What Do Celebrities Owe Their Fans?
What Do Celebrities Owe Their Fans?
There are times when pop star Chappell Roan wants her space. And as her fans have witnessed on her social media, she’s not shy about setting boundaries. “I don’t care that abuse and harassment is normal when it comes to people who are famous, or a little famous,” she said in a video she posted
cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/18498666
After a decade in the music industry as a relatively unknown indie artist, the Midwest princess catapulted to fame following her instantly iconic set at Coachella in April 2024. This was a huge adjustment for the singer-songwriter, who had never been in the spotlight before the festival, as well as having a hit single “Good Luck, Babe!” and viral TikToks and Instagram reels of her energetic live performances. But the combination of her hit song, her festival set, and her social-media presence, Roan has solidified a massive new fanbase.
In theory, this is the ideal for any pop singer, because having so many fans enables a pop star to leverage the profit that comes with visibility into gaining creative autonomy. But that also comes at a price, working in an industry that has a reputation for exploiting powerless artists by molding them into the most palatable and mainstream version of themselves for maximum earnings.
Roan’s 2024 trajectory is a great case study in how celebrity functions in America, particularly because she has had to take a crash course in balancing fame with privacy and personal space. In the beginning of 2024, Roan was able to go out in public in peace. But now, she encounters fans who demand her attention, her kindness, and her gratitude. Even more bafflingly, in September, Roan was widely criticized for not endorsing Vice-President Kamala Harris as a presidential candidate, and was forced to clarify that she is critical of all people in power. When she expressed her discomfort and set boundaries around her political and social lives, she received quite a bit of backlash online from critics who felt she should be grateful for her success.
It’s the ultimate trade-off: You’re allowed to make the art you want if you sacrifice your whole self to your audience. Back in 2016, an Amy Schumer fan who was insisting the comic take a photo with him, even as she asked him to stop, articulated this dynamic perfectly. The man told her: “No, it’s America and we paid for you.” If you’re famous, the public believes they get to do whatever they want with you, as some kind of a treat in exchange for the horrors.
You're viewing a single thread.
As we see art as something to consume in the same way we consume products, we start to see the artist behind the art as something to be consumed as well. I would say the idea of "we paid you, so do your job" pops up as an expectation from all workers (specifically in service jobs), which is soo exploitative and strips the worker from their humanity.