Questions on Fame! and the search for “Inspector #9”—by Daniel Holland–2007 Nominee for Art Star of Lake County and Artistic Director of Comedy on Tilt
What is fame to you?
How would you know if you were famous?
What would that do for you personally, if you were famous? What would it represent? Mean?
How big an area would you have to be famous in to be satisfied?
Does the itch to be famous ever stop, have boundaries, or just keep going on and outward? Is the wish to be famous a desire that is always thirsty?
A lot of people want to meet famous people like Michael Jordon, Wilie Mayes, Mark McGuire, Joe Montana, Steve Young, Jerry Rice. I want to meet Inspector #9. Inspector #9 has been inspecting underwear for years. Who is Inspector #9? Is it one person? Or, a group of people?
Hmmmmm….these are good questions. What is fame to me? I feel I’ve been famous in a small circle of people. That’s good enough for me. Fame means to be known, but I think beyond that, it means to be respected, perhaps admired. Fame has become a value in our culture that’s been exulted above all else. It’s been blown out of proportion. There are more important things in life than being famous. I thing you’re onto something about Inspector #9….he’s anonymous, and yet he’s ubiquitous…that’s a particular kind of fame that not many yearn for and even fewer can achieve.
Inspector #9? Isn’t he that little guy over in France, Inspector clue-sew? I knew him when and, therefore, I’m famous, too…famous as a namedropper?