In order to understand the Jashley thing, you need to understand the Disney thing, which I (admittedly) do not understand very well. You have to understand Jonas Brothers fans, and when you try to understand Jonas Brothers fans you start to go crazy, a little bit. I mean, Black Swan hit a little close to home, you know? I think it's because of the reporting I have done on the Jashley controversy since last fall.When I was younger my sister really liked New Kids On The Block, but she actually liked the idea of them; she owned a NKOTB sleeping bag and probably matching pajamas but didn't actually have any of their cassettes. Since the dawn of time, shady executives have been exploiting the predilections of pre-teen girls-- I'm pretty sure that's how Jesus got started, even. And there is probably no harm in it, by itself. My sister grew up to be a (relatively) normal person.
But when you mix the fervent fandom attracted by the Jonases and Biebers of the world with the Internet, specifically with the relatively anonymous world of social networking, it can be an explosive combination. Bieber-heads infamously mocked Lily Allen when she suffered a miscarriage, in what may be the most high profile example of this phenomenon. But then you see something like this, which is a collection of death threats leveled at Twilight actress Ashley Greene, and you realize the Lily Allen thing wasn't a one-off event. For some people this is EVERY DAY.
