Sometimes our culture’s icons of rebellion go soft. It isn’t pretty, but it happens. Elvis Presley titillated the world with his suggestive hip-grinding and devilish charm in the 1950s, but ended up in Vegas, singing gospel tunes and wearing a jewel-studded, sequin-adorned onesie less than twenty years later.
A few of today’s pop stars have recently taken a similar turn. Katy Perry left the world of contemporary Christian music in 2007 and broke out on the secular side with her hit single, “I Kissed a Girl.” She went on to solidify her place as an edgy sex icon, letting us know she wants to go all the way tonight and that she would also like to see our peacocks.
Lady Gaga weirded everyone out with her wardrobe at first, but her songs had an undeniable dance-ability. She was raunchy, she was wild and she liked it rough—at least, that’s what she said in “Poker Face.”
Eminem may have been the most iconic rebel of his time at the turn of the millennium. News agencies ran stories when he said something offensive. Mothers formed groups and protested outside of his concerts. But of course they did. He would don a Jason mask, wield a chainsaw and rap about murdering his mom and stabbing homosexuals to death.
But lately, all these rebels decided that what their audiences really want is a dose of positive reinforcement and some helpful life advice. Katy Perry has taken it upon herself to inform us all that we are fireworks. She understands that we “feel like a plastic bag drifting through the wind,” but she wants us to know that we “don’t have to feel like a waste of space.” Lady Gaga, meanwhile, is urging us to just love ourselves because “we all are all born superstars.” Either “Born This Way” is trying to sugarcoat my otherwise normal life, or the definition of “superstar” has gotten a little watered down since the last time I used it. Eminem has recently invited us all to “Come take my hand/We’ll walk this road together, through the storm/Whatever weather, cold or warm, just to let you know that, you’re not alone.” It’s at this point in the music video of “Not Afraid” that Marshall Mathers flies, Superman-style, through the city while promising to be a committed father.
It’s wonderful that Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Eminem finally want to make a positive contribution to society, but I think there is some confusion on their part. I’m not sure they realize what role they play in people’s lives. Their function in the entertainment industry is to sing provocative/lecherous/violent songs that make me feel like a badass. I don’t need life advice from the girl who wants to take a ride on everyone’s pogo stick, or from the guy who sings about putting anthrax on a Tampax and slapping some bitch until she can’t stand. If it’s positive reinforcement I’m looking for, I’ll call my mom or watch The Notebook. And it’s not just that these inspirational songs are sappy, they’re also of lower quality—because the artists are trying to do something that they’re really just not good at. And that’s why James Dean was the perfect rebel. He died young before he could embarrass us.
Sources
Eminem. “Not Afraid.” Recovery. Shady/Aftermath/Interscope, 2010.
Lady Gaga. “Born This Way.” Born This Way. Abbey Road Studios, 2010.
Perry, Katy. “Firework.” Teenage Dream. Roc the Mic Studios, 2010.