Post by Karen on Oct 14, 2017 18:51:57 GMT -6
This was originally posted by FANtasticJD on March 20, 2008, it was written by Bryan Burrough and published in Vanity Fair.
BURROUGH LOVES JDR!, BRAVA, KAREN!!
FANtasticJD
Posted: Mar 20 2008, 02:14 PM
March 20, 2008
Bryan Burrough | Public Enemies
Bryan Burrough: Another Side of Celebrity Worship
Do all movie productions feel like this nowadays? The director Michael Mann began filming a movie based on my book, Public Enemies, in Wisconsin on Monday, and while I’m not sure what I expected, it certainly wasn’t this: hundreds, perhaps thousands, of photographs, news stories and blog entries scattered across so many Interent forums I can’t begin to keep them all straight. First-hand reports from extras. Even video on YouTube of Johnny Depp in his first days portraying the outlaw John Dillinger.
I must be the last person online to have been struck with this realization, but it’s amazing how the Internet has empowered hundreds of ordinary people, turning them into little Diane Sawyers and Anderson Coopers as they snap and blog away. There’s a fellow named Rod Melotte in Columbus, Wisconsin, where they’re filming most of this week, who, I swear, has forsaken his day job to post around the clock. I don’t think poor Johnny Depp can step out of his trailer without being photographed, and every last picture makes its way onto the Net, along with commentary.
Granted, this is a small corner of the Internet. The hubbub centers mostly around three groups: film fans, who argue and interrogate one another on the IMDB movie site; Wisconsinites, for whom Public Enemies has been front page news for weeks; and, especially, the legion of Johnny Depp fans. Two Depp sites, Johnny Depp Zone and a wonderful little site called Johnny Depp Reads, post every last detail of filming. Both sites have book clubs that have adopted the Public Enemies book for discussion and have interviewed me at length. (You haven’t lived til you’ve gotten a phone message from Karen at Johnny Depp Reads.)
Each group has its own feel. The film fans are feisty and argumentative. The Wisconsites are just stunned to see Johnny Depp and Michael Mann on their sidewalks. It’s the Depp fans, many of them ladies, who leave one with the strongest impression. I’m accustomed to Internet forums where rudeness and incivility are the rule, where too many people seem to take pride in their insults. The Depp fans are stunningly polite and generous, to visiting authors and to one another. It’s like stepping into a small-town quilting bee. Everyone thanks everyone profusely for their posts. Everyone coos at Mr. Depp’s latest photos and pronouncements, but none of it comes off as silly or trivial. It’s actually sweet.
This is a side of American celebrity worship I’d never experienced, and it’s heartwarming. I’m happy for everyone who is following the movie’s production, but I reserve a special admiration for these nice people who enjoy nothing so much as congratulating one another for braving a long Wisconsin evening just to shake Johnny Depp’s hand.
www.vanityfair.com/ontheweb/blogs/d...ie-pr.html#more
FANtasticJD
Posted: Mar 20 2008, 02:14 PM
March 20, 2008
Bryan Burrough | Public Enemies
Bryan Burrough: Another Side of Celebrity Worship
Do all movie productions feel like this nowadays? The director Michael Mann began filming a movie based on my book, Public Enemies, in Wisconsin on Monday, and while I’m not sure what I expected, it certainly wasn’t this: hundreds, perhaps thousands, of photographs, news stories and blog entries scattered across so many Interent forums I can’t begin to keep them all straight. First-hand reports from extras. Even video on YouTube of Johnny Depp in his first days portraying the outlaw John Dillinger.
I must be the last person online to have been struck with this realization, but it’s amazing how the Internet has empowered hundreds of ordinary people, turning them into little Diane Sawyers and Anderson Coopers as they snap and blog away. There’s a fellow named Rod Melotte in Columbus, Wisconsin, where they’re filming most of this week, who, I swear, has forsaken his day job to post around the clock. I don’t think poor Johnny Depp can step out of his trailer without being photographed, and every last picture makes its way onto the Net, along with commentary.
Granted, this is a small corner of the Internet. The hubbub centers mostly around three groups: film fans, who argue and interrogate one another on the IMDB movie site; Wisconsinites, for whom Public Enemies has been front page news for weeks; and, especially, the legion of Johnny Depp fans. Two Depp sites, Johnny Depp Zone and a wonderful little site called Johnny Depp Reads, post every last detail of filming. Both sites have book clubs that have adopted the Public Enemies book for discussion and have interviewed me at length. (You haven’t lived til you’ve gotten a phone message from Karen at Johnny Depp Reads.)
Each group has its own feel. The film fans are feisty and argumentative. The Wisconsites are just stunned to see Johnny Depp and Michael Mann on their sidewalks. It’s the Depp fans, many of them ladies, who leave one with the strongest impression. I’m accustomed to Internet forums where rudeness and incivility are the rule, where too many people seem to take pride in their insults. The Depp fans are stunningly polite and generous, to visiting authors and to one another. It’s like stepping into a small-town quilting bee. Everyone thanks everyone profusely for their posts. Everyone coos at Mr. Depp’s latest photos and pronouncements, but none of it comes off as silly or trivial. It’s actually sweet.
This is a side of American celebrity worship I’d never experienced, and it’s heartwarming. I’m happy for everyone who is following the movie’s production, but I reserve a special admiration for these nice people who enjoy nothing so much as congratulating one another for braving a long Wisconsin evening just to shake Johnny Depp’s hand.
www.vanityfair.com/ontheweb/blogs/d...ie-pr.html#more
