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In countries with developed ‘fan culture’ the behavior, personal life and expressions of the speech of the public figures are immensely influenced by their fans. The army of fans may bring their idol to recognition and reputational heights and topple them quickly alike – at least shifting their attention from them.

These kinds of relations are common in countries, that produce films, pop art, music, sport - in places, where those are not merely entertainment but are severely competitive, constituting a production, an entire industry.
 
It is worth observing that celebrity-fan relations, whenever strict supervisory laws are at place, are applied to the political sphere as well.
 
Let me remind of the scandal sparked recently in South Korea, when citizens took to the streets calling for the immediate resignation of their president, after news emerged that she had been taking advice on different topics from an aide with no professional record, thus being engaged with state secrets. The president was forced to issue a public apology that couldn’t immediately smooth the raw. One might draw from this that those wishing to receive recognition through public service, will be equally dependent on that public opinion.

In a future commentary I would probably focus on the life in the Armenian social media, where, to me, a new kind of relations and tendencies are formed and surfaced.

Let us shift from a ‘fan-public figure’ general ‘marriage-divorce’ dichotomy to a somewhat interesting law.  

Just until recently, the South Korean Law envisaged court sentence for adultery. In 2015 that longstanding law on extramarital affairs was abolished, yet another law stills exists prescribing that an unfaithful spouse does not have the right to demand a divorce.
 
Now the next celebrity scandal is coming up about renown Korean film director Hong Sang-soo who has appealed to Family Court after 30 years of marriage with his wife, demanding a divorce. However, it the court rules that he had an extramarriage affairs he would be recognized as “having an obligation toward his family” and be deprived of the right to remand a divorce.

Apart from this, the director’s relations with a young actress has outraged the public and his colleagues. The future career of the director is in question alike.

From one hand it is quite welcome to see firm links between the law and the public opinion, on another hand, it is hard to perceive that the public opinion may destroy the career of their idol within just few days. Some resonate court proceedings were held recently, where women working in various clubs and massage parlors accused some stars of sexual abuses toward them. Some court cases were closed due to absence of evidence, yet even in cases of acquittals, film production companies and advertisement agencies cancelled the contracts with those stars. This turns to be a cult of the public opinion – a kind of a ‘mutual obsession’.
 
These kind of relations are hard to imagine in Armenia. Firstly, there is no developed production to an extent to affect the public. Secondly, the gap between the law and the public opinion is huge – even in the matter of the cultural monuments, when no tangible result was reached despite the convergence in the public opinion and the law. Let us only single out the case of the “Moscow” Cinema summer hall.
 
The relations of and between the public and an individual are not of matrimonial nature, thus no divorce is feasible in them. The Armenian public - no matter whatever honest, just, and rational demands may bring forward, may not attain any result unless ensuring the dependency of those who have leverage on them.
 
Nevertheless, let me repeat myself, new tendencies are observed even and in particular such pointless places the likes of social media to be discussed in the coming.