A calculated compromise
A silhouette-esque figure, illuminating hazy shades of green and yellow, trudged along the steps walking up to the podium. His shoulders moving in a synchronized fashion carrying the ‘cool swagger’ a Superstar demands atypical to his lingering walk. He almost reaches the stage, to hear a slew of excitable and screaming fans gathered to pay their holy respect to their idol. His eyes mirror the myriad hues from the opposite end of the spectrum and he doesn’t forget to return the overwhelming love back to his fans with a loud yet bullish reciprocal of ‘I love you too’ topped with his trade-mark dimpled smile. What I just described to you was a snippet from the 2016 Bollywood film ‘Fan’ starring mega star Shahrukh Khan. The film celebrates the almost discordant relationship between an ardent fan and his beloved superstar. The young man worships his star to such an inexplicable extent that when the star does him wrong, he is willful of exacting revenge in an absolute notorious fashion. Such is the relationship between a fan and an idol, and mind you ,not a casual and dismissive fan, but a zealous, crazed fan who can go any lengths to show all their ‘love’ and if not duly returned claw it right back with vengeance!
Fans and fandoms make up the very core of the existence of popular culture. From comics, books, cinema, actors, film-makers, technicians, content creators, artists, musicians, pop-stars, television, social media stars — the plethora of fans is simply inescapable! “A fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest” reads the ‘Wikipedia definition of it’. But a subculture is merely a beginning for it eventually grows on to become nothing short of a cult! They aren’t merely fans who follow their star ‘religiously’ but virtually ‘stalk’ them. There was a time when there was a ‘mystery aura’ around the star. The star was unattainable and inaccessible to thegeneral public. The star was an enigma. Though today it isn’t like this anymore. Stars have descended from the heavenly skies and landed on earth, they are more reachable and achievable today. Fans have found various ‘innovative’ ways to display their love for their favorite stars from personal/body related — writing letters in blood, getting faces or names tattooed, social media — cyber stalking, sending inappropriate graphics/ sexual content, horrifying — trying to kidnap, sending compulsive marriage/dating proposals to downright disgusting stuff — collecting personal items like underwear and used tissues. Please note these are just a few ‘mild examples’ I have stated (Yes, it is far creepier than that).
I’m not admonishing fans and fandom culture. They are extremely crucial to a star’s very existence and their importance is unparalleled however, fans must understand that it isn’t the star they really love it is the image created by the media or the publicists or image-makers that you are in love with.
Image makers are extremely essential in sculpting a star from the scratch. They decide on what the star does, what he/she wears, looks, dresses, speaks, ideologies, beliefs, relationships and public behavior it is all chalked out in a blueprint! And the bigger the star, the greater the ‘image-creation’. However, this doesn’t mean it is all fake and fabrications and one mustn’t follow a star as they are liars it simply means that everything you see is a projection — a well-crafted image. Stars, too work very hard to live up to their ‘projected’ image, after all that brings them their bread and butter along with legions of fans.
Recently the world of Korean pop music was hit by the shocking revelations of a ‘sex and corruption scandal’ and two major Korean pop stars also called K-pop stars were publicly named and shamed following a series of investigative findings and reports. Lee Seung Hyun aka Seungri the youngest member of the quintet group BigBang. Known as K-pop’s reigning kings; BigBang was termed as ‘Nation’s pride’ by fans and the media alike. Another prominent name to have come out is Jung Joon Young, singer-songwriter and television personality with serious charges of sex abuse, trafficking, prostitution and pornography leveled against them. Seungri was also monikered as ‘The Korean Gatsby’ or his extravagant lifestyle and ‘party boy’ image and the two men have confirmed to secretly filming and ‘spy-cam’ their ‘partners’ during sexual intercourse and shared it on an online chat forum — Kakaotalk (Korean version of Whatsapp). The news was ‘unbelievably shocking’ for Korean and international fans alike. “This is all a farce, all rubbish” one distraught fan claimed. “Our beloved star would never indulge in such a thing” the other declared as they nodded in unison, as if trying to believe their own lie.
It is outrageous but certainly not a novelty. This is one revelation from one such industry while the others are hiding their demons in their stinking closets of conscience and shame to safeguard their ‘well-crafted public image’ from the prying eyes of the possible breakout of a scandal that can destroy not only their life but also the shatter the brittle sheet of modesty and humility they take vigilant steps upon.
A superstar closer home is adored by his legions of fans and devotees for his ‘mass appeal’. Never mind that he is a woman-beater, alcoholic, animal poacher and a murderer in real life, after all, he has got to do is build a ‘human’ charity to mint business out of fooling millions of people and he continues to hold his ‘Demi-God’ status!
These are just popular examples, the mere tip of the iceberg where the frost pierces deep through the shackles of societal norms and values. Actor Irrfan in an interview had famously stated ‘We film stars and cricketers shouldn’t be aspirational in such a big way for the healthy growth of the society. It’s a sign of consumerism at the extreme’. I sincerely agree to that. Icons of popular culture cannot be termed as ‘Heroes’ or ‘Life-savers’ they are entertainers, and that’s about it. The well planned, created, crafted and executed image they project is an act of ‘marketing’ and ‘consumerism’. They are brands, entities and commodities ‘selling not only their art but themselves to their public’.
Of course I’m not denying the significance of popular culture in one’s life and the astounding impact it has. Popular sitcom ‘Friends’ star Jennifer Aniston has revealed how a certain fan binge-watched the popular series while undergoing treatment for cancer or The leader of septet K-pop band BTS, Kim Namjoon aka RM had fans write to him that their music and lyrics have got them off depression!
Now this is seriously powerful! It isn’t powerful because it is ‘Heroic’ or ‘Life-saving’ but because the honesty and purity of the message it was trying to convey could transcend barriers of projection and image and reach its core audience in an untarnished and unadulterated way.
I’m not trying to blemish the wonderful relation an idol-fan share with one another, but what I’m trying to say is that this closet has skeletons of shock and deceit beneath a shiny, spanking and polished exterior. It is like the white printed message on a rear-view mirror ‘Objects are closer than they appear’.. A star is good as long as it stays in its galaxy and shines on but remember stars don’t have their own shine, it is borrowed shine they glory themselves upon. A fan must be careful of what they are getting into, not to believe everything they see or hear and most importantly, always remember that ‘they must love their beloved idol for the right reasons only’.