Is James a Jerk.

nerd4hire

nerd4hire

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OK, first of all this post is not a Troll.

Repeat, This is not a Troll

You know what I mean right? If I suddenly appear in the James Marsters Fan forum posting about what a jerk James is, I'm just a Troll who's looking to cause trouble and should be avoided right.

I don't want to do that, though. I'm going to post some half-baked criticisms of James I've seen on other message boards, and I want you to feel free to attack them. Or even feel free to attack me on a personal level for daring to present this stuff if you like. I have no intention of defending myself.

James is a jerk because...

* In his personal message explaining how he was shutting down Ghost of the Robot, he didn't thank the band.

* He threw away his Spacey award given to him by Canadian science fiction fans, then this guy went through his trash, at the Angel set, found it, and put the award up for sale on Ebay.

* He spreads false rumours. EG: Joss is casting him for sure in upcoming movie. Macbeth is financed and ready to go.
 
Yeah, but I promised not to defend myself. 🙂

I'll tell you what... Do you promise if I post links, you won't think of it as me defending myself, but just as an offering of information.
 
nerd4hire said:
Yeah, but I promised not to defend myself. 🙂

I'll tell you what... Do you promise if I post links, you won't think of it as me defending myself, but just as an offering of information.
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Sure. I'd just like a lil proof of jerkhood.
 
If you check out the bottom of the Ebay page, there are some questions to the seller. Apparently some are questioning whether or not it was "found". There is also a remark that on the James Marsters web site that it was stolen from his trailer. Who knows, but I do agree that I would have probably tried to return it and not sell it. That was just wrong.
 
P
ProphecyGirl
[No message]
Yup. Unfortunately the story is old so It seems to have disappeared from the site.

I found something in the archives of Whedonesque though:

"Many fans have written to let us know that an award given to James is being auctioned on E-Bay. James and his business associates are very upset to learn that a valued and much appreciated award was taken from his personal trailer without his knowledge and is now being offered on E-Bay. Please do not help support people who are profiting from unscrupulous acts. Thank you. - Steve Himber"
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http://whedonesque.com/?comments=4664
 
Thanks for the link... seems as though it caused quite a stirring on what happened. Curiosity got the best of me and I had to go check it out. Thanks again!!
 
Oh wait I stumbled on one, that's a good one, concerning the fans complaining comment.

Here's one concerning a comment he made about Courtney Love at a the DownUnder convention, showing this message board user getting angry at him about it:

QUOTE (bookworm54 @ Jul 3 2004, 08:22 PM)

He was asked about being in Seattle during the grunge rock period and in the telling of that, he got quite emotional when describing about Kurt Cobain's death and how Courtney Love absolutely destroyed that movement by dissing Kurt during a gathering right after he had died. James said it brought the whole thing to a crashing halt and his voice broke up and he had to compose himself. He said Courtney was an ugly person.




I have to object to this. I know exactly what gathering (after Kurt's suicide) that he's talking about, and Courtney did not "diss" Kurt. There was a taped message from Courtney (Kurt's WIFE and the mother of his barely two-year-old daughter) played at a memorial gathering in a park in Seattle the week after Kurt killed himself, at one point in the message Courtney read out parts of Kurt's suicide note, she added her own angry, tearful comments at various points, about how Kurt was an "asshole" for killing himself. She was making it very clear that what Kurt had done to himself was stupid and wrong and she wanted it to be clear so that none of his fans would think it was "cool" or try to emulate his suicide.

Courtney, at that time, was not an "ugly person" and she did NOT "bring the whole thing to a crashing halt". She was a very distraught woman who was very angry that her husband had not only abandoned her, but also bailed out on their young daughter.

The point I think James was refering to was when Courtney called for the assembled crowd to unanimously shout out "ASSHOLE" in response to a ridiculously self-absorbed part of the suicide note. At the end, she was still reading and said "'..And remember,' "And DON'T remember this because it's a f*cking LIE.." '.'It's better to burn out than fade away."

I admired Courtney enormously for making that tape and having it played at the Seattle gathering. And I know A LOT of people who were there that day did too. It was very powerful and made absolutely sure that nobody left that park that day thinking that what Kurt had done was a "cool" or "noble" thing... She made sure people saw his suicide for what it was; a selfish, horrible, WASTE of life.

There are plenty of reasons to hate Courtney Love now, but that "diss" back in 1994, WASN'T and ISN'T one of them. :angry:

I very much disagree with James on this point.
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http://forums.morethanspike.com/index.php?act=ST&f=5&t=2186&st=140

Here's some backup for the statement on fan criticism of the Ghost of the Robot story:

But it was never more than a vanity band, and I figured that as soon as JM found other employment with fewer free hours for recording, the band would vanish. Again, I feel sorry for his bandmates.
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And isn't it strangely egotistical to talk only of himself (except the small 'wouldn't be fair to the band') when speaking of dissolving the band? Nothing about 'wish the guys best' or 'we'll keep you posted on what the guys are doing'. And don't tell me there are 'no bad feelings'. They may tell JM that they wish him well and even understand his decision, but these guys are on a bus back to Stockton or wherever
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All the same, I can't help but feel kind of bad for the band. I also felt that the message on the website seemed a tad bit egotistical, especially when he said he hoped people would continue to support his acting projects, without saying a word about continuing to support the other band members.
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This next one doesn't really fit, but it's interesting

The other members of GOTR have already formed a new band called "Gods of the Radio." The announcement was posted at: http://www.gotr-promo.com/
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http://whedonesque.com/?comments=4212
 
A few responses follow, but first I'd like to say that there will always be unhappy and even some disgruntled fans; there is no way to please everyone, so reading or hearing some negatives do not make him a jerk, IMO. To me, one of the most "telling" things about James is all of the wonderful comments that people who have worked with him over the years have had to say; not once, that I'm aware of, has anyone who has worked with him been anything less than very complimentary. If he was a jerk, even if they wouldn't come right out and say it, you would get that impression or pick up on it from the comments and quotes from those who spent so much time with and around him; and that was certainly not the case.

While he might not have thanked the band members in so many words in his post about the dissolution of the band, he did say things like: "This was not an easy decision to make but one that was thought out thoroughly with consideration to you, the amazing fans and my amazing band mates". Complimentary and appreciative, IMO.

About the Spacy award: people will believe what they want. James and his manager have said that he did not throw it away; it was found in the trash supposedly, but we don't really know how it got there. He has always seemed/appeared to be pleased and humbled by the many awards that have been given to him; in fact, to me, I found his taped acceptance speech of the Spacey award in question to be thankful, gracious and humble.

Regarding false rumours: If anything, James gets very excited and may share news/info with his fans before things are "set in stone". What movie with Joss are you referring to? By all indications, IF there is ever a Buffy or Angel movie, Joss would welcome James in the role of Spike, and James would accept a part if offered; I don't see any false rumour in that.

With the Macbeth project, I think that funding was discussed, James was/is working on a script and proposal, but nothing was/is definite. False rumour? I think that it's a case of him getting excited and sharing the news with his fans right after the conversation with a potential backer, and the news spreading like wildfire over the internet within hours of him talking about it at the con, before anything was really finalized or discussed again. He shares a lot with his fans (for example, during Q & A sessions at cons), and things that he thinks are going to happen or hopes will happen don't always pan out (or at least not immediately). Does this make him a jerk? Not to me; IMO, he's a genuinely nice person who cares about his fans, more than most Hollywood actors seem to. He is well-liked by fellow actors, directors, writers, set workers/stage hands, etc. Again, not my definition of a jerk. Is he perfect? No; but who is? The good that you read and hear about James far outweighs any negative comments. 🙂
 
Since my previous post was so long, I'm not editing to add to it, lol. 🙂

I just read a transcript, by a member of BAPS, of an article in this month's Buffy magazine; this is an example of what I was referring to in one of my points above: They interviewed Todd McIntosh about the makeup work who singles out the actor who played the lead Gentleman from Hush, and Juliet and James as the actors he most enjoyed working with from the creative make up point of view.

"Both James Marsters and Juliet Landau had the same reaction. I respected their wonderful creations in the acting world, as they respected what I was doing to help them get there, and as a team, what we ended up with was pretty magical. Juliet Landau as Drusilla is probably one of the more
memorable characters in the entire show. Even though she didn't wear a huge monster make-up, if I could put it in my book as saying, 'I created the look of this character and was part of it,' I'm very proud of that. And as actors go, James could not have been more appreciative of what we did as a team." Also, Bookworm has a whole thread in her great JM database at http://mywebpages.comcast.net/macpeg54/othersonjames.htm that has numerous, similar comments. I just don't see how someone who is so well-respected and spoken of so well by so many in his profession, not to mention almost all of the fans who have met him and posted their impressions, thoughts, etc., could be considered a jerk. ???
 
Hey, do you guys still require quotes and support explaining the Macbeth, and Spike movie controversy.

I don't think so, because I think Cindy explained it all pretty well. Here's a few though. I've been using Whedonesque as a research site, because it's easy to search the archives. I'm using message board users opinions, because the point of the original post was fans have been noticing stuff.

Here's the original Macbeth story:

King James!

A dream comes true for James: He will star in the silver screen adaptation of William Shakespeares Macbeth and play the ambidextrous king of Scotland.

James stated that he has 50 million $ as the budget for the movie.

He will write the script and play the leading role. He will also cast the other actors for this project.

So MacBeth will contain 100% James.

We hope to see this adaption of William Shakespeare`s play soon in the cinemas.

It will be released in about 2 or 3 years.

http://www.slayerverse.net/tanet/net_buffy_us/index.php?navi=news.php&id=9096
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and a few responses at Whedonesque.

Baz's Romeo + Juliet, the most succesful shakespeare adaption, took $45million at the US Box office and another $22 million in rentals...generally, the US box office counts for half the total box. So lets assume that R+J took $90 million at the BO and $44 million rentals... so a gross of $134 million. Impressive for a film with a $15million budget.

However, thats gross, and doesn't include marketing costs (general rule is marketing = the cost of the movie), and the revenue taken by the distributors etc.

Still it was a big success from a second time feature director, and guaranteed him Moulin Rouge (which had like a $60 million budget, but didn't do as well as R+J). However, Baz HAD directed absolutely stunning opera + theatre productions [he still does], and cut his teeth on a very low budget australian comedy.

So, I'm skeptical of the $50million -- regardless of who the director is. The last bunch of adaptions, O and Hamlet, didn't do so well.

Then again, I'm surprised that Serenity got $25million US.

In Australia, most features have budgets smaller than AU$5 million. Having anything in double figure millions is 'big'. Sigh.

h'biki | June 15, 02:38 CET
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Sounds very fishy. A first time writer, who's also starring, having casting control on a $50M movie....

Writers are the lowest of the low in Hollywood, the boy who get's the directors coffee gets a better parking space, and that's if the writer is even allowed on set! And JM, much though we love him, isn't a big enough name to carry a movie of that budget. At this time his 'movie' resume consists of 'Camera guy who has three lines at the start of Haunted Hill and is never seen again'

Here's one of the Spikecentric movie rumours.

During their meeting James expressed how much he appreciated the efforts made by SavingAngel.com and clearly stated that they were not in vain. To loosely quote him, he said: "I don't believe your efforts were senseless. We are discussing a new Spike TV movie project." He was referring to a Spike-centered movie, not one for the Angel series.

zz9 | June 13, 15:26 CET
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http://www.slayerverse.de/tanet/net_buffy_us/?navi=news.php&id=7866


and some response



Then again this is James we are talking about and at the end of the day everything he says should be taken with a giant salt lick on stand by. He has the best of intentions but sometimes the follow through is not there and though alot is not his fault - he just gets excited and talks stuff up - after all this time you'd think he'd learn before speaking.

RavenU | June 14, 20:20 CET
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Also lets keep in mind James track record when it comes to Spike news - simply put nine times out of ten he's hasn't a clue - how many times has he said one thing and then something else has happened. So taking the info with a grain of salt.

On a side note I just read the JAR interview from SFX and he made an interesting comment, which was,

Q:"Is there the chance of another spin-off series?"
JAR: "Not at the moment. There's been some talk,unoffically, about us doing Angel movies on DVD."

Now that tidbit I find interesting.

http://whedonesque.com/?comments=3877
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If you'd like an idea of the timeline of all this, I've been keeping a running track of stuff like that here:

https://www.buffy-boards.com/showthread.php?t=12530&page=3

You can start about half-way down the page for the James stuff. I think it continues on the following pages there. I know there's a quote and link where Joss says there are no firm offers on movies.
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Right. So if you have no intentions of defending yourself. You have quotes from some random people. BTW
Tom Hanks is a JERK because he said that he could cure cancer.
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What's the point? I have to go back to my initial reaction that regardless of how many times you say it isn't a troll and use that snazzy lil bold button and say it isn't a troll. It is a troll. What purpose does this topic serve?

P.S. I'm not that bothered by James being a jerk. I'm not a rabid James fan. Waaaay more of ASH fan but seriously whats the point? :lame: :elf: :thumbsdow
 
ProphecyGirl said:
....but seriously whats the point? :lame: :elf: :thumbsdow
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My thoughts too; why would someone want to spend so much time ("If you'd like an idea of the timeline of all this, I've been keeping a running track of stuff like that here") doing something like that? ??? But, then again, I'm not one to post negatives about any actor and don't try to stir up controversy (behind the guise of discussion), and I truly enjoy and am a fan of all of the BtS/AtS actors, so I don't see the point of this thread either.
 
You're right Prophecy Girl 🙂 I did promise not to defend myself so I won't. If I did it would be a guy posting negative stuff in a fan forum looking for an arguement

However, seen as the verification for the general idea of the thread has been offered in the form of links and quotes (that idea being James has done some stuff that has attracted some negative reaction on fanboards) I will now offer my take on the stories.

James Dumps His Spacey

First of all the Spacey is an award that's given with humourous intent. It's an all in fun from the viewers of the Space station kind of thing. I'm not sure it matters if James dumped his Spacey.

Even if it did matter though, there's no real evidence that's what happened. The explanation of the James' people; that the Spacey was stolen, is just as plausible as the Ebay guy's story about him finding it in the trash. In fact I personally think the James' side of the story is more plausible, because the Ebay guy sounds unscrupulous.

Also I should mention something. The Space station got a kick out of this story. They sent James another Spacey, and chuckled about the story on air.

James Not Mentioning His Band Members

I don't see why he should have. The disbanding of the band was information kindly offered by James to his fans as to why he would no longer be appearing with the band. I'm not 100% sure about this, but I believe at the time band dates at conventions and such, had to be cancelled.

There's no reason to believe the band members would care one way or the other if they were mentioned on James' fansite. For all we know they may have specifically requested not to be mentioned.

James Jumping the Gun on Mentions of Future Projects

To be honest I get a kick out of the way James does this. I think it's cute. It's an example of his enthusiam, willingness to share with the fans and artistic eccentricity.

OK so there you have it. There has been some controversy on message boards concerning a few James stories. I've noticed it, and I wanted to address it, because I am a gigantic James Marster Fan. I had to go back and bold that last bit for PG, cause she likes my bolds 😀
 
You're an odd bird N4H 😉 😉

Let's see..the Spacey...well I'm Canadian, and since I've seen no proof to to show he DID chuck it..and since *gasp* stolen items have never appeared on Ebay before 😉 well it's pretty clear where I stand...

The Courtney Love thing....puhleaaaze. I don't think I've met one single person who hasn't had an opinion one way or another about that whole situation. Oh right I forgot, once you become famous you're not allowed to have an opinion. You have to do exactly as fans tell you.

No I don't think James is a jerk. Not by any means. The good work I've seen him do with charities and such prove otherwise. 🙂
 
nerd4hire said:
James Not Mentioning His Band Members
I don't see why he should have. The disbanding of the band was information kindly offered by James to his fans as to why he would no longer be appearing with the band. I'm not 100% sure about this, but I believe at the time band dates at conventions and such, had to be cancelled.
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I'm not saying he's a jerk and i'm not saying he isn't, as its not really for me to judge because I don't know enough information.

But he isn't obliged to say anything about his bandmembers its just something that people tend to do when they leave a part of their life behind, wish others well.
 
Faith said:
...its just something that people tend to do when they leave a part of their life behind, wish others well.
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Maybe he didn't wish them well in the dissolution announcement in specific words, but he always spoke very, very highly of the talent of all of the band members and was extremely complimentary during their time together. I don't know of any fan who ever heard or quoted James as saying anything but good things about his bandmates. To me, that means a lot more than a few words at the end; just my opinion though. (All of this was very hotly debated on quite a few JM/GOTR forums and message boards at the time, so I won't say anymore and will try to let "sleeping dogs lie". 😉)
 
Oh, I forgot to add my 2 bits about the Courtney Love thing.

In my opinion James should feel free to say anything about that Ho-rag he wants. 😀
 
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