nude in movies, so when they are, let’s have a laugh… and not nominate them for Oscars. But you know what; I also have a sense of humor while I analyze this industry double-standard. However silly the Grantland article is, they provided some interesting insight into the concerns studios have over their male actors. I’m pretty sure it’s not a far-fetched scenario to imagine the studio of a huge superhero film contacting the studio of the superhero actor’s other studio film, asking them to be mindful not to expose his assets too much; after all, the superhero actor does need to maintain a certain level of dignity. Ya know?
This is why I love how daring and honest Michael Fassbender is as an actor and a fellow human being. He does what he has to do if the job calls for it. He has mentioned many times in interviews that he’s looking for unique challenges in the roles he takes, and he wants to keep it real, and portray a character as honestly as possible with no personal biases judging the character. And those qualities in regards to his craft can also be found in how Michael lives his personal life: honest and true to himself. Michael Fassbender could date anyone in the world whom he felt would give his career the best PR boost, instead, he keeps it real, he is very private on that subject, and when he is seen hanging out with someone regularly, it’s not the generic stamped approved type of person. Michael Fassbender doesn’t give five fucks what people think about him, and that’s awesome. Actor Robert Pattison’s fan base blows Fassinators out of the water by sheer numbers and insane levels of stanning. So the craziness that is currently going on in his fan base demonstrates yet again that extremely disturbed “fans” exist in all fandoms and they suffer from the same debilitating anti-social, mean-spirited attitudes.
As of late, Michael Fassbender’s name often comes up as someone whose career and talent is reviewed with great respect, and inspires other actors to emulate. This blog is not a cutesy fan website for an actor just because he’s cute; the man has genuine talent, is very intelligent, and is a kind and compassionate person. When I had a job interview a few weeks back, I had to speak briefly about my online publishing and social media work. I mentioned Fassinating Fassbender and the interviewer asked me why did I select Michael and why did I choose blogging in support of him. I admitted that back in 2008, he was a fresh face and talent that excited me, and I wanted to use my talent of writing/blogging to show support for him and his career. Michael Fassbender has come a long way since then and she was impressed with my commitment. The fandom has lost a lot of fans, and has picked up a lot of fans as well. Most fans do not have the same level of commitment that I have, for instance, and I know other fans are even more enthusiastic over Michael than I am, but express it in different and non-public ways.
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| That Face. |
I consider myself lucky to have jumped on the Fassy bandwagon back in early 2007 and it’s a thrill for me to share FF with likeminded fans. Michael Fassbender has the stuff to be an in demand actor for many, many years to come, and this blog will always be right here. We have a great reputation to those that matter, and we’re appreciated. I’m reminded of a comment made by a Cumberbitch at ToZ a couple weeks ago. Her delusions lead her to believe that her favorite actor is famous because of her being his fan. A fan doesn’t make a celebrity, the celebrity’s talent and charisma helps attract the development of a fan base. One thing has to exist first to establish validity for the existence of the other. I believe that both can’t exist without each other, hey, even a 10 year old car needs an enthusiastic salesperson.
If Michael Fassbender didn’t have one fan or one fan website, who would the movie studio market their film to? That’s why there are so many unknown actors not steadily working – they haven’t demonstrated a demand for them from the audience (aka Fans) to be hired and seen. That’s the rub. A great fan base helps demonstrate the interest people have in a celebrity, but the fans and the celebrity are on separate sides of the road with a bold white line between the two. So while Michael is hidden away in New Zealand working hard, one of his coolest fan communities is continuing to do our thing to support him by keeping his name and image active on the internet with information to help build a stronger fandom and help him continue to make a lasting impression in Hollywood.