The thing about nostalgia is that it’s awful even though it’s great, just like any other drug. If nostalgia is properly harnessed and turned into a ripe piece of culture fruit, I can’t resist eating it. Which is why, more than a decade after Dragonball Z made me late for daily football practice, this professional, fan-made clip for a new live action Dragonball Z movie is forcing me to reassess my embargo on anime.
It’s not such a tough sell, really, because with all of the hate on nostalgia, it’s a pretty harmless controlled substance, so long as it’s controlled. It’s similar to fandom in that way: too much fandom makes you look like a lunatic, but no fandom at all makes you look like a real bore. What happens, then, when fandom is met with fame? Well, for some lucky people it results in famous fans landing roles on the shows they’re so enthusiastic about. It’s usually a paltry addition to a show’s plot line, and it’s a good way for shows to get press for doing basically nothing.
Sometimes shows do do things to get press, though, such as Conan going to Cuba and broadcasting. This interview with the late night host about the whole experience is a fascinating read, and not only because this is the first time in 50 years that a late night show has been broadcast from Cuba — Conan is just great, and always game.
Just like, surprisingly, Adam Levine, who made an effort to get on the level of a boy named Christopher, a fan of his who has Down syndrome. Christopher’s friends and family made a video about how much he loves Maroon 5, but when Christopher was finally about to meet Levine, he had a panic attack, and collapsed to the ground and refused to get up. Levine, charmer that he is, wasn’t fazed, and just sat right on down. Or maybe he was just taking a nap, and happened to fall in a good place.
It’s important to see people like Levine act with such humility, because sometimes it’s hard to remember that rock stars are not gods, no matter what they say. It’s so hard to remember, in fact, that sometimes it’s actually impossible to tell the difference between god and rock star — so it’s essential to quiz yourself often and vigorously, especially in the case of Kanye West.
More often than not, it’s the less famous people who say the important things. Randall Parks is newly kinda famous for The Interview and Fresh Off the Boat, which is probably why he’s still able to give meaningful quotes in interviews. (An example, of why The Interview‘s sharp satire went unnoticed: “it was lost in all the poop jokes with the critics.”)