Several weeks ago one of my twitter ‘besties’ asked me if I had heard the news that Chris Weitz had opened a twitter account. I think this announcement may have been met with me leaping off the couch and giggling like a 13 year old. Seriously. I think my husband thought I’d lost my mind.
Since the day I watched the New Moon documentary, complete with socks pulled up over pants while toting around a big stick, I have been a fangirl of this man. He is passionate about his work, yet he has an amazing, lighthearted sense of humor. Ok, I fess up, in my mind, he also kinda looked like he belonged as part of the Cullen family. And the speaking in all the languages… damn, what chick doesn’t think a man speaking Italian is hot?
That first night he was on, I had a rumble on twitter with a new follower of mine who started spewing shit about how all Chris wanted to do was promote his new movie. To which I said, ‘Yeah?? What’s your point?’
Why do you think people in Hollywood sign themselves up to join our looney bin? Do you think they actually want to tell us what they ate for lunch? Or where they’re heading to hang out with their friends? Ummm… No.
So that brings me to the point of this musing. Twitter can be a marketing executive’s wet dream OR a publicist’s nightmare. In my mind ‘Celebrities’ (I kinda hate that word, but what the hell else should I call them? ‘The Beautiful People’? No, that sucks even more) use twitter in one of three ways.
First, of course, is the category I’ll refer to as the ‘Idiots.’ These are the Charlie Sheen’s of the world who use twitter to spew their own nonsense or just basically make asses out of themselves. This category should also include ‘The B-listers’ who use the Tweetybird to name drop or to let paps know where they’ll be in hopes of getting enough shots of themselves on the internet that the ‘powers that be’ promote them up the food chain to ‘A-list’ status. These are the folks who keep their publicists and PR teams up all night.
Then there are the ‘Uber-Celebs’. These are the luminaries of tinsel town who ‘float above us’. They have twitter accounts they use to randomly send snipets of happiness out into the world. They try to touch their fans on a wide scale. Kinda imagine throwing handfuls of confetti into the air and hoping it lands on someone and makes them joyful they caught a lil piece. This is the category of relatively harmless tweets we get from the majority of the twi-cast. The Ashley Greene, Kellan Lutz and PFach tweeters of the world if you will.
This is a safe, happy way to use twitter – but honestly, it’s just not all that exciting. (I mean I was sorry Ashley’s dog got attacked, but really my world would have gone on turning if I didn’t know about it.) I will note it is very admirable that this category of folks frequently use twitter to steer people toward charitable causes they believe in…
So take or it leave it – the problem with the first two categories is they don’t really move me. I am not likely to change the way I feel about someone because they are insane and ‘WINNING’ (insert 2nd mention of Charlie Sheen here…) or because they tweet that they are hard at work on the set in the forest. Don’t misunderstand me, it entertains me for 30 seconds, but then that feeling is gone.
And obviously that sentiment is shared by the Marketing Guy. I doubt either of the first two categories really make the Marketing Guy cream him pants.
So I bring you to the third option. I’ll call this ‘Smart Baby Kissers.’ To me, these are the Chris Weitzs of the world. THESE are the fucking GENIUSES who have brains and actually ‘get it’! If used properly, Twitter can be the ultimate tool in grass roots promotion.
When politicians campaign, they don’t just go on national television and talk to magazine reporters for 5 page exposes.
They go town to town. Sometimes they even go door to door.
They shake hands and smile face to face with voters and even kiss their babies. Why do they bother? Because being ‘in the trenches’ garners them a sense of loyalty in voters that isn’t won by staring at the masses from the 42” glass on their HD flat screens.
Twitter can be that handshake. A virtual kissing of the baby. It can be used to touch individual fans. And by touching one – the image of that handshake is captured and spun across Timelines around the world. That one simple grasping of hands is seen by other fans and marveled upon.
Twitter is one gigantic chain reaction. Or to continue with my ridiculous analogy – it’s like one big town hall meeting. You kiss a couple babies and smile at a couple of people and the sentiment passes around the room to everyone in the crowd. Shaking the hand of my neighbor is almost as good as shaking my hand. Twitter just adds to this scenario the layer of 13 year old squealing I mentioned earlier.
Chris Weitz has been smiling and shaking hands and ‘kissing babies’ in such a magnificently smart way that I want to stand up and declare him the smartest man in Hollywood.
Do I think that bitch-follower (who’s now been unfollowed, because I don’t ‘do’ twitter drama) was totally off the mark in thinking he’s hanging out with us to help promote his movie? No. (A Better Life – in theatres June 24th – you h00rs better go see it.) I think she’s probably right. Do I think the way he’s doing it is fucking awesome?? Yes. Does he have my fangirl loyalty for life now. Yes to that too.
So listen up Hollywood – it’s time to enroll in the Chris Weitz School of Twittering.
He’s not just giving us tiny soundbites of pre-fabbed nonsense. He’s being real. He’s being himself. His use of Q&A is nothing short of brilliant. It allows him to have contact with individual fans. (Who among us thinks they wouldn’t *jumpy clap* like an idiot seeing their Twitter ID and avi reteweeted by him?) It allow us to ask him the stuff we really want to know. (Vamp Bella running in the forest scene! I loved his answer!) And his ability to answer honestly, with great humor and sometimes humility, is amazing.
Within the confines of the 140 character jail, he shares small pieces of personal information that make him ‘real’: calling his son ‘Noodle’ (I call mine ‘Bug’), sharing insecurities (he really thinks we would love him if it weren’t for the people he hangs out with? Ummm. No. It might have helped me find him – but I still would have laughed at his jokes regardless), talking about his love for his wife (admit it, you’ve said Awwwww)… These are all things we never would have garnered from some two-dimensional interview on the glossy pages of a magazine.
The brilliance of Chris is that he gives us ‘just enough’ information without ever crossing ‘the line.’ He hasn’t shied away from answering things about the people he’s worked with – but he’s kept his answers ‘classy.’ He’s not out to make enemies or divulge information that should remain in confidence. (Nice try to the girl who directly asked him about Rob and Kristen. His answer was perfect. Again, humorous and tasteful.)
I’m not sure how long Chris will hang out with us. But what a fantastic ride this is we’re all enjoying right now. There has been no one else in this ‘franchise’ who has ever taken this kind of time with the fans. No one. And that is where my loyalty is won. If he is willing to spend his valuable time and energy answering our relentless (and often repeated) questions – I am willing to spend my valuable time and money on anything he endeavors. (Insert Marketing Guy creaming his pants here.)
Once you feel a connection to a person – albeit their fragmented internet version of self – you want them to succeed. I want Chris to succeed now more than ever. And here’s me holding my hands out to my ‘chain’ of followers and hoping that the good feeling is passed on.
Hold up your babies up while you can people. And go see A Better Life on June 24th.
Love you Chris. As a fan I thank you for sharing with us your talent and your time.
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