Story By: Kara McKenna
In December 2016, Netflix gave everyone a “gift” the viewers didn’t ask for: Chasing Cameron. Chasing Cameron is a Netflix original series about social media star Cameron Dallas and his friends Taylor Caniff, Aaron Carpenter and more social media “influencers” that I have never heard of before.
(Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.com)
The series has 10 drama-filled episodes that follow Cameron and his friends on their MAGCON (“Meet and Greet Convention”) international tour. MAGCON is basically an event where teenage boys jump around on stage for a few hours and then take pictures with hysterical girls begging for a kiss on the cheek. This doesn’t sound too difficult, does it? WRONG. Cameron and Taylor repeatedly tell the camera people that meeting over 400 girls a day is physically and emotionally exhausting for them. Cameron gets severe anxiety attacks from meeting so many people that it causes him to leave shows early or miss out completely, which upsets a lot of fans.
(Photo courtesy of trendingallday.com)
Other problems arise in the series too with the boys not getting paid, tour managers quitting mid-performance and fans leaving disappointed. When I was watching the show, it seemed like there was a new problem every five seconds. Just when you think a problem is solved…BAM! Another conflict develops that leaves everyone in disarray.
Do not even get me started on MAGCON CEO Bart Bordelon. Bart is the lovely gentleman who came up with the idea of a meet and greet convention for popular social media boys. In the series, Bart messes up a lot of things. He cancels a show that didn’t need to be cancelled, has poor taste in management and doesn’t know how to communicate with venue planners. In one episode, Bart isn’t even aware of when the boys perform. He is very immature. It physically pains me every time Bart refers to himself as a “father figure” to Cameron…please, that man can’t even take care of himself.
(Photo courtesy of twitter.com)
Throughout the series, viewers get an inside look at what happens in Cameron Dallas’s daily life. You get to see his family and friends, who all support what he is doing and you see what it’s like to be famous.
I’ve been bashing the show quite a bit, but I will give Cameron credit – he knows how to market himself. This kid decided to make videos one day and post them on the internet and now he has over 33 million followers across all social media platforms. Obviously, he is doing something right.
Although the show in my opinion is terrible, I learned that social media can make anyone famous.
(Photo courtesy of inquisitr.com)
P.S. I hope no fangirls hurt me after reading this!