The Imaginary Mr. Collins

In case you hadn't heard (do you live under a rock?), Misha Collins gave his phone number to the internet yesterday. (Misha Collins is an actor, best known for playing Cas on Supernatural, and a twitter rockstar--seriously, do you live under a rock?) Misha was trying to promote some worldwide scavenger hunt thing (I don't really know what it was, go leave him a message asking him to explain). There were so many questions, he apparently got overwhelmed with typing answers, and decided good old fashioned conversation was a better solution. And that's when he decided to give his phone number to a million strangers. 

Now apparently it wasn't his personal phone number, more likely some google Voice number set up for this very reason. But still. A million strangers. A million very DEVOTED strangers now had a direct line to Misha Collins. 

What happened next was a little crazy. Like literally, people went crazy. A lucky few actually got to talk or text with Misha himself, and these people were blown away. Most of the reactions (posted to the internet, natch) included variations of "shaking" and "crying" and "can't breathe". It's as if they got to talk to someone that wasn't quite real. Just being acknowledged by Misha Collins seemed to change people. 

It's as if they got to talk directly to (a) God. 

And I'm fascinated by this. This being a blog about fictional things, I thought it was appropriate to explore this phenomenon here. Misha Collins, is he real or imagined? People were acting as if they were talking to someone unreal, someone they never thought they'd actually reach. It's as if certain celebrities become so big, so real in our minds that they're larger than life, they're larger than reality. I know this is not PC, but I can't help but think of how people talk about their "personal relationships with Jesus." It's like Misha Collins is his fans' Jesus; they have a personal, imaginary-friend relationship with him. And getting to actually talk to him, having this relationship go from one-sided to two-way, even for a moment, broke people. 

What does this say about celebrity? What does this say about the power of fictional things? 

Misha Collins, to most people, is a character; he's not real. He's a piece of entertainment. He's a storyline to follow on twitter. He's a persona. He's something to be consumed, like every other celebrity. 

But Misha Collins is not like every other celebrity. He talks back. And not just at cons or on podcasts or through form letters. He talks back directly, individually. For awhile it was just on twitter, but yesterday it elevated to a whole new level, and people's excitement, consequently, soared. 

But I wonder if this is sustainable? I wonder if talking to Misha Collins will be as exciting if it keeps getting easier? Isn't part of the mystique of "fictional" characters the very fact that they are unreachable? That they can be whatever we need them to be? That they have no say in this interaction? If God actually talked back, would God be so awesome? 

And why do we need Misha Collins to be awesome? I don't have the answer. I really want to know. 

Is our secular society replacing God with celebrity?

Shit just got deep.