I have a FB "friend" who is semi-famous (He's been on television and in the newspapers often. For good reasons.). I "friended" him on the advice of my closest friend who really thought we'd get along.
He's a wonderful person and has a very open, outgoing, intelligent, spiritual (not religious), loving mind. That's what I love about him.
When he posts something on his wall, his other "friends" will agree with him. It's not the agreeing with his comment that drives me batty but it is really rare to see someone disagree with him or throw out their own opinion.
I'm not saying that their own opinions can't mirror his (he has some great opinions) but it's that their opinion really seems to be contrived because of who he is. "I agree, You're right, I just love it too", etc. It can be something as simple as a silly old movie or as intricate as the spiritual world. Gushing is what if feels like.
I don't actually know him personally (my closest friend does) so I could be wrong but, it seems to me, that he's intelligent and open enough that his friends are allowed to have their own opinions. I think he would even value differences in opinions.
Maybe it's just me. I don't want to argue with anyone over an opinion, if I can help it. However, it would drive me out of my mind if everyone I know ALWAYS agreed with me.
My best friend and I do agree on A LOT of subjects. Sometimes family and friends will joke that we are the same person in 2 different bodies because we can finish each others sentences. Even if we haven't seen each other in a long time.
That being said, we can (and do) debate issues that we don't agree on and respect the other's opinion. We like that we know each other so well but do have differences.
I also have friends that are polar opposite of me. I think the differences are what attracted the friendship and now, even though we have nothing in common, we remain friends because they're fun to be around or maybe the differences are the things we're missing in our lives and we provide the missing element to each other.
It's not that I can't be star-struck. Robert Redford, Robert Pattinson, Jon Bon Jovi, etc. I might even get tongue tied at meeting someone famous (doubt it).
But I can't help but imagine that, if I were in their position, every time I met someone who couldn't speak to me or agreed with my every word and opinion, the moment would feel awkward and life would be fairly boring.
How are we to learn from each other or truly get to know people in our lives (famous people included) if we're too timid to disagree or give out or own opinion? Aren't differences to be valued?
Today, I leave you with those questions to ponder and one of my favorite quotes. "I don't tolerate diversity. I celebrate it." Author Unknown
