Journalism / Living with Russel Crowe
Living With Russell Crowe.
13/02/06
It wasn’t until the early part of 2001 when my household was suddenly extended by one member. He walked, initially unnoticed, through the front door, sitting quietly in the corner of the living room. For just over two hours we sat looking at him, ne’er making a sound. Silent. That is until my mother exclaimed: ‘Isn’t he wonderful.’
This was my first encounter with Russell Crowe, in the form of the Gladiator DVD. Since then he has gone from squatting for one night only to being a full-time lodger, and frankly I’m getting sick of him. Indeed, as I write this very piece he is the topic of conversation. Why? Because he happens to have a jacket that is the same colour as mine! There is a limit to how many tenuous links a man can take.
Now, before I continue, I must state one thing purely and simply; I actually like the fellow. His films are good; he seems a man’s man, hell I even bought his records.
My jaundiced attitude towards him may have started as jealousy a few years ago, when maybe I wanted more attention myself. Now, however, it is just fear of what I have become.
Two days ago, I became inexplicably incensed at an article criticizing the alleged antics of the man in question, and ended up venting my spleen on some other celebrity I have never met. I was worried, all of a sudden I was an adolescent teenager again, I was under-going changes, panicking… Am I normal?
I had un-wittingly entered a twilight-zone, a fan by-proxy. By merely following a link on my mother’s ‘favourites’ I had stumbled upon a vast network of mature ladies who support a celebrity in the same way that most people support a football team.
These women get their daily fix on the internet on fan forums and message-boards. The sites vary from the reasonable to the down-right reactionary ‘underground’ sites. Now, it is not like a boy-hood crush on Scarlett Johansson or a young girl‘s obsession with Will Young. No, this is some serious organisation. The members of these sites are meticulous in their research. I stumbled on a thread that extended the briefs or boxers debate to the subject of Crowe. This was when I realised that the whole fan site phenomenon is un-controllable. (Incidentally, according to an obscure interview from 1993, I can confirm that he’s a boxers man.)
I will never again look at ‘women of a certain age’ in the same way. Gone is the comforting idea that they are interested in nothing more than scrap-booking and knitting. (Though apparently Crowe knits as well…God Help Me, I’ve seen the pictures.) Instead I wonder if they write bodice ripping fan-fic all the while swapping pictures and making giddy remarks about the size of certain ‘attributes’.
It is obviously not just Crowe sites that are frequented by this demographic. There are Pitt, Clooney and Depp sites to name a few. Whilst members from one site can appear on another and be perfectly amiable and have no altercations with the natives, there are sometimes issues. This does depend on what is going on in Hollywood at the time…If a particular star has said something critical of Crowe then the cudgels are taken up on his behalf.
The amount of sites dedicated to a specific star varies, with Russell Crowe leading the way handsomely with an entire empire, referred to by its denizens as ‘Croweland’, with domains ranging from The Crowe’s Perch to Faux Crowe’s (which is a site specifically for those who spend their time pretending to BE Russell Crowe on Message Boards. Nice!)
It seems that he is well and truly here to stay in our house, and, to tell the truth I think I’d probably miss the bloke if he went now that I know him so well.
He can’t just roam around as he pleases, he’s gonna have to make do with the lounge, all of the walls, the screensaver, the calendar, the bookshelves, CD rack, video cabinet, and the computer and…
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This needs work. It is slightly wordy at times, the prose is awkward at certain points.
It’s not bad, it just needs some slight fixing. Go over it a few times, take out things that aren’t needed. It will make it much stronger.
As it stands it will not likely be published in a magazine.
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Do these “mature women” really exist or was just an excuse to say, using them as shield, what you do? ☺ Just kidding, it would be ok if you did though.
Really liked the way you started by pretended that Russell C. was really in the living room, you used the same “formula” at the end and I think that it is great, would have been great to see the all piece like that, with the women “talking to him”, all with an irony touch.
It’s quite nice.
The first sentence of an article is the “lead” and the most important part. It has to grab the reader and make them want to stay for more. your lead paragraph is this:
“It wasn’t until the early part of 2001 when my household was suddenly extended by one member…..”
I would get rid of the first line, which is not very significant to your subject.” This seems like a feature piece so it doesn’t really matter when “it” happened. So begin your article like this.
“He walked, initially unnoticed, through the front door, sitting quietly in the corner of the living room. For just over
(OVER implies on top, for news paper articles i suggest MORE)
two hours we sat looking at him, ne’er (spell out never)
making a sound. Silent.
(For an article the extra “Silent” is redundant, if this was poetry it would heighten the effect)
That is until my mother exclaimed: ‘Isn’t he wonderful.’
“and frankly I’m getting sick of him.”
erase “getting” too wordy and “and frankly I’m sick of him” is just as effective.
“purely and simply;”
This is a cliche.
use either word, both are not needed. Brevity is a must in journalism. Get your point across with as few words as possible.
“My jaundiced attitude towards him may have started as jealousy a few years ago, when maybe I wanted more attention myself. Now, however, it is just fear of what I have become.”
This whole paragraph needs to be reworked. Its confusing.
I always tell my journalists to write how they would speak.
“I was worried, all of a sudden I was an adolescent teenager again, I was under-going changes, panicking… Am I normal?”
You go from talking about the impact Russell Crowe has in your family life, to talking about your self. Towards the end of the article you talk about the fan websites run by older ladies. What is the FOCUS of the article? From the lead, the focus should be apparent. If you have a creative lead, then immediately after you should explain, the focus.
After Am I normal? (if you decide to keep that part) you need a transition to connect the reader to the next paragraph, which jumps to the internet fan site.
There are a couple of more things that i noticed. I edited articles for a military news paper and have been working as a journalist for 5 years. With a little guidance i do think you can achieve your goal as a writer. The creativity is there, you just need to figure out the format. Journalists write in Inverted Pyramid Style. I have read articles on par with yours and after a little editing they were published. Keep writing I have no doubt you will achieve your goal.
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I thoroughly enjoyed this. I myself became an unwilling fan of Russell Crowe after my boyfriend forced me to sit through two hours of Gladiator. I admitted half an hour in that I loved it, and I was also mildly attracted to him even though he was wearing a metal skirt. Although I have not become a fan club member of his or any other celebrity, your take on fan clubs and Russell Crowe himself made for a completely enjoyable read. I really like this piece and hope to see it in a magazine somewhere! Good work, keep it up!
OK I am not a fan of Russle Crow. I just don’t get it. So I kind of feel sorry for you being inudated with guy. I find the Faux Crow message board twisted and altogther funny. This is a great artical on the torments of living with some in “love” with a celeberty. Hey woman to man you can always get back at her with pictures of Pam Anderson. Sorry, couldn’t help my self.
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