Fame in Conversation by Alex Schultheis
Alex Schultheis
The Cultural Significance of Fame
Professor Bishop
April 18, 2007
Fame in Conversation
Unfortunately I have never had the opportunity to meet a real life celebrity so for this project I have chosen to imagine a scenario in which I met Jessica Simpson. My fictional run in with Ms. Simpson happened two weeks ago when I was in Rome, Italy visiting my sister. Jessica was visiting Rome with her current boyfriend John Mayer and they happened to be staying at the same hotel that my family and I were staying in. As luck would have it I was riding the elevator when Jessica and John got in. We exchanged smiles and Hello’s and then said goodbye when the elevator stopped on the first floor.
The first group that I told my Jessica sighting too was my boyfriend, his two male roommates, and their two girlfriends. It was Sunday night and all six of us were watching sports center on ESPN. Nicole and I were discussing the latest issue of US Weekly which happened to have a picture of Jessica Simpson and John Mayer on it. As we were discussing I mentioned, in passing, that I had met Jessica Simpson and John Mayer while I was in Rome. As soon I mentioned the words Jessica Simpson the spotlight immediately turned from sports to me.
Before mentioning my celebrity sighting everyone was watching TV and occasionally engaging in side conversations; however, as soon I mentioned seeing a celebrity everyone stopped what they were doing and paid attention to what I had to say. I told my captive audience what had happened. The first question that I received was from my boyfriend who asked; how did she look”? After this was answered the males in the audience seemed to disengage from what I had to say and went back to watching television. The females; however, had lots of questions for me. They asked what she was wearing, if she was nice, how was John, what was he wearing, were they holding hands, are they together, how long were they staying in Rome, etc. Their questions started out simple; however, they began to get harder and harder. It was funny to hear them ask such in depth questions because just moments before their questions began I told them that we had just said hello and good-bye to one another.
The conversation ended soon after I could no longer answer their questions. Surprisingly no one tried to challenge my celebrity sighting, no one even brought up a story in which they had meet a celebrity. Other then the raised eyebrows and distorted facial expressions I received when I first made the announcement everyone in the room seemed to believe everything that I said.
The second group of people that I told my fictional celebrity sighting to was three of my closest girlfriends. It was Tuesday night and all four of us were eating take-out and drinking wine while catching each other up on each other’s days. Mid way through the conversation my friend Megan asked how my trip to Rome was. I told her how much I liked it and then proceeded to tell her, as well as my other two friends, that I had meet Jessica Simpson and John Mayer in the elevator of my hotel. “No Way” was the initial response from all of them. After they got over their initial shock, and disbelief, I told them that I was riding the elevator when Jessica and John got in and that we exchanged greetings and then went our separate ways.
The reactions from my friends were much different from that of the previous group; the first major difference being that all three of them could not believe that I had not said more to Jessica and John, they were also very upset that I had not followed them out of the elevator or made any more attempts to see them again, after all they were staying in my hotel. Another difference between the two groups was that after I told my story my friends began to tell their stories about their own personal celebrity run-ins and how they reacted, in fact the entire conversation shifted from “how was work today” to “well I remember when I met…”. The most significant difference; however, between the two group’s reactions was that my girlfriends were skeptical of me really meeting Jessica and John. All three of them asked me several times if I was lying; in fact it took a good 15 to 20 minutes before all three of them came to the agreement that I had indeed met Jessica Simpson.
I think the reason for the major differences between the two group’s reactions was due to my relationship with each of them. I have a very limited relationship with my boyfriend’s roommates and their girlfriends which is why they probably did not question my story. On the other hand my girlfriends and I are very close which most likely accounts for why they were such skeptics of my story. I also think that males react differently to celebrity sightings then woman due, they are normally more laid back and therefore do not seem to care as much about who is dating who and who is wearing what. This “who cares” attitude is probably why I lost their attention two minutes into my Jessica and John story. Overall my brush with fame story was a huge success, both parties believed me and both seemed to be truly interested to hear what I had to say.
The Cultural Significance of Fame
Professor Bishop
April 18, 2007
Fame in Conversation
Unfortunately I have never had the opportunity to meet a real life celebrity so for this project I have chosen to imagine a scenario in which I met Jessica Simpson. My fictional run in with Ms. Simpson happened two weeks ago when I was in Rome, Italy visiting my sister. Jessica was visiting Rome with her current boyfriend John Mayer and they happened to be staying at the same hotel that my family and I were staying in. As luck would have it I was riding the elevator when Jessica and John got in. We exchanged smiles and Hello’s and then said goodbye when the elevator stopped on the first floor.
The first group that I told my Jessica sighting too was my boyfriend, his two male roommates, and their two girlfriends. It was Sunday night and all six of us were watching sports center on ESPN. Nicole and I were discussing the latest issue of US Weekly which happened to have a picture of Jessica Simpson and John Mayer on it. As we were discussing I mentioned, in passing, that I had met Jessica Simpson and John Mayer while I was in Rome. As soon I mentioned the words Jessica Simpson the spotlight immediately turned from sports to me.
Before mentioning my celebrity sighting everyone was watching TV and occasionally engaging in side conversations; however, as soon I mentioned seeing a celebrity everyone stopped what they were doing and paid attention to what I had to say. I told my captive audience what had happened. The first question that I received was from my boyfriend who asked; how did she look”? After this was answered the males in the audience seemed to disengage from what I had to say and went back to watching television. The females; however, had lots of questions for me. They asked what she was wearing, if she was nice, how was John, what was he wearing, were they holding hands, are they together, how long were they staying in Rome, etc. Their questions started out simple; however, they began to get harder and harder. It was funny to hear them ask such in depth questions because just moments before their questions began I told them that we had just said hello and good-bye to one another.
The conversation ended soon after I could no longer answer their questions. Surprisingly no one tried to challenge my celebrity sighting, no one even brought up a story in which they had meet a celebrity. Other then the raised eyebrows and distorted facial expressions I received when I first made the announcement everyone in the room seemed to believe everything that I said.
The second group of people that I told my fictional celebrity sighting to was three of my closest girlfriends. It was Tuesday night and all four of us were eating take-out and drinking wine while catching each other up on each other’s days. Mid way through the conversation my friend Megan asked how my trip to Rome was. I told her how much I liked it and then proceeded to tell her, as well as my other two friends, that I had meet Jessica Simpson and John Mayer in the elevator of my hotel. “No Way” was the initial response from all of them. After they got over their initial shock, and disbelief, I told them that I was riding the elevator when Jessica and John got in and that we exchanged greetings and then went our separate ways.
The reactions from my friends were much different from that of the previous group; the first major difference being that all three of them could not believe that I had not said more to Jessica and John, they were also very upset that I had not followed them out of the elevator or made any more attempts to see them again, after all they were staying in my hotel. Another difference between the two groups was that after I told my story my friends began to tell their stories about their own personal celebrity run-ins and how they reacted, in fact the entire conversation shifted from “how was work today” to “well I remember when I met…”. The most significant difference; however, between the two group’s reactions was that my girlfriends were skeptical of me really meeting Jessica and John. All three of them asked me several times if I was lying; in fact it took a good 15 to 20 minutes before all three of them came to the agreement that I had indeed met Jessica Simpson.
I think the reason for the major differences between the two group’s reactions was due to my relationship with each of them. I have a very limited relationship with my boyfriend’s roommates and their girlfriends which is why they probably did not question my story. On the other hand my girlfriends and I are very close which most likely accounts for why they were such skeptics of my story. I also think that males react differently to celebrity sightings then woman due, they are normally more laid back and therefore do not seem to care as much about who is dating who and who is wearing what. This “who cares” attitude is probably why I lost their attention two minutes into my Jessica and John story. Overall my brush with fame story was a huge success, both parties believed me and both seemed to be truly interested to hear what I had to say.
posted by Ron Bishop at 9:22 AM
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