When Wil Wheaton started weblogging, I though it was great. I loved the fact that the culture of weblogs allowed us all to enter a world that – for the most part – remains completely invisible to the general public – a world of faded celebrity, auditions and call-backs. I loved the fact that he actually seemed to be a pretty decent bloke and that he had a sense of humour and a sense of perspective. I got quite excited when I heard he was going to be in the next Star Trek movie – he’s my age, he’s exposing himself on the net – I kind of felt weirdly like one of my peers had made good again.
After a while, I moved on to reading other sites – Wil runs a very popular site, it’s not like he needs my patronage, and there are so many people out there to connect with, however fleetingly. But I was drawn back today by a fragment of news – that his scene had been cut from the movie – and read his commentary on the phone call he received, and it’s actually just really sad and poignant and weirdly affecting. Be strong, Comrade Wheaton. Soon thirty will come and the weight will be lifted and your perspective will change and all will respect and admire you. It happened to me. Kind of.