Ricky Gervais Thinks Online Gossip Readers/Writers are 'Deficient'
Posted on 10. Feb, 2009 by CSS in Entertainment, Quoting
Ricky Gervais hates us. All of us, sitting here, talking about him. Ricky thinks we’re “deficient”. He thinks we’re the equivalent of bathroom-stall pseudo-poets. And he wants to let us all know that he isn’t listening. Even if we think you’re brilliant, Ricky? Apparently, because Ricky says that even the flattering stuff “isn’t healthy”.
I can’t find where Ricky originally made these comments, but Contact Music has some pretty good quotes. Ricky probably doesn’t really hate us, he’s just trying to ignore us for the sake of his art. He basically claims that no one liked his stuff until he actually did it, and it’s better for him to tune out the bad and the good comments on his work.
Ricky Gervais refuses to read fans’ opinions about his comedy shows because he’s convinced he knows best. “The Office” creator recently described people who criticise celebrities in online forums as “deficient in some way”, insisting it’s equal to responding to inane graffiti on toilet walls.
But he has now qualified his comments, fearing he has offended fans.
He says, “It was not aimed at anyone in particular, no particular forum or fansite as I never read those things. I read a couple a few years ago and, as sweet and flattering as it was, it isn’t healthy.
“With everyone in the world having strong and completely different opinions on the minutiae of your work, it might start influencing your decisions… I appreciate that fans have views on my work – I just don’t want to hear them. I don’t mean that in a bad way, I mean I don’t take notes.”
“It’s not that I think I know better than everyone else in the world; it’s just that I feel the best work is never done by committee or by pandering to the most popular suggestions. I think I have the best fans in the world. The stuff I’ve produced over the past few years could never have been the success it was without the initial dedication of the hard core few. However I wouldn’t want to be stuck in a lift with them.”
It’s a tough call, blasting your critics as well as your fans. I completely understand what Ricky’s saying, but it might be taken as biting the hand that feeds him. I hope people get where he’s coming from.
Since we know that Ricky’s not reading, what is the worst we could say about him? Hey, Ricky, you’re so…I don’t know… pasty? That’s as bad as I can get for Ricky. I love him, but I know he doesn’t care.
