Gross encounters: on the way to writing a profile of Paul Gross, the author discovers his fans are the real story. Reflections on celebrity worship, Internet love and Canada as the Holy Land

Gross encounters: on the way to writing a profile of Paul Gross, the author discovers his fans are the real story. Reflections on celebrity worship, Internet love and Canada as the Holy Land is a 2000 "Toronto Life" article by Cynthia Brouse. 
The article won a National Magazine Award in the subject of Personal Journalism/Essays for 2000. National Magazine Awards/Prix du magazine canadien 
The article highlights Brouse's interest in due South, her attendance at a 1999 con (sponsored by RCW 139), and her observations about fans and fandom.
Brouse self-identifies as a fan and discusses her feelings of shame at being a fan.
Fans most certainly had some strong opinions about this article and Brouse's observations and descriptions. Her descriptions of fans focus on their immaturity ("they watch reruns the way my friends dropped everything to watch Monty Python's Flying Circus when I was in university, "), their physical unattractiveness ("... two round, middle-aged women approach the elevators. Both
have short frosted hair and pale plastic-framed glasses and are squeezed into shorts, T-shirts and regulation
Mountie hats. One is quite possibly the other's mother. " And "middle-aged women in T-shirts and jeans, many of them on the pudgy side"), their obsessiveness: ("On alt.tv.due-south, people from Texas and New Jersey and Ireland and Saskatchewan discuss
curling and the Northern Pikes and the correct way to tie a lanyard."), and touches upon slash fanfic ("masturbation material").
This article about fans and fandom is very likely one reason Bernice, the zine editor for IIBNF Press, specifically printed in several of its zines: "This zine is not to be given to journalists (in particular Cynthia Brouse or |Veronica Cusack), actors, producers, or anyone else involved in the entertainment/media industries. Please do not refer to this zine in any public forum without the express permission of the editor." Cohorts #5 is one of those zines. 
==Referenced in Another Article==
Some of the contents of this article was referenced in September 2000 in The Globe and Mail (a Toronto daily newspaper) in an article called "Not about to curl up and call it quits", which built on opinions and quotes in the 1998 article by Brouse called "Internet Authors Put TV Buddies in Unusual Romances".
A similar disparaging article is Due South's Mountie Bares All (1997) by Victoria Cusack.
==Some Topics Discussed==
* violating the fourth wall
* authenticity
*what is a fan, why are some fans made fun of and others supported in our culture
* fans and their obsessions, loneliness, and community
* while not using the actual phrase, discusses geek hierarchy
* Brouse's self-identification as a fan and the shame she often feels about it
* The Ray Wars
* slash fanfic
* MUCH about the cons by RCW, specifically the 1999 one
* actor's interactions with fans
* The Paul Gross Estrogen Brigade
* William Shatner's skit Get a Life
* the symbiotic relationship between fans and celebrities 
* the mailing list PG-L
==Excerpts==
==References==
 
Category:due South News Media
Category:2000 News Media