Peripheral interest in a subject

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I can tell you all about chess. I can tell you all about the life of Bobby Fischer, about the history of the World Chess Championship, about all the famous players: Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Morphy, Karpov, Kasparov.

I don't play chess.

I like reading reviews of Star Trek movies and TV shows and reading wiki articles detailing their production histories. I can tell you who was considered to direct this movie or what the working title of that movie was or who had a cameo in this other one.

I don't watch Star Trek.

I'm interested in so many things that I do actually experience. I have books about the history of the Sherlock Holmes stories and movies, but I do actually read the stories and watch the movies. I obsessively read biographies of my favorite writers, but I actually read their novels. And yet in other subjects, I seem to have a strong interest in reading about them without having the smallest interest whatsoever in actually playing the game I'm reading about or watching the movie I'm reading about and so on. Is anyone else like this?

I do this with a lot of celebrities, which I guess makes me seem more nt. I think I have a fascination with every model out there, even if I dont agree with their career. Not only that, I never keep up with new fashion styles. I need to know everything about models and actors/actresses: what country they came from, their supposed ancestry, their love life, etc.

Reminds me of the following episode of outer limits:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream_of_ ... _Limits%29

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWsaLgvQKPw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Shore

That's called "spectator-aficionado." (I made that up, but it fits.)

I don't know very many people who don't do that with at least one interest. It's not by my observance very Aspie. I know almost no NT's who don't do it.

^ I'm almost entirely sure that I don't do that.

Sometimes I develop mild fascinations with celebrities who are connected in some way to my major special interests, but that's all - I'm rarely interested in their work, but I idolize them a little bit just because of their involvement (whether directly or indirectly) with my interests.

For example, I developed a mild fascination with Hunter S. Thompson because Johnny Depp portrayed his author stand-in characters in the movie adaptations of two of his novels (Raoul Duke in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Paul Kemp in The Rum Diary). I didn't actually go out and read Thompson's books or anything, but I thought he was a cool person just because of his involvement with a celebrity who I have a full-blown obsession with.

Similarly, I think that Anna Wintour (editor of fashion magazine Vogue) is a cool person because she is allegedly the inspiration behind the appearance and personality of two of my most favorite fictional characters, Willy Wonka (as portrayed by Johnny Depp in the 2005 version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and Photo Finish (the fashion-diva mare from the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic episode "Green Isn't Your Color"). I have no interest in fashion whatsoever, but I still like Wintour because of her rather indirect connection to my true obsessions.