Furry celebrities vs. other celebrities

by Humbug

So I was talking with a former student on Facebook today, and he was telling me about how he met all these celebrities at this comic convention in Denver that he went to. One in particular, whose name I can't remember, was apparently really funny and able to deliver off-the-cuff hilarity at a moment's notice.

...Which got me to thinking about the convention I went to last year: Anthrocon. The only celebrities I met whom I had any interest in at all were both comedians: Uncle Kage and 2 the Ranting Gryphon. You know, the only furry celebrities anyone gives a crap about.
Then I had to think about why we had so few interesting people as celebrities, and my mind wandered to the other celebrities I know of in the furry fandom, and it hit me: Most of our celebrities are celebrated because they're really good at drawing porn. So basically, most of our celebrities are that way because they're professional perverts with the talent to indulge their and other people's fantasies in decent-quality artwork.
I don't have anything against perversion and sexual expression. Hell, I wrote about it in another journal and defended it. However, the fact remains that perverts in this society tend to be shut-ins with very few social skills, and those are the people we venerate and worship in this community, and -that-, not the perversion thing, is fairly unhealthy.

There are exceptions. There are always exceptions. This isn't meant to say that all people famous in the furry fandom are perverts with no social skills. It's just a trend I thought about and wanted to share.

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Added:	12 years, 6 months ago 22 Jun 2012 08:31 CEST

8 Comments on this Journal

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ZephonTsol

12 years, 4 months ago

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You have a very valid point. We may be the only fringe culture to exalt people with lackluster moral values and humanity simply because they make the things we want.

But.

On the other hand, I know for a fact that musicians do this too. I know that musicians value highly the people in their society who are deemed the best of the best at artistic skill, asshats though they may be (and believe me, some of them ARE). I think they're internet famous because of their skill and that the uber-woober PLEASE CAN I BE YOUR FRIEND mentality stems from our society's (furryness) general lack of self-worth.

Because yeah. Most furries you see are trying to hide their hearts for all they're worth. You get a facade in public, but you also see different things behind the scenes.

An interesting dichotomy, isn't it? We're partially gay (big dicks everywhere) yet we hide something that would be just another part of it.

Or maybe I'm just full of it tonight. My brain's still a bit scrambled.

Humbug

12 years, 4 months ago

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@ ZephonTsol

No, you're pretty much right. Furries on the Internet are basically "That gay guy from the repressive small town who goes completely overboard when he gets to college." It's an unhealthy expression of desires that've been repressed pretty much for their entire lives and are still being repressed in real life, and they take on a persona that does a complete 180-degree turn and call it "liberation," not realizing that they do it only because they're not comfortable with themselves. I'm willing to bet that those who've told people in real life that they're furries don't act like the majority of the fandom does. Hard to collect data on that, though.

ZephonTsol

12 years, 4 months ago

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@ Humbug

No, that sounds about right to me.

Find place where you're unilaterally accepted and unequivocally loved? Get as much sex as you can handle? Watch your life spiral because people you've never met matter more than people who are right next to you?

Call it "Freedom to be myself"?

When I told my mother I was both gay and a furry, though, she accepted it and had known for quite some time about both. And what was better was that she was perfectly fine with it. Even bought me a wolf totem that hangs from my rear view mirror. I'm lucky though. Some parents aren't that nice. But I do feel that it's...easier to just be yourself without trying to be 'yourself'.

Humbug

12 years, 4 months ago

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@ ZephonTsol

Right. It's just a facet of your life. It informs, but does not define, who you are, and if you're comfortable with it? It's really not all that abrasive even to fairly conservative people. What makes people hate alternative lifestyles doesn't seem to be so much the principle of it (there -are- people who hate that part, though. Don't get me wrong), but the alien-ness of it. If you're comfortable with it and just pass it off as "Whatever. It's just a thing," I've found that people generally don't have that much of a problem with it, and the reason why is because you're still a normal, relatable human being. You just have a kink, and as long as you don't push it in their faces and make them uncomfortable about it, it's all good.

I grew up in Nebraska, by the way. This isn't speaking from an insulated liberal community experience. I was surrounded by heavily religious conservatives. Some of them, I'd never let know, but a couple of them, those who were close friends, seriously have no problem with it at all. People are people, and -that- is the approach to take if you want equal treatment.

ZephonTsol

12 years, 4 months ago

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@ Humbug

YES.

God, why can more people NOT understand that the less you push something at people's faces, the more they actually ARE willing to accept it? The gay, bronie, and furry movements could all learn this lesson and we'd be SO much more accepted. At least, that's my guess.

Holy hand bombs, I grew up in Nebraska, too! Whereabouts exactly?

Humbug

12 years, 4 months ago

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@ ZephonTsol

Alliance, home of Carhenge. It's in the Panhandle. How 'bout you?

Also, getting in people's faces is a good way to make your movement known, but it's a terrible way to advertise it. People tend to have a fear of the unknown, so making your weirdness your primary personality trait that people see is basically the worst thing you can do for a cause. "Normal" people will look for a reason to hate you; don't give them one. It's the difference between violent protests and civil disobedience. We all know which one works better in the long-term, even if it's the harder of the two to pull off.

ZephonTsol

12 years, 4 months ago

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@ Humbug

I lived in Syracuse. West of Lincoln. Little rinkydink town with nothing much to show to the world.

I would respond with something witty and profound...but yes, you're right. I know it. I've done pretty much that...and it's gotten people okay with me before they found out about my gayness. And then they just didn't care. :3

Humbug

12 years, 4 months ago

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@ ZephonTsol

There you go then! Similar experiences. :3

So we were on different ends of the state. I gotcha. :D

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