After Chappell Roan’s posted online expressing her boundaries about fan behaviour, fans and non-fans alike began speculating that her debut album title, âThe Rise and Fall of the Midwest Princessâ which describes her experiences growing up in a conservative Midwest state, discovering queerness, all while trying to break out in the music industry, might become literal because if she cannot handle a little super-fan behaviour, she should not be famous.Â
Roan has risen to fame meteorically; she was an opener at Olivia Rodrigoâs GUTS world tour and she had a spot at Coachella, where people enjoyed her drag persona as well as the honesty and campiness she brought to pop music and the joy and hyper-femininity she brought to the lesbian music genre. Her fame might have been overnight, but she has been working to be an artist for seven years to get where she is, and she has the right to create boundaries over her earned fame. However, I do not believe the situation to be black and white. What Chappell Roan is asking for is a culture that has not yet been created for the celebrity figure. She said:
âWhen I am on stage, when Iâm performing when Iâm in drag. When Iâm at a work event when Iâm doing pressâŠI am at work. Any other circumstance, I am not in work mode. I am clocked out.âÂ
One of the steep prices of the celebrity culture society has built is that celebrities do not have that freedom. They are selling their art, and they are selling their story, to create loyal fans. A universal tactic employed to create and keep loyal fans is building stories or lore around an artist, specifically their personal lives. I believe this to be part of the reason why the general public regarded Roanâs demands as scandalous. She said:
âThere is a part of myself that I save just for my project and all of you. There is a part of myself that is just for me, and I donât want that taken away from me.â
Chappell Roan is a stage name. Roan once expressed that she views Chappell Roan as her project, as it is also a stage and drag-esque name, similar to how other artists consider their LP their project. But what fans want is the person behind the project. This has specifically become the norm because of how Taylor Swiftâs career is built. The result? A dedicated and ever-growing fanbase. Swift writes her songs and states that they are confessional work. When people hear this, especially fans, they rush to connect her PR persona with the woman herself. This tactic is a double-edged sword. It makes for a lot of money but also relentless prying into her personal life. Â
There is nothing murky or wrong about a woman setting her boundaries, but it is unorthodox for a celebrity, and in turn, the dedicated fans paying their bills. An artist does not have private patrons funding their art. In this day and age, being an artist is fully built on your likeability and your artâs likeability to other people. So, this means catering to your fans and keeping them happy.Â
The South Korean K-Pop industry knows this well. Tamar Herman, who works as a K-pop columnist for Billboard, speaks about how the commodification of the music industry is scrutinized and frowned upon and how in South Korea, that is not a concern. The music artist is a job, like all others, with artistry tacked on to it. Groups and solo artists are meant to be commercialized, packaged, and distributed.Â
Fans were up in arms, uploading clips of their favourite celebrities talking about how much they love their fans and and that is why they have reached the level of acclaim they possess, and fans used Swift and her current mega-superstar status to back it up.Â
I think it is important to note how old this video is. If we fast forward to the year 2024, Swift is no longer hosting secret sessions where she invites fans to hear her brand-new album or meet and greets, and her most recent LP, The Tortured Poets Department, speaks extensively about how fame has impacted her mental health. Give âClara Bowâ from the LP a listen.
Additionally, many artists, such as Shawn Mendes, Noah Kahan, and Sabrina Carpenter reached out and reposted Roanâs Instagram post, and in a Rolling Stone article published on September 10th, Roan discusses the celebrities who have reached out to her amid this controversy
âKaty Perry told her to never read the comments. Lorde gave her a helpful list of things to do at an airport to fly under the radar [âŠ] Roan went on walks and grabbed coffees with Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. Their Boygenius bandmate Phoebe Bridgers came over to Roanâs just to hang, commiserating on how fandom behaviour has become increasingly âabusive and violent.ââÂ
Behaviour that you might think is endearing or supportive seems invasive and creepy because as much as artistsâ experiences sound straight out of your subconscious, you do not know each other personally. After all, as a consumer who puts money into their art, it is your choice where your money goes, but as a collective community, I think we should be more normal about celebrities. Eventually, people will respect their boundaries, and as a result, artists will be forced to be more down-to-earth.Â
Your favourite artistsâ favourite artists are asking for the culture around celebrities to change.Â