Fangirls; fanatical young women who obsess over a current trend or celebrity.  Often benign but can be volatile and prone to verbal hostilities if their 'fandom' is challenged.  The more obsessed can even become physically violent if confronted.

I have never been one to follow trends, in fact I tend to avoid all things mainstream as a matter of principal.  However, in the passed two weeks I have found myself shoved into a *gasp* fandom.  After watching the Avengers, my first impression of a certain young actor has been proved quite correct.  I am proud to say that I have been following him on Twitter since the time when he only had a little over 2,000 followers and have delighted in his tweets and general good humor.

The other day I logged in to find that his followers had jumped tremendously and are now over 120,000.  While I am thrilled that so many people are finally discovering this amazing talent, I’m also disturbed.  Reading through some of the @ tweets to him I find myself recoiling in horror and disgust at some of the things that people write to him.  (Exploding ovaries et. al.)  I cannot even imagine how he must feel reading such things though I sincerely hope he does not.  I’ve also noticed that quite a few people are mistaking his looks as the reason for this increase in popularity.

While he is unquestionably attractive, its not a normal Brad Pitt or Richard Gere type of attractiveness.  They are both attractive in their own right and have their own fandoms, but I’ve been wondering just what has drawn so many fangirls to this particular actor in droves over the last two weeks.  While the premier and unprecedented success of The Avengers no doubt has a lot to do with it, it is simply the means by which he’s been introduced to the world on a grand scale instead of being hidden away in England.  

I think I finally worked it out.  He’s naturally talented as an actor and having trained as one is even more impressive since a lot of Hollywood actors are talented but untrained and the difference shows. Acting aside, what is it about him that is so compelling?

See the definition below:

And there you have it.  The reason why Tom Hiddleston has won over so many hearts despite being the villain in The Avengers.  He’s brought the suave, humble, gentlemanly manner back to the red carpet and not a moment too soon.  The accent isn’t hurting things either.  I, for one, was a fan before and will continue to be a fan long after The Avenger’s fever has run it’s course.

So, for now, I suffer the fangirls and only occasionally pound my head into my desk at their effluvia.