Pop stardom now rewards reflexive ironic disavowal rather than sincerity
Evidence
Look at Williams: his whole body is afflicted with reflexive tics, an egoarmoury of grimaces, gurns and grins designed to disavow any action even as he performs it. He is the “as if” pop star — he dances as if he is dancing, he emotes as if he is emoting, at all times scrupulously signalling — with perpetually raised eyebrows — that he doesn’t mean it, it’s just an act. He wants to be loved for “Rudebox” but, unfortunately for him, his audience demands the mawkish sentimentality of “Angels”. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1200
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the reader’s broader interest in the performance/sincerity dialectic and Fisher’s ‘reflexive impotence’ theme across his blog corpus. — connects to: Notoriety became a career asset once poptimism demanded respect for fans’ tastes — W. David Marx, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the…, 148; A celebrity persona can vault past public shame to critical acclaim — W. David Marx, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the…, 364; Poptimism legitimated the mechanics of fame as cultural production — W. David Marx, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the…, 140 (+5 more)
Broader Connections
- Feigned indifference to fame makes online popularity seem deserved
#exemplifies(0.85) — Alice E. Marwick, Instafame, 51 - Notoriety became a career asset once poptimism demanded respect for fans’ tastes
#qualifies(0.80) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 148 - Fame built on gossip now precedes rather than follows musical success
#corroborates(0.78) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 156 - A celebrity persona can vault past public shame to critical acclaim
#corroborates(0.75) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 364 - Poptimism legitimated the mechanics of fame as cultural production
#expands(0.75) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 140 - Performing at one-to-one scale deliberately neutralizes celebrity aura and asymmetry
#contradicts(0.75) — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 300 - Reality TV decoupled celebrity from objective merit or achievement
#corroborates(0.72) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 844 - Fame moved from costly status signal to media-bestowed aura to discounted ordinariness
#expands(0.70) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 547