you are a moist robot programmed to sad and lol

nedhepburn:

James Franco’s brand new Twitter account is something of a complete anomaly. Right now it’s almost entirely pictures of random people, Tom Of Finland-esque male models, snippets of poems, random Threes Company screengrabs, or, in one instance, a cartoon he drew.

The best part is all the mainstream comments from people that just know him through the pages of People Magazine or Entertainment Tonight!, or what have you. It’s kind of fucking brilliant. Is this the new face of ‘celebrity’? In blurring the line between celebrity and the fan, does that allow the aforementioned famous person to actually be themselves more; to not apply the intense sheen of “I’m OK, everything is alright, and I’m just like you, docile and content” that made Britney Spears so famously crack? Will the fans care less or more if they don’t understand? Will they try to? Will this encourage people to learn?

Probably no on all accounts, at least not right now. Right now America and the world at large seems to be going through a massive and long overdue sea-change, pitting the stalwart forces of the old way of life against the wildly mercurial and forward thinking new guard led by Twitter, Facebook, and even Tumblr. Mass communication breeds mass discourse, which is a good thing. Now if only we could stop believing in big imaginary men in the sky then we’d all be better off. But I digress.

The point is is that he’s entirely unapologetic about it. He draws the line in the sand and picks and chooses and basically says to his legions of followers “this is what I’m like, this is what I’m into, this is what I’m about, and if you don’t get it, then that’s not up to me”. There’s no pandering. And it’s pretty wonderful.

It’s what makes OFWGKTA work, too, that sense that they are not apologetic for who they are at all, and YOU are going to have to be the one to catch up with them, and not the other way around, which is how it’s been for so damn long. There’s a sense of a revolution in this country, if not a political one, then a social revolution. Gone, it seems, is the time when someone can truly be famous en masse just for being famous. Maybe we’re seeing the last of it before it finally dies. Maybe that’s why culture seems so overwhelming right now.

The point being - is that this is an important time to be alive right now. Some people are lightning rods to this kind of change. Others will stay behind. You’re witnessing a very interesting culture war between the young and the old, the informed and the misinformed right now. Pick your side.

Brilliant post, and I had this somewhat similar impression when I happened across James’ Twitter (or *not* James Franco’s Twitter) account about a month ago. At first bewildered, then contempt, then lastly to a degree, respect. His unforced energy in his posts ties in with the rest of us, where this pedestal of opportunity of being a celebrity is being shaved level to a flat surface, just flush enough to make the distinction yet makes him be on our side. He’s human with human problems, and he needs to wantonly flail his arms, dick around and denounce/ridicule his persona to his fans and the public sometimes over his dashing, star-studded silver lining of a life. We’ve seen John Mayer get burned out for his online antics and almost Warhol-like meanderings, but Franco here’s a bit more suave with his uncontrolled urges to reach out to us. We’re all on this ship together anyways.