I just got a tweet from an ‘actress’ who has been bemoaning her lack of a partner for Valentine’s Day for the past few days. Actually she has talked about not having a man for months but she has been a bit more prolific in her tweets as Valentine’s Day approached. Her last one got my blood boiling and I have to talk about it.

She mentioned that on Valentine’s Day she was going to be cooped up working at some event, and invited her ‘friends’ to show up. I checked the website and the event is like a convention of stars. Basically it’s for stars of yesteryear and marginal stars of today that can go and greet fans. Ah, but there’s a catch. I didn’t even check to see what the admission fee was because I was shocked by the autographs and photos with the stars section. You can see the stars but if you want to interact with them be ready to pay. To get an autograph will cost, at the low end, $20 and if you want a ‘professional’ picture with them it will cost $40.

Just looking at the list of stars in attendance it seems like over 75 will be in attendance. I remember back in the old days of Comicon where a person could walk up to a star and get an autograph and a picture for free. Somehow it’s become big business and you have these large promotional venues where stars charge you for an autograph. Believe me, the stars will make some money out of this. The one who sent the tweet probably will earn in the thousands of dollars for the weekend. She isn’t even in the sci-fi or cult status arena. There are quite a few of them on the list of stars and they could get tens of thousands of dollars easy.

I understand needing to make a living, especially if you are a star past the rime age. Living off your former fame is a way of earning a good living. I’ll never forget seeing Herbert Jefferson Jr. (Boomer from the old Battlestar: Galactica) at a 7-11 in Hollywood many years ago. I was the only one to recognize who he was and he didn’t look down and out but it was clear he hadn’t worked in a long time. A few years later I saw him at the Comicon autograph area. It was just him with a little push cart with photos. He was selling them and his signature for $10 and there weren’t a lot of takers. I saw him do this for years at the convention.

I think I’m looking at this from the fan perspective, because I can’t see myself spending money for a photo or an autographs. On the other hand, I’m sure if I had the money I would wait in the long lines at the convention to get a photo taken with a star. It just seems a little odd that actors who have been in what can be considered hits are now trying to get money from fans. Probably what gets me more upset are the younger crop of ‘stars’ trying to get money. I can understand some of the older stars wanting money since they probably have a hard time getting work, but the actress who sent the tweet is doing hosting events, parties and other things. It’s like to see her you have to pay her and that just seems wrong.