A group of friends and myself had the privilege and the pleasure to sit and talk with Patricia Quinn. For those of you who do not know who Patricia Quinn is–she is the actress who portrayed “Magenta” in the film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. For those of you who do not know what that is, go find out.
We sat in a hotel room and listened to her tell stories. We had a discussions and she actually listened to what we said and cared. It was really fantastic.
However, this rant is not about how cool Patricia Quinn is (and, trust me, she is very cool). It is rather about the phenomenon of being “star struck.” I have, honestly, never really understood this. I have met a -lot- of stars in my time, and I do not doubt that I will meet many more. I have met movies stars, music stars, authors, etc.
And, always, I treat them as people. Of course, with much respect for their success and their abilities. However, that does not make them not a person. They have beliefs and values. They are not anything more than you or I… they were just able to make their dreams happen.
It is kind of humorous for me to watch people who do get star struck though. During the party we were having to kick off the convention, Patricia Quinn walked in and started dancing during a punk rendition (by the FABULOUS White Trash Debutantes) of Time Warp. She just walked in and started hopping around and having fun. And, as people realized who it was, camera’s started popping out and people started backing away. Two girls near me were in near histarics. She, the trooper, trudged on and found a spot where she could dance WITH people who were not going to fall down in spasms from being so close to a star.
Here is my point after all of that rambling. Stars are no different that you or I. They deserved to be treated like people… and for the most part, appreciate it. They’d rather have a fan walk up and say calmly, “I really enjoy what you do, would you mind ________.” Than people buzzarding around and not saying anything, or people crawling over them at every pace. It is amazing what you can do if you treat people–anyone–with a little bit of respect and dignity. You might even get to sit and talk with them in a hotel room late into the night.