What exactly is the mental condition that fans suffer from that makes them idolise people who make a living out of impersonating somebody who is dead?
I’m not against impersonators as such. Indeed, somebody who makes a living being multiple people, but making them appear to say silly things or with the ability to switch between the different personalities, is talented.
In contrast, somebody who can, say, only impersonate one particular dead person – Elvis Presley is a typical example – shows no originality. They are living off all the originality and excitement the now dead Elvis once generated.
Elvis was his own man. Ok, he was just bringing an existing music style to a new audience, but the way he did it was unique and had girls wetting their knickers. These girls wouldn’t have been exposed to the original music until Elvis brought it to them.
A lot of effort, a lot of life and time went into Elvis being Elvis, Elvis being unique.
Alas, so many others today seem to lack that originality. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about modern music bands and artists. In that respect there’s a lot of brilliant talent around.
I am talking about those who don’t have any of their own talent and so have to steal the talent of a dead person. Isn’t that immoral? Ok, not as immoral as the mentality of those who become fans of the impersonator and want their autograph.
There are many sets of people doing the rounds pretending they are people who are dead. Or pretending they are people from a group who are no longer together. Abba is a good example. People pay to watch a group of people pretend they are Abba. But they are not Abba, are they?
The same happens with Pink Floyd, the Beatles, and so many others. Yet the public just lap it all up and become fans.
By that token, when I hang up my keyboard, or become extremely dead, I’m guessing there’ll be a Christopher England impersonator whose blog people will visit and follow because it reminds them of me. Maybe he’ll get a cult following greater than mine. Damn. I hate Christopher England impersonators.
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