My Reality Check on Men

Nobody gives me more flak over the men I choose to like than my little brother.
Case in point: Having recently begun watching the US version of Top Gear, I have been reminded of how much I like Tanner Foust. I kept it on the DL before this, but as of late I've been pretty out and proud with my various celebrity crushes.
Today my touching but sad crush on Mr. Foust was called into question by my younger brother, who at the ripe age of 11 has seemingly deemed himself the ultimate expert on men in general, specifically on how terrible the men I choose to like are. The only time he can put together a good joke is when he's making fun of me (and understand that my brother is one of those people who try very hard to be funny but just aren't, and come off as irritating and slightly pathetic). I was verbally patting myself on the back, loudly, about how good my boards are on Pinterest, and the family stopped by to investigate. One of my boards centers around guys who I find physically appealing, and so, naturally, there are several pins of Tanner on there. My brother noticed this (how could he not?) and began his usual commentary.
"Ew, you like him? He's how old?" (38 years of age, thank you very much. I'm still down) "He's going to be so old by the time you marry him. Like, fifty. He'll have wrinkles. You'll kiss him and his jaw will fall off." Here he continues in a wizened voice (and began to mime a man with a walker) "Honey, will you help me into bed?" Then continued his diatribe in a normal tone, "Hahaha, you won't have kids together. All your money will be spent on one of those chairs that moves him up the stairs," and on and on ad nauseam, until I started hollering at my mother to make him stop.
It was continued throughout the day, being brought up when Mom voiced concerns about Tanner's height (the internet says he's 5'10" which Mom countered with, "that means in real life he's about 5' 6", honey") and later on as I questioned my own ability to park (quickly answered with a snarky "will Tanner have to teach you how to drive?").
I was not unaware of my brother's negativity up to this point, far from it. These not-so-subtle put-downs about the men I like have been happening to me for quite some time. And no celebrity of mine is immune to my brother's disdain towards them, for no apparent reason. It's happened to Tom Hiddleston, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr. and best of all, my one and only Benedict Cumberbatch. No one is safe.

Fangirling or How I Pretend to Be Sane

My friends who know me have grown accustomed to my unbelievable fangirling over minuscule things that pertain to the actors whose lives I follow with fervor. However, the one reason I’ve never pimped myself out as a hard-core fan is because I don’t want said individual celebrity, should they ever discover me and my depth of love for them, to think that I’m an absolute nutjob.

Because really, if I were a seriously famous actor (which I’m not nor will I ever be) and I found out that people followed my life and work with an attention to detail that would put a high-class forger to shame, I’d be creeped out. Flattered, but still. I mean, there’s a line, and I think that today’s fans, myself included, cross that boundary with alarming regularity. We, as a society, have so devoted ourselves to knowing things about people we’ve never met simply because they are in the public eye, which is odd. Besides appear in films, what have they ever actually done? But I digress.

Back to my original point, which was brought on by a blogger whose name need not be shared because it is irrelevant, is simply this: I think that being a rabid fan is ok, but stop forcing the entire world, those actors as well, to know about it. No matter how much the actors themselves insist that they are flattered by us, there are a few out there who need to show a little propriety.

Scale back on your attempts to contact them. Stop showing up everywhere they go. Quit taking creepy pictures of them when they’re just trying to get a cup of coffee. For God’s sake, leave their families alone if they don’t want to be in the limelight. Stop making the rest of fans, who don’t make it our life’s work to discover everything about this person, look like kooks.

Just a personal opinion. I’m not saying everyone is doing this, and I’m certainly not telling anyone to change their habits. Just… think about them.

Is it wrong that I want this to happen?