Imagine that you have had a really, really long work day. You have been there a lot longer than the average 8 hours and as you finally get to leave you are stopped by someone and asked a ton of questions. You just want to go home. There are a few seconds for you to make a decision: are you going to answer these questions or are you going to leave? It may be a difficult choice, or it may be an easy one.
Regardless of what you would do, there seems to be an expectation rooted in some people that when you see a celebrity (or someone you really admire) they are obligated to do you any favors. That is simply not the case.
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When someone opens themselves up to the public as musicians and celebrities do, they are doing so to share their craft with the world. They are giving the world a small piece of them because it is what they want to do. It is not to spend all of their free time walking around taking a ton of pictures and saying hi to people--especially when they had a long work day.
It is time for people to realize that no one in this world owes them anything (other than an apology if you were not very nice, but that is not the point right now.). A celebrity does not have to take a picture with you, speak to you or do anything for you. They make their music, movies, write their books or whatever their talent may be and that is it. That person you used to be friends with or that you are friends with does not owe you an explanation if they do not want to go out one night. It is their choice.
Now, there are some things that are just nice to do. It is nice for a celebrity to take pictures and talk to you. That is something that both they and the fans seem to enjoy. It is also nice (and common courtesy) for a friend to let you know why they are not going out with you that night--or why they cancelled your plans, but it is not an obligation.
There is a huge sense of entitlement ingrained in so many people. It is highly seen within fandoms that do have a large teen fan base. There are parents and guardians who condone the act of stalking someone. There are musicians and actors who cannot go anywhere without there being some fan who has been tipped off of said person's location. It is a disgusting way of doing things and it needs to stop.
Fan engagement and participation is needed. That is a fact. In our digital age, there is no way anyone is going to get anywhere if celebrities do not interact with fans. However, there is a difference between condoning the fan engagement versus condoning the stalking. If you are going out of your way to meet or see a celebrity, you are stalking. If you continuously search out their location so you can find them, you are stalking. If someone says, "Oh! Let's go find..." You are stalking. Sure, some is worse than others, but stalking is stalking.
The bottom line is that it is more than OK for a celebrity to tell a fan no. It is OK for a celebrity to ignore the fans that have found their location (that they never gave out) and decided to come wait for them all day while they were working. Are you even a fan if you do not care about any of their privacy or time after they work? A celebrity does not owe you a thing, and it is about time for some people to realize that.
You are not entitled to anything other than the creative piece they have put out into the world for you. Nothing more.
