Another Hypothetical Test of Loyalty

Lmao at this thread! Nice one!


Well, I think the worst crime in my eyes would have to be Rape. Can't really imagine him even not going back to a shop when the assistant gave him a dollar too much in change, let alone rape.

But! I am going to be honest here.

If he *did* rape someone, my opinion would be hugely affected. Richie is a huge inspiration to me, the whole reason I ever started playing the guitar, and it would upset me a great deal to know that my ultimate idol, my absolute hero was guilty of something so awful. I'd be absolutely gutted, and I honestly don't think I'd ever be able to look at him, listen to his music or appreciate his lyrics in the same way. Even if it were Jon found guilty, it wouldn't affect me as much as it would if it were Richie.

To be truthful, I don't actually think I would ever believe the verdict.
But there again, I must say I think that it's ten times more likely that Jon will pronounce himself gay and prance off to Marry Elton John than Richie EVER doing anything this bad!

Great idea for a post, though!
Love
Laura
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Herbal shop

P.S. I just looked back over the post, and good god! you people are being harsh! Becky has NOT done anything wrong here at all! If it would make you people happier I'll make up scandals for Dave and Tico too, just so we can have the complete set! How abou this:

Jon "Bent as a butcher's hook" Bon Jovi
Richie "Head of the axe-murdering rapist New Jersey Mafia" Sambora
Dave "Serial Cocaine, Heroin and Opium user" Bryan
and last, but by no means least!
Tico "dared to make a hypothetical thread on the Jovitalk boards" Torres


Everyone happy now? They've all lost their innocent appeal!

Becky, I couldn't care less what anyone else says, I love this thread! It's fab! They just can't seem to take a tongue-in-cheek suggestion, apparently!
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EXTREME Q VAPORIZERS

What you seem to be getting at is at what point does the band do something so wrong that we finally give up on them?

It also seems to be a question of whether or not you are buying the artist or the artists songs.

I can only speak from personal experience and it's confused at best.

I was a huge Guns N' Roses fan. Wife beating, riot inciting, neighbor bashing, misogeny, racism, drug abuse, fascination with serial killers, fan hatred, etc did little to deter my enthusiasm. I was able to separate the artist from the music(and even at times the lyric from the music) and there was little impact on my disciplehood. Lest you misunderstand me: I'm absolutely and firmly against all of the above listed behaviors. They make me sick. I don't understand my obsession. I'm no longer obsessed in the same way, but the impact of the music remains.

Now, on principle alone I won't listen to Marylin Manson, NIN, etc. I don't care what songs they are writing-- Ok, I think they suck-- I won't listen to them because of who they are. I'll admit it's judgemental of me, but swinging with the anti-christ on my way to the grocery store does little for the luster on my soul.

I'm a huge Cowboy Junkies fan. I highly recommend them if you love an angelic voice backed by a muscular southern swagger. On one of their more recent releases they wrote a painful song about the death of a loved one in which they called God the "f" word. As an isolated incident and not at all indicative of what they are about, I simply skip it on the cd. Were it to become habitual I'd certainly drop them.

From the above it's clear, I'm not consistent. I do make moral judgements on the music I listen to-- most of the time. Which brings me to this point:

Unless Richie had a woman tied upside down with hot candle wax dripping over her while he wrote "Living on a Prayer" my perception of that song wouldn't change. It was a good song before I found out that it was an axe in that extra guitar case he always carried with him, why not now?

Yet, I suspect my enthusiasm for Richie's future television appearances, concerts, etc would certainly dwindle and the prospect of future obsession would be slim.

I think I'm saying something here, just not sure what it is.

-eric

lol, i was thinking about this wen there was all that fuss about richie wearing the flag recently. i reckon if hed been put on trial for that then he'd have got a lot of support, unless america's being as patriotic as we r hearing over here.

but perhaps it wud add 2 their mystiuque,lol.

(btw well-worded laura, u could have got a lot of sh!t for that suggestion...lol)

Thank you Laura, Eric, Martin, Val, Joverl, Dan, Mike, and Ellie for actually understanding the post!

Luara, your post about Jon really made me think about issues of loyalty and how the music and the lives of the band members can become blurred in fandom. So, I started thinking, just what WOULD make me stop being a fan? Sexual orientation wouldn't, so I dug for a deeper shock and that was a crimal offense.

If ONE member, whoever it was, committed a crime, how would it affect how I felt about the band? I don't think it would change how I viewed the band as a whole, other than the eventual departure of that band member or the breakup of the band as a result. That one person--would I stop loving them? No: just as I wouldn't stop loving my cousin if he committed a crime. That doesn't mean I would condone the act, but I can't turn off love so easily that someone who's mattered to me for 14 years would no longer matter.

I would definitely find it hard to believe at first. If the bandmember said he was innocent my reaction would be to believe them. If the evidence made it clear he was guilty, I would be very upset and very disappointed and probably angry that he would lie about his guilt. I imagine I would feel betrayed and foolish because I had fallen for this image of a person. But that would depend on the crime--some crimes are momentary and veer far from the general psyche of a person. Then I can see myself digging deeper into the clinical psychology of the type of criminal the bandmember turned out to be--psychological profiling is something I considered as a career option anyway.

Becky

Becky has too much time on her hands

Excuse my language, but No Sh**, Sherlock. I wholeheartedly agree with that statement.

Becky

LOL Becky, you crack me up!

My god people, did Becky jump down the autor of the post about Jon being gay? No i don't think so, so why jump down her throat for this. Seems some of you are a tad obsessed with this Jon vs Richie thing ALOT more than Becky is.

As for the post, it would depend on the crime. Would i stop being a fan if Richie shoplifted? Nope, but i would if it was of a more serious nature like Rape, murder, ect ect.
Emma

First of all, I wouldn't believe that Richie committed any crime until I heard convincing evidence mounted against him. After a confession to the crime, I would be very disappointed. I would continue to the support the band if the "bad seed" was removed. If Richie (or whomever) was kept in the band (assuming he still could be), I'd force myself to stop listening on principle. You did say "heinous" after all! I couldn't feel good about putting money into the pockets of someone who did something severely wrong like that. I would love him for what he's meant to me, but I couldn't continue to support him.

To me, the worst crime is raping someone of any age. There is nothing worse than taking someone's dignity like that, forcing the victim to feel worthless and guilty. It's the lowest of the low, and there's no way I could ever support a rapist.

well they may be the subject of our affection and idolized by many, but still human and capable of whatever they set their minds to. Their music is their contribution to society and separated from their private lives. I would have as much disrespect of their crime if commited by them as I would for someone like the serial snipers. I just think I wouldn't be as quick to say "they're sick" or "throw the book at them" as I would an anonymous criminal. I would want to know what was in their minds to do something that heinous in the first place, when I always envisioned them as the perfect human beings we often think celebrities are. It would be disturbing to have my little image shattered, but I would not want them given any special treatment because of their status.