Why Are Celebs Freaks?

The title question of this blog is a very intriguing one that intertwines deeply with music throughout the decades. We see celebrities and popular artists as a shocking contrast to everyday life. They seem so outrageous, yet we as consumers seem to love it. The average listener/person seems to view celebrities in a light that enables them to do whatever they want.

At the heart, I don’t think that these celebrities are strange however. I don’t think Lady Gaga woke up one day and decided that she was going to throw on a meat dress. I think these artists are very aware of what sells. They are simply efficient at their business, which is basically being music/media salesmen. They observe their customers and learn that we as consumers desire this irrational behavior. Thus, in order to match their competition, the celebrities increase in their “weird” factor (maybe even subconsciously).

Now another question that comes into play here is why consumers like this very strange and uncomfortable behavior that some celebrities and artists have adopted. The celebs are simply responding to the consumer. So, what about androgyny or a meat dress appeals to the masses? I believe the major factor that comes into play is that it is shocking. This deranged behavior which seems so outrageous to the “normal” individual is like a verbal slap in the face. When the artists do these things, their actions are almost screaming at the consumer, saying “PAY ATTENTION TO ME”. With so much media and a constant influx of information/media, each piece of music will drown in the autotuned sea of nonsense unless they have something that makes them stand out.

Under this large umbrella of outrageous behavior, lies androgyny in music. I hate androgyny, especially as a method of selling music or product. I find it creepy and utterly strange when artists perform while acting like the opposite gender. While everyone is free to do whatever they please, I still feel fairly uncomfortable. This feeling applies towards outrageous behavior of all celebrities. I hate the fact that they use their behavior to sell instead of basing their music off of TALENT. What is even worse is when the artists ARE talented but mold into society. Personally, the whole matter is rather upsetting.

In order to analyze this concept further, we can look to the wild career of David Bowie. Bowie developed into a very intriguing character. I use the word intriguing very loosely. In his album, Hunky Dory, he was a seemingly normal guy of the 70s. Even though he had excessively long hair, flamboyant clothing, and bell-bottom jeans, he was still an average guy. He was successful in his music career and had some pretty light sounding, yet talented songs released on the album, including “Oh! You Pretty Things” and “Changes”. His music was kind of appealing as it took on a pop-like sound without a very heavy tone. His harmonies were full of energy and overall he sounded good. Check him out below:

Then, androgyny hit. With the course of a single album, Bowie was capable of making me lose significant respect for him. This is not simply based off the music in which he generated. The album “Ziggy Stardust” has a lot of peaks musically. But the concept and character that he developed freaks me out and prevents me from truly appreciating the music. One of his songs, “Five Years” has a pretty sick drum beat at the beginning. I definitely feel a different aspect of his music bleeding through that adds to the eeriness of the tone. With the use of simple effects along with a slight vocal change, I feel that his music is much creepier in a way. Because of performances that I’ve seen and just knowing that at this point in his career he was blurring the gender lines, it makes me a little sick in the stomach and prevents me from listening without biases. He has a good sound and I don’t think he needed to rely on androgyny to succeed. And frankly, he’s just plain creepy looking. Sorry to creep you out:

I view androgyny as a crutch. I don’t think that true and good artists need to change themselves just to satisfy their audience. They should be able to create good music without this façade. And personally, it’s just plain creepy. You saw David Bowie. What was he thinking when he woke up in the morning? He proved in his early years that he could create music, so I don’t see why consumers would want to ask for anymore despite to live vicariously through an obnoxious parallel.