My Big Break Screenings

Getting practical here for a change. The screenings of My Big Break are coming together – finally. The screening at George Washington University is set for January 30 and the screening at the Popular Culture Association conference in New Orleans is scheduled for April 9. I am almost giddy about showing this film to my classes next semester. Seeing this film (and the odd juxtaposition of seeing it originally at a fan convention is not lost on me) rather forcefully demystified “celebrity” for me, even as we were in the process of chasing down various celebrities for book interviews. Admittedly, it’s a process that was already well under way, but My Big Break certainly pushed me over the edge, giving me an entirely new and rather liberating perspective on both sides of the celebrity/fan divide. As I dive into a reading of Fame Junkies (my end of semester, I’d rather be reading than grading escape book) I’m struck by the similarities in Halpern’s undertaking, Tony Zierra’s film, and Stalking Fandom . We’re all confronting issues of distance, perspective, knowing when you’re too invested, being seduced by the trappings of fame without understanding the consequences. It seems I’m back to those questions we are still grappling with.

So much for being practical.