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| hellodooley |
Who really is the biggest Les Mis fan?Think Guinness Book of World Records. Who could be listed as the most obsessed fan of the show? Is it you? Curious to find out who it is.How many professional productions of Les Mis have you seen? How much money do you estimate you have spent on tickets? How far have you travelled to see the show? Have you ever flown internationally JUST to see it? Do you own every item of merchandise available from the merch stand? Do you have any Les Mis themed tattoos? Do you have any children named after Les Mis? Do you have any pets named after characters in the show? Just thought it would be fun to have an obsessed Les Mis fan competition. |
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| Eppie-Sue |
Don't know about the others, but it doesn't feel like something I'd be proud of. I mean, it's there, but it's not... it's not a competition or anything, is it? And naming children after characters and all that is sick.
ETA: Scratch the "naming children after characters is sick" bit. There was a girl called Cosette at the stage door recently and David Thaxton just about lost it with excitement. |
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| l'ivrogne transfigur� |
I'm afraid I have to agree with Eppie-Sue here. It's not something I want to compete over.
Also, I don't think you can come to any sort of conclusion simply based on the questions you have asked - it's possible to be obsessed with the show without having seen it millions of times in a million different places, and spending lots of money on it. Some people can't afford that sort of thing and others may choose not to. |
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| kemathenga |
I already feel a bit crazy because we actually did fly internationally just to see it (and are planning to do it again) and I'm not sure whether this proves my daughter and I are big Les Mis fans or just a bit irresponsible.
And l'ivrogne is definitely right. It's a privilege to be able to afford it and that's something I can be grateful for but nothing to enter a competition with. As for naming children after characters I'm ambivalent. I wanted to name ours after characters I love (not from Les Mis, though), my husband prevailed but only because HIS favorite characters have more sensible names. So, our oldest ended with names from an Ingmar Bergman movie they never saw (yet). The younger ones were spared this fate 
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| Paula74 |
I've never been into judging who is the biggest or best fan of anything...I know it comes up in various fandoms, but it doesn't mean much to me.
After all, someone who has only seen a particular show once - maybe because of their location or finances - might have a deeper understanding of the story and greater enthusiasm than someone who has seen it a hundred times just because they can. That said, last spring, I met a young woman...a receptionist at my partner's dentist's office...whose name was Cosette. When I commented, she had NO idea what Les Miz was...frankly, I don't thin she'd ever heard of it at all. |
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| lesmisloony |
I've always planned to name a kid Cosette (though I don't plan to have kids) mostly because I love the name. And the character. And Les Mis. I think it's a perfectly acceptable name. There are plenty on facebook.
Actually, when I was in middle school I wanted to have a daughter named �ponine and call her Nina for short. I thought I was very clever. I agree that fanhood can't be judged by how much money you have to see the show (or, more importantly, your proximity to the show). I don't agree that it's okay to judge people negatively if they want to name their child after something about which they're passionate. Much better than just playing roulette with a baby names book or whatever. |
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| Quique |
I don't know. I have people in mind but I don't follow them day to day and see just how engrossed they are in the show. And how do we measure it anyway, certainly not with the criteria provided.
I've seen the show a measly 27 times. The average fan has seen it at least 60-70 times. Does that mean I'm less of a fan. I'd say no way. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks naming children after characters is strange. Name your dog Valjean, your pussy Cosette, your hamster Eponine, or your iguana Javert is one thing but your child? Ummmmm...AWKWARD. |
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| riverdawn |
What, so you mean my plan of naming my first born Jean-Javert Enjolras is not a good idea?  
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| Quique |
NO! 
I kid. It strikes me a bit awkward, yes. Me: What's his name? You: Jean-Javert-Enjolras!
Me: Oh. 
See? Not crazy, not sick, just...awkward.
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| Elbow |
I like the name Cosette, but I think I'd like it more if I wasn't into Les Mis. I'd certainly be more inclined to name a child Cosette if I wasn't into the musical. It would feel a bit creepy at the moment calling a child Cosette.
I did however name my Aunt's cat. He's called Monty. What my Aunt doesn't know, is that it's actually short for Montparnasse. But I think Montparnasse is an excellent name for a cat. AND THEREFORE THAT MAKES ME THE BIGGEST LES MISERABLES FAN. Joking. Clearly. I don't think I'd want to be the "biggest Les Miserables fan" especially if it meant tattooing myself, naming my first born Javert and having a parrot called Marius. Creepy. |
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| l'ivrogne transfigur� |
Re: naming kids after Les Mis characters (or any other characters), I think it very much depends on the name. Names such as Enjolras and Javert for instance are surnames, and I don't think are very good choices, whereas I don't have a problem with, say, Cosette. I'd certainly prefer that to being given a silly name like celebrities are prone to do just because they can. Some parents are guilty of horrible names - I knew a kid, a little boy, called Sonnie Day. If I were him, I'd rather be Gavroche. | ||||||||
| lesmisloony |
I had a post like this halfway written out, and then I accidentally closed the tab. So thank you. Also, http://www.notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/1.html |
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| KatyRoseLand |
Two of my degus are called Gavroche and Cosette. But their parents are called Bronte and Branwell, so, you know, there's kind of a... nineteenth century literature theme. I think.
I would definitely give a child a middle name from a show or book I liked, including Les Mis, but it would have to be a GREAT name and one that completely suited the child for me to actually give them a first name like Cosette or whatever. But I'd get really annoyed if people pronounced it wrong, so I probably wouldn't take the risk. |
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| Quique |
Maybe I'm just tired of kids at work telling me their mommies and daddies named them after Disney characters, pop harlots, and random obsessions. 
But ya, Cosette isn't bad. I toyed around with the idea of naming my kid Marius. But it strikes me as tacky to name my kid after an obsession. Then again the motive might not even be the obsession at all and more just a genuine admiration for the name. |
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| Lara |
If you're going to name your kid after a character, think it through very well and maybe give them a middle name that goes nicely with it so that they can choose which they want to go by later in life. I have a horrible mental image of someone naming their child something like Enjolras and thinking it was a first name.
I'd rather name a cat after a character. That works. |
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| Orestes Fasting |
There are multiple measures of fannishness, y'know?
There will always be someone who's seen the show more times than I have. I'm close friends with someone who's seen it over a hundred times. I know of at least one person who's seen it a little less than once a week since the year I was born. There will always be someone who's spent more money on the show than I have. That's kind of a crappy measure of how much you love something, isn't it? There will always be someone who's run more and better fansites than I have. Read the book more times than I have. Collected more bootlegs than I have. Written more fanfiction than I have. Done stupider things for their obsession than I have. I do a little of everything, but it's not a contest. (Besides, I'm totally going to name my pets after dead Romantic poets. Because it would be kind of funny to have a parakeet named Keats and a hermit crab named Shelley.) |
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| AzelmaCombeferre9430 |
Re: Who really is the biggest Les Mis fan?
Once, I was bored, and I looked up the meanings of the characters of Les Mis' names, and on the website there was a place to comment on if you were ever bullyed for having that name, and a lot of guys with the names Jean and Marius said people often missed pronouced their names and people thought their names were for girls. So I think naming your child after a character is a bad idea (unless your naming it Cosette because that's an easy to pronouce name and its more common than say Fantine, or if you actually are French) Pets are okay though. |
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| Quique |
I'd totally vote Orestes most well-rounded fan. While I nap at the idea of French history and such, she's all up on it. A lil' bit of everything is an understatement..she prob knows what type of undergarment 19th century student leaders might've worn. XD Me...I'm just an enthusiastic nutcase, lol. |
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| Orestes Fasting |
Either horrible tight knee- or calf-length drawers, or just shirttails tucked under (shirts of the period had very long shirttails, probably for this exact reason). I like to imagine this was the 19th century equivalent of boxers vs. briefs. |
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| Paula74 |
I like that.
Rather like having a Pomeranian named Byron. |
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| lovesinging |
I was about to write a post arguing that fandom cannot be judged by how many times/how much you've spent on the show. So thanks, all.
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| lesmisloony |
Re: Who really is the biggest Les Mis fan?
Dude... Jean and Marius are the most common names in the entire Book. Isn't Jean the most common name in France? I'm confused. |
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| beyondthebarricade |
I've seen the show twice- in 14 days. And I've only been to London once (going again). But I've been singing the songs since I was six, and I've got almost the entire libretto memorized. Hey that's not my fault, I live like 7000 miles away or something like that!
So yes, along with others, the extent of fandom cannot be judged by the number of times someone has seen the show. I believe there are some people out there who have seen it around 10 times because they have nothing to do, and their "favorite song" (or the only song they now) is On My Own. |
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| AzelmaCombeferre9430 |
Re: Who really is the biggest Les Mis fan?
These were Americans with the name, so a lot of people were pronouncing it Jean (as in a pair a jeans) like the girl's name. I don't know...I always thought Marius sounded like a guys name, but appartantly some people don't... |
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| random_person |
Re: Who really is the biggest Les Mis fan?
Yeah, I can kind of understand 'Jean' through mispronunciation, but I struggle to comprehend how 'Marius' would be taken as a female name, even by a young child... |
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| AzelmaCombeferre9430 |
Re: Who really is the biggest Les Mis fan?
I don't really get it either. I guess people think it sounds like "Mary" so they assume its another verison of that, but really its Latin for "warlike" and derived from the name Mars. |
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| random_person |
^ Yes, but I would have thought they would figure it out to be the male equivalent to 'Maria' as female variants typically end with 'a' (I know that the two names are not etymologically related, but they eventually became counterparts to each-other through syncretism). Of course, I'm not American, so I have little idea how their young schoolkids tend to think... | ||||||||
| Paula74 |
Don't worry about the kids...it's the teachers that can't figure out how to pronounce names and, even when told the correct way, still say it wrong. (My last name is French, but it's NOT that hard to say right) |
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| Quique |
^ Tell me about it. My real name is mispronounced way too often. Some pronounce it as if it's French and others Americanize it to death.
I had a professor who insisted my name was French. And he wouldn't even attempt to pronounce it right, no matter how many times I corrected him. It was so funny, I found it nearly impossible to hold back my laughter every time he called roll. |
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| hellodooley |
I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone, by simply asking for fun, who has seen the show the most.
Other fans on this forum have taken it much more lightly. Don't worry, your fan status is safe no matter how many times you have seen it. I have seen it at least 10 times, but it doesn't make me less of a fan because some have seen it 60-70 times. I love peoples passion for Les Mis, it is admirable considering what negative things you could be all for (drugs, drink, partying etc). Keep flying the red flag guys. |
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| hellodooley |
I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone, by simply asking for fun, who has seen the show the most.
Other fans on this forum have taken it much more lightly. Don't worry, your fan status is safe no matter how many times you have seen it. I have seen it at least 10 times, but it doesn't make me less of a fan because some have seen it 60-70 times. I love peoples passion for Les Mis, it is admirable considering what negative things you could be all for (drugs, drink, partying etc). Keep flying the red flag guys. |
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| Orestes Fasting |
We've already had a survey thread about which productions we've seen, which actors, how many times, etc. So the only new thing this thread brings is the questions that are kind of tacky, like how much money we've spent and how much merchandise we have.
I actually don't think I've ever met a Les Mis merchandise freak. There are people who collect things like cast albums and souvenir brochures, but never the "Oh wow that's a limited-edition keyring from the Broadway 10th anniversary, do you have any idea how rare that is?" types. |
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| random_person |
Thankfully, my mother had the foresight to give me a fairly universal first name (Daniel). However, my full surname is a double barrel and the last one is Italian (Vecchione). While my fellow students caught on to how to pronounce it easily enough ('vek-yo-nay' with English accent, 'vek-yo-neh' with Spanish), it's been mangled by teachers throughout my life as everything from 'Ve-chee-o-nee' to 'Ve-chee-no' (don't ask...). On a related note, the manner in which my first name has come to be most commonly pronounced is actually not how it would be pronounced in the original language it was given to me in because when uttered in Spanish, it's exactly the same as the English name 'Danielle'.
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| Quique |
That's still better than "On-reek."
How a university professor with a doctorate could pronounce a common Spanish name THAT wrong is a mystery to me, lol. |
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| AzelmaCombeferre9430 |
I actually have a friend who thought Marius was a girl based on the name. I still don't know why... In my school district we have a large Asian and Middle Eastern population so the teachers butcher the names, so half the time the teachers are expecting a student with the name Murt to be a girl and Jing Fei to be a boy and they find out they're wrong. People just make false assumtions on unfarmiliar names. And the students here are just cruel so when the teacher was like "oh I was expecting you to be a girl!" The students just tease them for the rest of the year. |
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| Inspector Javert |
I am sad to say that I have never seen a performance of Les Miserables, and I only own two different recordings of the show. I am, however, a HUGE Les Mis fan. If I could travel internationally to see a show, I would in a heartbeat but can't due to lack of funds. Words cannot express my love for this show.
I always though Eponine was an awesome name, but I'm not sure if I'd want to name my kid that, hehe. |
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| operafantomet |
How many professional productions of Les Mis have you seen?
Four; West End, Copenhagen, Oslo, Lillestr�m How much money do you estimate you have spent on tickets? Actually, I have no clue... Not too much. The Lillestr�m ticket was an Xmas present from my then-boyfriend, who was in the cast. The Oslo ticket had student discount, and the London ticket was fairly cheap. Copenhagen was expensive, though. How far have you travelled to see the show? Have you ever flown internationally JUST to see it? Well, yes. Went to Copenhagen just to see Les Mis. Great cast there. Do you own every item of merchandise available from the merch stand? Au contraire... I own various cast albums and souvenir brochures, that's it. Never been a T-shirt person, and I never buy musical-related decorative items. It's just not my style. Do you have any Les Mis themed tattoos? I don't have any tattoos. Do you have any children named after Les Mis? I don't have any children. Do you have any pets named after characters in the show? I don't have any pets. |