Valencia and Joseph Cornell

This may be a little backwards, but for my next blog entry I’ve decided to talk about Rose Hobart and the discussion that ensued about fan videos. If they are being honest with themselves, everyone can say there is someone that they idolise. They memorise their birthday, collect pictures of them, and dedicate their desktop background to them. Okay, maybe not everyone is to that point of “obsession,” but the point is that people do feel personal connections to certain people in the media. For me, it’s a small pop punk band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania named Valencia. I was introduced to their music last year and fell in love instantly. Their immense talent and passion for music is something that I am constantly seeking, and I feel a connection to their music and the message they aim display. I have been to several of their shows and met them on a couple occasions, but they still hold this ethereal quality. I wouldn’t say I’m obsessed, just that I have a strong penchant for the music they produce and are willing to express it to anyone who asks.

Reading that over, it all sounds so creepy. What would they think if they saw this blog entry? The eerie notion is, in retrospect, the reason fan videos have gained such a bad reputation. The taboo of voyeurism is heavily prevalent in today’s society and most people are perpetually frightened by the idea of being obsessed over or stalked. Even this week’s edition of The Bull has an article about “the relationship between fans, celebrities, and fansites.” The article is accompanied by “The Bull’s Top 3 Wackiest Fan Stories,” which tells hilarious tales of what lengths some fans will go to in order to be recognized or appreciated by their object of their affection. But the truth is most fans are harmless. They just feel a passion about something – movies, music, art – and want to create something in tribute to the very thing that is the source of such a strong emotional reaction.


Joseph Cornell is no exception. He was a man who tended to isolate himself from other people. His intense shyness made it impossible for him to carry on any type of romantic relationship, although he was attractive to women. Instead of maintaining relationships, he used his creative instincts to express himself. Although his creation of Rose Hobart could be construed as over the top, it was his creative outlet for expressing the love he had for this actress and the work she did. I cannot say for sure, but I interpret Cornell’s creation of Rose Hobart as a strong tribute to the work of an actress he greatly appreciated.

Our class discussion revolving around fan videos kept reminding me of a recently developing phenomenon in the social sciences known as “parasocial relationships.” With the expansion of media, from television to the internet, this phenomenon has become increasingly popular since the mid-20th century. Some people develop “friendships” based on the illusory interaction they share with people they see on television, such as celebrities and fictitious characters. The viewer creates a one-way bond with these people and feels as if they truly know them. The growing popularity of this concept may have contributed the bad reputation given to fans everywhere. There are obviously extreme cases – as there are in any situation – but fans in general should still be appreciated for the things they do and create as a tribute to the people they admire. Some legitimacy still exists between fans and they things they do, say, and create otherwise, why would Joseph Cornell’s Rose Hobart have been deemed, “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant by the US National Film Registry in 2001? He had to have done something right.