Something very odd happened to our blog. It went from a sleepy little place we visited to witter about our theatrical adventures and opinions to an absolute hive of activity - and all after one post. The one about 'Wicked'. 'Curious!' we thought. We obviously knew there were plenty of Wicked fans and had never written about the show in detail before...but more than 300 hits in a day and counting...? This called for some investigating.
So we did.
Our hits were coming from one website. A Lee Mead fan website. Nothing wrong with that, we share the theatrical love! However. Reading the comments on this website that had been made about our review, it transpired a few feathers had been ruffled. We had committed two cardinal sins:
1. We had criticised Lee Mead and
2. We used the term ' rather strange' when describing his fan base.
This was getting more and more curious...
We have written previously about fandom; as over the years, we have encountered countless different types of fans - from girls to women and boys to men and everything in between. We have seen hysteria and we have seen indifference. We've seen performers thrive with the adulation they receive from their supporters as well as visibly back away at the sight of them. We have experienced Lee Mead fans first hand and seen them in action. Yes, even spoken to a good few in our time, memorably once in the ticket queue at the Adelphi Theatre. Generally speaking a friendly bunch, dedicated, and most definitely unique in their own way. Personally we find overt adulation of anyone over any performer to the degree many fans go to 'rather strange' and it never fails to amaze us when we see the lengths some fans take their devotion and adoration. Despite our childhood dreams of obtaining a Blue Peter Badge, the wearing of any type of badge or indeed any such overt display of devotion as a grown woman is an alien concept to us, but each to their own. Ours is not to reason why and speculation is unnecessary. But yes, we do think it is strange. We choose to admire performers from afar rather than close up, others choose to seek direct attention or offer their support in person. We have commented on this phenomenon previously, and are clear that whilst it fascinates the amateur psychologist in us, whether it is right or wrong is not our place to judge, even if we do comment on it.
So what is the problem? The issue seems to be the 'ownership' these fans have over Mr Mead, to the point where no opinion should be expressed in a public forum, other than the one stating the boy can do no wrong. Ever. Not even in the privacy of our own blog. According to the ensuing discussion about our post - we wrote these venomous words with evil intent. It was a cheap trick to entice unsuspecting fans to our meagre little site. Mwah ha ha!
Not so. We use our blog for our own amusement and as a place to express our honest opinions - opinions we are happy to update as they change . For the record, we didn't link our blog with the fan page, and have pottered around on the web for a goodly amount of months now, musing on whatever springs to mind, including the luscious Mr Mead without so much as raising an eyebrow. No one was lured here under false pretences - read the title of the post for heavens sake! It was called "Whatever happened to Lee Mead?" If you think he is practically perfect in a Mary Poppins type of stylee, then for goodness sake click the back button sharpish.
Our view is simple - in our opinion he was wonderful in the past but isn't as good as he used to be, for whatever reason, and we would dearly like to see him regain his crown. We also feel his acting skills are not his strongest asset. Is this really such a damning thing to say? We are sad that our Leelove has waned, and we have posted previously about our admiration for him. In this post, we included our old favourite videos, as much to remind ourselves as much as anyone why we so admired him - and in re-watching, we are afraid it confirmed our opinion of the performance we saw.
If anything, our hearts go out to the fan who originally posted the link to our post, in the ensuing debate on whether or not to delete the entire thread containing the offensive material (that would be us.... ). It has now been locked, only for another to be opened, complaining that this will deny people a right to reply..... Lordy.
We are sorry for being a cause of upset, but we stand by our opinions. And we slightly object to people who claim not to have looked at our post yet feel able to pontificate about our motives for writing it. As one grounded fan observed, it is only a blog....really, it is.
It may be in the best interests of Lee Mead fans of a delicate disposition to avoid web surfing in the future, as it can only potentially cause further distress, especially if our simple comments have offended as much as they seem to have because guess what? There's much worse out there...
The two anonymous comments left by musical theatre fans about our post were a pleasure to read simply because the writers had read the post through and obviously taken it in the way it was intended (a light hearted review of the show and a personal opinion of the performers), yet without feeling they necessarily had to agree with our views. We will continue to write in the way we are accustomed, the same way we will put across whatever our point of view is. We write for ourselves, not to 'get hits', though receiving opinions from other musical lovers is always a treat. We may not be every one's cup of tea, but that's OK with us as well. Our entries are generally fairly tongue in cheek, and truly are tame compared to so many we've read on numerous musical theatre blogs.
This post is not about justifying our opinions or defending ourselves against a vast crowd of angry women. We absolutely believe in freedom of speech and would never knowingly offend anyone.This post is merely to say we feel that the reaction our little review caused and the discussion about it (apparently by some fans who hadn't even read it) prove our point about some fans being "strange", without us having to say anymore on the matter.
And we won't.
Live and let live.
Well done girls. I used to post on the website you refer to until their narrowmindedness smacked me between the eyes where criticising Lee or any of his choices is concerned. You are right it is much better to stand back, opt out of the badge wearing "club" mentality and just go and watch the performances of people you like with an entirely open mind and individual outlook. I like Lee Mead but I've seen him change and it would be great to see him return to the kind of command he had over an audience. He's become a little complacent in my opinion. I loved his animated and charismatic Joseph, thought he was wooden and boring in Lord Arther Saville's Crime and thought he was great as Fiyero (as much as the part allows for development of character). As for his concert tour, I'm not really sufficiently interested to see him sing MOR songs but musical theatre would be a different story. I know what you mean about the clenched teeth approach to singing. He did that on the tv show and had it drilled out of him for Joseph but now seems to have reverted to bad habits. He needs a role that will help to demonstrate his vocal chops. Keep writing honestly and don't let the granny pack put you off!
ReplyDeleteBut ..... please, please don't tar all Lee Mead fans with the same brush. I am an extremely dedicated Lee fan but to a certain extent I have to agree with some of your comments. I am a member of the fan site you refer to but post only occasionally - I'm afraid SOME of the people there do have very strange views and do seem to claim ownership over Lee's livelihood!
ReplyDeleteIt drives me quite insane. It used to be a friendly and welcoming place to be but seems to have been deserted by all sensible people leaving just lonely people with nothing better to do with their time! Lee would definitely be wise to steer himself towards the younger fans and make his choices wisely!
As I said, please don't bundle us all in the old people's home. There are some sensible Lee fans around. Believe me!
..... oh and I forgot to add, and you really should go to one of his concerts. He really is a fantastically talented singer and his musical concerts truly showcase his voice.
ReplyDelete..... and, one last thing, he is a lovely polite man too!
..... and darn it! He sure does still look good from behind! Phwoooooaaarrr!!!
ReplyDeleteHe is polite, yes. This can't be said for his wife but you daren't say anything to that effect. She is no way as talented as he has the potential to be either but again this is cause for being shot down in flames. The irony is that if said website had allowed for open and honest discussion and the putting forward of a variety of opinions on Lee and other performers, then all of the posters could co-exist quite happily. Instead it seems it's okay for certain people to badger him at radio/promotional interview he gives. There is one lady who likes to have her name mentioned on air as one of the fans who are there to support, er ,stalk him. This makes it look like he's only got a handful of rather enthusiastic OAPs who follow his career with interest. Not true but they've claimed him as a kind of toyboy mascot and apparently you have to be a Loppy to be a Lee Mead fan. Toe Curling. Loppy, to the uninitiated is Lee Obsessed Person. So, you see, if they are now seen as a rather closed, secret society with a barmy moniker to distinguish them from those of us who see the good and bad in performers, they are a laughing stock among the wider theatre community online and that is of their own doing. Lee Mead can be good, even great but he is not perfect. If he was perfect he would have nothing to strive for but rational debate goes out the window on that site.
ReplyDeleteOh but there's not just the loppies ..... there are the 'lovelees' to. I have a feeling the certain person referred to above who likes to have her name mentioned constantly belongs to the latter!
ReplyDeleteI think you missed a LMAS fan who posts on the Wicked thread on the Whatsonstage forum. That person can't take anything said about Lee and also defends Denise Van Outen. I'm not sure why someone said she wasn't polite though. Care to elaborate?
ReplyDeleteAlso someone I know was treated with hostility on the WOS forum by a guest because they did not like Lee as Fiyero.
It's crazy.
To answer the question Denise Van Outen likes to think of herself as down to earth but she actually comes across as a bit of a diva and is often downright rude and bit of a cold fish, ignoring fans at the stage door. It seems her bolshy tv persona is carried forward to real life. From what I can gather she lives the celeb life whereas Lee couldn't be further from it. She wouldn't know the meaning of the word humble. I think she was his biggest mistake! He's changed. He can now come across as uber confident and it doesn't suit him. That aside, he really sounds his best when singing musical theatre. Oh, the career he could foster if he just stuck to that!
ReplyDeleteI do know the lovelees and most of them are just that! Certainly a lot of them seem capable of looking at everybody's point of view.
You never see Lee Mead posing for photos outside his front door. DVO does. One craves the press attention the other has integrity and stays away from it. He just does his job and doesn't think of himself as being in the fame game. I really rate Lee Mead and I hope he gets the chance to come out of his wife's shadow and prove himself as a great performer.
ReplyDeleteI'd rate Lee more if he wasn't with DVO. If she poses outside her front door then she must ask the press to be there. They are an odd couple if she's a celeby type and he isn't. She does strike me as someone who wants to be out shopping, pubbing and clubbing with celeb mates and not with her family. I'd love to see Lee do something original in the WE. Also hope he doesn't do too many concerts and turn into a granny pleaser. Is he really in his wife's shadow?
ReplyDeleteReading your comments on this post is such an eyeopener - thank you so much for sharing your views. So many of you share our viewpoint - and we fully appreciate that the opinions of a minority are frequently presented as the opinions of the majority. What started out as a commentary on 'Wicked' has grown into a bigger-than-we-imagined discussion on Lee...and you've inspired us to maybe delve into our past and write our next post about him and his career. Watch this space as we would welcome your opinions. As much as our LeeLove might be lying dormant at the moment we know it's lurking there somewhere!!!!
ReplyDeleteJust in terms of being referred to as husband/hubby of Denise Van Outen or worse, Mr Van Outen! Blueghh! He's not in her shadow as far as talent goes because even at his worst he's better than her at her best.
ReplyDeleteNice try!!!
ReplyDeleteBring on the next blog and some interesting debate on his career to date. People need to realise you can still be a fan and remain objective. Plus you don't have to praise him no matter what. Credit where it's due. He was truly shocking at the Rugby match this afternoon, for example. He seemed to lose his words. Could have been stage fright but it definitely wasn't the man who raised the roof in Joseph for 18 months night after night. What HAS happened?
ReplyDeleteKeep trying LOL.
ReplyDeleteSome people are very trying. ROFL!
ReplyDeleteMy goodness! how do you people know all this? The bloggers claim theirt hits were coming from one website Lee Mead website. Lee Mead's website made 300 hits. I'm not sure anyone could know that.
ReplyDeleteI really don't see how anyone can know say DVO is a cold fish,, a diva , rude and likes the celeb life-style and that Lee is now uber confident.
Sorry.
Denise's attitude on screen is much the same as it is in real life. She's exceptionally arrogant with no reason to be. Lee is a sweetheart and has the talent to go far. I just hope he's not curbed in his career because of his commitments at home or his wife's desire to keep in the public eye.
ReplyDeleteSo many of you know DVO. Amazing!!
ReplyDeleteYou only have to look at her to know what she's like! The woman goes out wearing hot pants and a fur coat for goodness sake! She screams "look at me!" And if you've been blanked when asking for an autograph or trying to say well done like so many people have it's not hard to see why she's like either loved or loathed. Why do people like her anyway? She's so fake, chavy and totally nineties ladette. She's smutty too, give the woman a lollipop and she'll make a red light show out of it! No class! Lee seems to be of a completely different upbringing. He has manners and doesn't show off. Musically he is far superior and much more natural on stage.
ReplyDeleteLee is nice. OAP, twenty-something, rich, poor four-eyed, flat-chested and mousey, he is nice to them all.
ReplyDeleteStill waiting for the big surprise final blog. It's coming soon right? Because no-one would believe this.
ReplyDeleteDo LMAS members wear badges - proper badges?
ReplyDeleteYep, there's a constitution as well, you must not speak with your own mind! It's just great for Lee when radio interviewers say we've got questions from Joan, Brenda, Marjory and any other old person's name you can think of! When they all turn up and swarm around him he must think he can only attract the older woman!
ReplyDeleteYou forgot Mavis, Doris and Denise.
ReplyDeleteDenise tabloid fodder Van Outen is in the papers today photographed outside her front door.
ReplyDeleteShe says she's a granny these days as she stands there in her tiny mini skirt! Nice legs but the skirt's a bit too short for her age.
DVO's fishing for compliments.
Ms Denise Van Mead on tv today talking about her pregnancy.
ReplyDeleteThey were pregnant.
We were pregnant.
We got pregnant.
We was pregnant.
Lee was pregnant.
Denise has got very pretentious
Very funny.