It’s not all that different from television, I suppose. You have the character (Ethan) and the real person portraying him (J.R.). The character’s thoughts, actions, personality, and words are supplied by the writer (Rick) and his demeanor, body language, and appearance are supplied by the actor.

And just like fans of television characters, fans of “Ethan Reynolds” want to believe that the actor is exactly like the character. They want that fictional person to exist in real life, perhaps because they hope to meet that character, or perhaps because they just want hope that people like that really exist. Actors deal with this all the time – obsessed fans talk to them as if they were their characters. The actor may be similar, or he may be entirely unlike the character he portrays. Usually, the actor is much more complex and conflicted, and far less poetic – as real people are. They may also be much more troubled, and in a lot of ways less attractive.

William Shatner is not Captain Kirk. Gale Harold is not Brian Kinney. Hugh Laurie is not Dr. Greg House. These are fictional creations that exist only in a world made possible by orchestration, writing, and multiple takes. They don’t have real lives, their lives stop where the script ends and the camera stops filming.

The same is true for Ethan Reynolds. The people who think they knew him did so through carefully composed branding strategies – blog posts, emails, strategic photographs and staged public appearances. Ethan lived in a magical world where every day was sunny and hot boys wore only underpants and thongs. No matter how much his fans may want to escape into that world, it simply doesn’t exist.

Anyway, I’m sorry to hear that JR stayed with Rick also, based on what you say Keith. On the other hand he seems to be making a living, and if he’s willing to bow to a Svengali in order to be successful, I guess I can’t fault him for it.

In contrast, I have to disagree with Jakey’s claims:
- “Benny-Boy, which Ben isn’t even his real name” Actually, Ben’s real first is Benjamin.
- “And JR is not Ethan’s name…sorry to tell you lol” Ethan’s real name is J. R. Reynolds. I can’t remember what the J and R are initials for though as we always just called him JR.

I’m glad all the madness is over, but I’m still disappointed that JR chose to stick with Rick after all that.