The Positives and Negatives of Being a Well Known TMNT Fan

[pferreira]

In advance I'd like to tell the mods if they feel this thread is pointless please lock it or delete it. I just wanted to bring attention to a video that was in my YT notifications.

A lot of us have either met Michelle Ivey online, watched videos on her channel or met her in person. She became well known for her Totally Obsessed programme which made her seem more obsessed than she actually is. Michelle seems like a really nice person and most seem to think she's okay however that Totally Obsessed video years later is still doing the rounds in people's YT videos. Here's the link:



This up and coming YouTuber did a video on Michelle, making fun of the obvious stuff we all thought of when we first watched that original programme on her. Now a YouTuber covering this is their business but years later isn't this really low hanging fruit at this stage? Go to the comments section and everyone seems really misinformed about her because this YouTuber didn't do any research. The video was obviously done for quick views and to get subscribers. It's not the worst video covering her but it still doesn't paint Michelle in the most positive light either.

My question is really whether picking on a fan years later is fine and whether having a reputation like the one Michelle unintentionally has with that Totally Obsessed episode has it's pros or cons? As a fan do you guys want to appreciated in years to come in a positive way or do you not really care either way?

[Roseangelo]

I don't care about any of those videos. My biggest bother has always been her constant asking of money from people.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

I got this video in my feed as well.

While I hardly know much about Michelle Ivy, its obvious that the title of the video was made purposely dramatic to get more views/clicks.

[IMJ]

She's really into her hobby, but once it impacts the normal operations of your life rather than enhances them - well that's the first key measure of mental illness.

But with that said, the guy who did the video wasn't too devastating in ripping on her, but I don't see any point to that video at all. I mean.... the guy who made it accomplishes nothing and does nothing to help the situation. He made the video for himself and for clickbait.

On that note the guy doing the video sounds like a mouth breather, like Napolean Dynamite or something and his best message is that he has another channel showing him doing multi-player on some game.

We are watching an extreme mouth-breather's video as he makes fun of societal misanthrope. The whole thing is ********.

[Leo656]

I don't know this person and I doubt we've ever interacted.

In theory, people doing whatever makes them happy is a good thing.

However, regardless of what the object of fixation is, that level of devotion and obsession simply isn't healthy, whether physically, emotionally, or mentally.

I sincerely hope the bits about ONLY eating pizza - and worse, only eating "authentic" TMNT-style toppings - were exaggerated. Just for starters.

We all have things we "geek" for, but going into deep debt and endangering our physical health and well-being over a movie or TV show is frankly indicative of a much more serious underlying issue. My concern is that the seriousness of it has been downplayed over the years by her friends and family because it's "just" TMNT. When I see things like this about fanatic-types, I always wonder what's going to happen to these people when their family members inevitably move away and/or pass away.

I mean I collect things from various properties, too, and hardly a day goes by where I'm not "encouraged" by one or several people to get rid of everything because it's "holding me back" from having a "real life". And I don't want to, and hopefully won't have to, but as I've gotten older it's becoming more and more of a possibility, because you can't eat plastic toys and so on. But I will say, if I ever even considered the possibility of getting a bank loan to buy a movie prop while simultaneously not being able to afford rent or food, I would be forced to take a long look in the mirror and make some difficult choices.

Probably a nice person. Absolutely unhealthy lifestyle, though. Also none of my business, BUT, if people put themselves out there, they can expect people to toss in their two cents.

[Roseangelo]

The pizza thing isn't real. From what I've seen recently her entire family basically doesn't have enough money for food, yet she's still going to conventions and buying TMNT figures and refusing to sell anything that could offer a helping hand to her family's poverty lifestyle.

[Zulithe]

I haven't seen this particular video, but I've seen plenty that dissect or make fun of her segment from Totally Obsessed, including one from H3H3.

I could make some criticisms about some of her life choices (not as portrayed in the episode, but what i've gleaned through the community and social media) but frankly, it's her life and that's for her and her family to work out. I will say though, that some things are worrying and she is going to face a great deal of difficulty and hardship soon if she is not prepared to deal with the cold reality life will be dishing out.

She has somehow become an unofficial face of the fandom and I think she's not very representative of most of us. And that is why she gets so much attention from within the fandom IMO. I think someone like Pixel Dan or Andrew Black Nerd are better examples of high-profile fans, they seem more relatable. But there's no drama or things to poke fun at with them so it's less entertaining for people.

As we know, Netflix will soon air an episode of The Toys That Made Us which will spotlight TMNT. I'm really curious how that episode will pan out and how it will show off some of the fandom. (yes, I know Ivy was interviewed for the episode as well but we don't yet know if she will be in the cut.)

Michelle has an account here. If she reads this, I just want to say... it has to be surreal to have people in the fandom just randomly start talking about you even many many years after that episode aired on TV. Sending positive vibes, in any case.

At the end of the day, I think there's a lot of vultures in the YT community. They feel pressured to push out content all the time and look for whatever is easy pickings to make their next video about. Finding old videos like her Totally Obsessed segment and commenting on it is just a lazy way of doing their "job" so I really have no respect for "content producers" of that nature.

[The-Shredder]

I really enjoyed the interviews she did on Cowabunga Corner with the cast of the shows and movies. I especially liked the one she did with Michael Sinterniklaas. He talks about some of the behind the scenes on the 1990 movie and how he got to voice Leonardo in the 2003 series. I can't think of anyone else who has connections like that or has the desire to interview all those people. I would like to see more of those.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

TMNT fansites were awsome.

[IndigoErth]

What year did that episode even come out? Even though it's still out there, it does seem a skosh late to be poking fun at her for it. Let the girl live it down by this point, if she wants to. But at least he didn't go about it in a way that's genuinely mean or anything and poked at the other people in her life for questioning her hobby.

Either way I really couldn't care less. Her life is hers to live how she wants, even if it's questionably overboard. I mean, yeah, taking out loans for stuff is definitely going too far, esp if you and family are living in poverty, but... to each their own, I guess, we all make choices, and if it's to the detriment of other things, we only have ourselves to blame. Only part that bugs me is if she/they are likely on welfare because of it and tax dollars are paying for her meals because she'd rather spend her money on collectables.

There's been things I wouldn't mind owning, but if I can't justify the cost then it's a no-go. The size and cost of a collection does not make someone more or less of a fan than someone else.

I just couldn't be that 24/7 with a thing though. Fandom is almost sorta like any other kind of "relationship" in your life, so to speak... A little space and breathing room is a good thing.



edit: But I'm kind of glad I have no interest in owning parts of Turtle suits in the first place. Decapitated and dismembered Turtle parts kind of weirds me out. lol

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

What year did that episode even come out?

Published on the Youtube 10 December 2013 (interviewed during Youmacon in Detroit in early November 2012)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sJq1Z53NGI

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youmacon

[Roseangelo]

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

Only part that bugs me is if she/they are likely on welfare because of it and tax dollars are paying for her meals because she'd rather spend her money on collectables.

I am pretty sure this is the case. And for 10+ years she was living off a workman's comp claim that she spent driving around to conventions instead of supporting her household or working to get healthier. Playmates gave her family $20k to help them not lose their house, but they basically threw that away and still lost the house. And then she got a final settlement from the workman's comp claim that she spent on a POS house that she can't live in and who knows what else.

It's one thing to choose to live your life a certain way, but she's done a pretty good job at dragging her family down with her and all I see is people enabling this behavior. I think that's the most frustrating part. So long as people keep bailing her out, she isn't going to take on any responsibility for herself.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Roseangelo

I am pretty sure this is the case. And for 10+ years she was living off a workman's comp claim that she spent driving around to conventions instead of supporting her household or working to get healthier. Playmates gave her family $20k to help them not lose their house, but they basically threw that away and still lost the house. And then she got a final settlement from the workman's comp claim that she spent on a POS house that she can't live in and who knows what else.

It's one thing to choose to live your life a certain way, but she's done a pretty good job at dragging her family down with her and all I see is people enabling this behavior. I think that's the most frustrating part. So long as people keep bailing her out, she isn't going to take on any responsibility for herself.

Whoa, Playmates cut her a check?????

Als I saw that video on my feed. I thought she did something outrageous recently that put her in the public eye. I didn't this was grabbing some ancient video and picking on her because of it.

[Leo656]

Yeah, 24/7 anything just... Isn't healthy. I definitely know a lot of wrestling fans who are kinda like this. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful if they come to the shows and especially if they buy my merch, but I end up being Facebook friends with a lot of people I meet at shows, and the stuff that shows up in my feed sometimes is like... God, do you do ANYTHING else with your time?

It takes a certain amount of "obsession" to wrestle in the first place - because it's fundamentally dangerous and stupid and the odds of making more than your gas money back are slim, and one bad night can ruin your life if god forbid you do get hurt - but a lot of guys "In The Biz" have a love/hate relationship with the fans, or at least a "love/tolerate but I'm a little afraid of you" relationship. I had an obsessed stalker/fan once, and I'm a total nobody. Crazy stuff.

Point being, it's cool to be passionate about stuff, and to a point I guess "As long as nobody gets hurt, do you" applies, but it's not great to be so completely obsessive about any ONE thing. And if someone is so obsessed that they essentially pauper themselves, meanwhile living more or less dependent on other people, well... I'm sorry, "Follow Your Heart" should have a little asterisk next to it, with a footnote that says, "Within Reasonable Limits".

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Yeah, 24/7 anything just... Isn't healthy. I definitely know a lot of wrestling fans who are kinda like this. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful if they come to the shows and especially if they buy my merch, but I end up being Facebook friends with a lot of people I meet at shows, and the stuff that shows up in my feed sometimes is like... God, do you do ANYTHING else with your time?

It takes a certain amount of "obsession" to wrestle in the first place - because it's fundamentally dangerous and stupid and the odds of making more than your gas money back are slim, and one bad night can ruin your life if god forbid you do get hurt - but a lot of guys "In The Biz" have a love/hate relationship with the fans, or at least a "love/tolerate but I'm a little afraid of you" relationship. I had an obsessed stalker/fan once, and I'm a total nobody. Crazy stuff.

Point being, it's cool to be passionate about stuff, and to a point I guess "As long as nobody gets hurt, do you" applies, but it's not great to be so completely obsessive about any ONE thing. And if someone is so obsessed that they essentially pauper themselves, meanwhile living more or less dependent on other people, well... I'm sorry, "Follow Your Heart" should have a little asterisk next to it, with a footnote that says, "Within Reasonable Limits".

Probably not the place for this but I forgot you were in 'the bizz'. I'm curious on your thoughts regarding AEW.

[Leo656]

"We'll see what happens." That's about all I got. I generally don't watch any of the stuff; I'm pretty jaded to it all nowadays.

Trivia Fact: Janela kinda/sorta helped train me, and my first two matches were against him. I literally used to see him two or three days a week for years.
We've had a "complicated" relationship. It's interesting to see how things have turned out for him. I could tell some stories, man.

I'unno how much of it still exists but some of our matches were on YouTube for a while. Pretty sure he wouldn't want anyone to see any of that stuff, though. I also might have been "Rikki Rose" for a hot minute that week, I don't remember. It's probably around somewhere but you'd have to dig. All I know of for sure is a 3-way we did in Delaware a few years ago that was "Eh." That one's on my YouTube channel but I don't remember what else. We probably had like 500 matches at practice but only like 5 real ones. Life's funny like that.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Leo656

"We'll see what happens." That's about all I got. I generally don't watch any of the stuff; I'm pretty jaded to it all nowadays.

Trivia Fact: Janela kinda/sorta helped train me, and my first two matches were against him. I literally used to see him two or three days a week for years.
We've had a "complicated" relationship. It's interesting to see how things have turned out for him. I could tell some stories, man.

I'unno how much of it still exists but some of our matches were on YouTube for a while. Pretty sure he wouldn't want anyone to see any of that stuff, though. I also might have been "Rikki Rose" for a hot minute that week, I don't remember. It's probably around somewhere but you'd have to dig. All I know of for sure is a 3-way we did in Delaware a few years ago that was "Eh." That one's on my YouTube channel but I don't remember what else. We probably had like 500 matches at practice but only like 5 real ones. Life's funny like that.

I've seen him in hardcore matches. We're you also messing around with thumbtacks and barbed wire.

[Jester]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

Whoa, Playmates cut her a check?????

This...

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

I've seen him in hardcore matches. We're you also messing around with thumbtacks and barbed wire.

Nooooo. I got a day job, brother. I'm talking about back when he was "Jumpin' Joey", coming out on a pogo stick, or working under a hood as "Nikko the Monkey". And then for a while after that.

But to address a point based on what you said, one reason we've never quite seen eye-to-eye, is because he's definitely one of those "Do absolutely anything to 'make it', or die trying" type of guys, and I refuse to take this nonsense anywhere near that seriously. He's made it work for him, so good for him. I'm not surprised. I just think he's short-sighted. We generally get along but I haven't talked to him in years except Facebook occasionally, so I don't know what he'd say if we crossed paths nowadays.

[Roseangelo]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

Whoa, Playmates cut her a check?????

Originally Posted by Jester

This...

Spoiler:

https://www.gofundme.com/jqtgdk

Scroll back in the donations and you'll see two contributions from Dani Tauzin, "Support from all your friends at Playmates Toys."