Paying for autographs?
I think everyone has childhood heroes. I know I had so many that I probably couldn't begin to name them all. One specific set of heroes I had as a child were the cast members of the hit TV show "The Dukes of Hazzard." That show was a staple of my Friday night TV viewing activities as a child.
During the last two minor league baseball seasons here in Hickory, North Carolina, James Best has made appearances at the Hickory Crawdads baseball games. James played the hilariously funny sheriff of Hazzard County, Rosco P. Coltrane in the hit TV series. His appearances at these baseball games have drawn rather large crowds of fans. He spends a lot of time signing autographs at these games each time he comes out.
Last season, they had a small flyer hand-out that he would autograph for free, or fans had the option of buying one of his photographs to get autographed. This year, there were no free hand-outs. Fans had to purchase one of his prints or pay $5 to get his autograph on something they brought with them. Last year, I made a photograph of him that I really liked while he was on the baseball field between innings during the game. I decided to make a print to take with me to the game tonight to get autographed. I remembered his 'deal' last season but thought I might be able to get it autographed for free if I asked and introduced myself as the team photographer, which I am. It was a no-go. His wife told me it would still cost me $5 to get the autograph.
I'm not much of an autograph collector, but I do occasionally get autographs from people on photos that I have made. I have never had to pay for one. I think everyone I have ever asked for an autograph gladly gave it to me.
This scenario, in my opinion, creates a bad image for him. It makes me wonder if he has squandered his wealth and he has to resort to these cheese-wad autograph sessions to put groceries in his gut. One of the local radio stations sponsored his appearance today, so I'm sure he collected a fee just for showing up. He collected another $5 for every signature he gave, and even more for those where he sold a photo or a poster in the process. I contributed my $5 to his welfare and added my autographed photo of him to my collection, and went on about my business.
I guess childhood heroes aren't always what they seem to be...
July 10th, 2007 - 15:31
When the childhood heroes are actors from a TV show, I think our image of them is much more about the character they played then who they really were/ are. So no surprise that the reality of the person is sometimes disappointing.