Wednesday, February 3, 2010

the Spectator and his Expectations

It's not that I'm disappointed with Jason's reaction to his Grammy wins. It's not even because Jason seemed somewhat uninterested in what was going on that evening. It's because I experienced that lack of reaction before from other people.

The first one that springs to mind is my mom's reaction on an achievement of mine. I didn't put much meaning behind it, so I even can't remember what the achievement was. What I do remember is telling my mom and my mom reaction kind of not meeting my expectations. To me, she didn't seem as happy or excited about my achievement; I expected more. I thought about it and came to the conclusion I wasn't expecting her to jump up and down in happiness; that would have been weird. How she should have reacted, I couldn't tell so I let it go.

A few weeks back John Mayer visited our little country for the first concert of his 2010 tour. It was all very exciting. Everybody was excited and the fans showed it by making both planned shows go sold out within the presale. The day John was in the country he visited a Dutch tv-show to play a song. To his surprise he also was to receive a golden record for the amount of copies sold of his latest album Battle Studies. He showed his gratitude, but it kind of felt like a formality; saying thank you because he had to. He didn't seem that excited. Once again, I was expecting a little more, but due to the circumstances (me not knowing him and me not knowing anything of his situation at that moment) I let it go.

The same lack of reaction seemed to have plagued Jason. As for Jason's reaction on his Grammy wins: All I heard was "Wow, I won?" and then he just went back to his (not even funny) bro'in joke. He seemed a little uninterested, like he didn't even know who the other nominees in his categories were. I bet he was happy with the wins. Maybe he was just processing the information and the real reaction came out of sight of camera's. But he not even reacted on the presenter's comments and questions about his wins. Even the presenter was expecting more. I conclude that from his comment that Jason's face looked like he just woke up from a nap after hearing he won both Grammy's. I mean who's expecting that?

Check somewhere around 2:10.


I can't say I'm disappointed, because I'm convinced my mom loves me and is proud of me. And I do believe that both John and Jason are grateful for the support of their fans and the acknowledgements they get all around the globe. Sometimes I believe it's in their nature to keep their feelings in control and to themselves. Sometimes I think the information just has to bleed through. Still, sometimes it's nice to get a little more.

Like the reply I got from blend apparel after sending them an e-mail asking if it was possible for me to pay through paypal instead of credit card. I had only asked a question and got a bucket full of sweet words and love back as a reply. That was not what I was asking for, but nice to receive. I suppose I kind of hoped to get that from my mom, John and Jason even though it seemed a bit much.

The received reaction never seems to measure up to the expectations.

2 comments:

Hannah said...

i interpreted his reaction as shock, actually. i think the news sank in later and i'm sure he was floored. maybe not. but that's how i interpreted his reaction.

it can be disappointing when one's reaction doesn't match our own, but we can only control ourselves.

Wiwik said...

I couldn't read anything from his expression. It actually only reminded me of the first time I met him. Then he also hardly showed any emotions on his face. He did it differently. It's what I often have with Jason; his face remains unmoved. I'm pretty sure he was shocked/happy/ecstatic/etc.

I also noticed it in Candace and his dad. I suppose it runs in the family.