The forefront of representative American ideals used to be freedom, democracy, and diversity. Things like Statue of Liberty, bald eagles soaring alongside the stars and stripes, and the idea of the “melting pot” come to mind. And some of those things are still true in certain respects. But in the millennial and Gen-X, Y, and Z sectors, the new American Dream is rocketing young people into stardom for everyday activities that mass audiences deem worthy of retweets, pins, shares, and views. These people are—usually—not remarkable in any way other than the randomness with which they explode into popularity over short periods of time. Now, I am also guilty of supporting the virality of some of these obscure “celebrities” if you can, or want to, call them that because let’s be real—the Walmart Yodel Boy is just funny, y’all!
But on the flip side of that same coin, it is a damaging frame of mind for young people to see and try to follow these examples because their impressionable minds perceive them to be role models. In the wakes of the to-be-expected fame downfall of these talentless try-hards, we are unknowingly promoting an unhealthy national image of what type of people and actions should be publicized and therefore, popularized. Below, I’ve listed just twelve of the more recent examples of people who, by stupid luck, got STUPID amounts of spotlight in present society.
CASE TYPE #1 – YouTube
Quick, somebody bring me an iced coffee and a scrunchie!
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Emma Chamberlain: Emma Chamberlain is one of my favorites on this list, but her rise to YouTube popularity isn’t justifiable. YouTube’s algorithm has fallen under attack for many different flaws, namely its lack of reasoning for demonetization and the “Trending” page as a whole. But tendencies to promote random content creators who in turn blow up crazy fast is another gripe people have found. Emma’s channel started June 2016, but her first video wasn’t made until a year later! Since her exponential growth in her channel, she has amassed about 5.5 million subscribers, also called subs, in the span of a year and a half. Yes, she is funny. She is relatable. She’s known for her signatures crop tops, sunglasses and scrunchie aesthetic. But does she provide the world with a cure for diseases? No. Now, I am not saying that you need to provide a skill of that magnitude to be worthy of celebrity status, but she’s just a normal 17-year old who makes funny, graphically-pleasing Instagrams and videos. There was also the issue of the creation of “High Key,” her clothing line: it was a HIGH KEY scam. She charged $15 for a small variety pack of scrunchies and other exorbitantly priced items, albeit some of the scam allegations did fall back on the company who apparently didn’t let her price check before marketing the line. Overall, she’s not the worst on this list, but it’s hard to deem her rise to fame as one with a true purpose.
Don’t you want to be part of the LoGang?
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Logan and Jake Paul: These two brothers from a small town in Ohio set out with a big dream of making it to LA to become to content creators. Did they accomplish this? Yes, but they also became embroiled in big trouble along the way to the top. Jake Paul started his talent-agency-of-sorts, Team 10, and profits off the talent’s paychecks in return for a bedroom in the coveted mansion and public visibility. Both brothers also have thriving merch brands. And while I lumped the bros together, both have had their individual trysts with bad press, like Logan Paul’s “Japanese Suicide Forest” where he videotaped a dead body with a close-up lens and the seemingly never-ending feud over Jake’s, on-again, off-again girlfriend, Alissa Violet. If you’d like a more in depth angle on “The Mind of Jake Paul,” you should check out Shane Dawson’s 8-part docuseries he did on Jake and other components of this content creator’s life. It’s crazy fascinating.
Hold the drama!
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JoJo Siwa: JoJo Siwa got her start on the show, Dance Moms, which popularized dance pageants and competitions. She has since taken her talent for dancing and turned it into a mega-million dollar empire of JoJo hair bows, shirts, backpacks, socks, and every other article of clothing she could slap her signature, childish color scheme and sappy sweet smile on. If you didn’t already know who she was, you’ve probably unknowingly walked past some of her products at mega-corporations like Target. She makes music, which she has less talent for than dance, and she also has a successful YouTube channel. Once again, a TV show that promoted bratty young kids and their stage-moms produced this teeny bopper “celebrity,” although she is on the wholesome end of this spectrum I’m creating.
Clean-up on Aisle 11 (years old)
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Mason Ramsey: Also known as the Walmart Yodel Boy, this kid became internet royalty with a viralized video of him yodeling in, well, a Walmart. If you haven’t seen the video, you can watch it here. He definitely has talent—he’s been singing and playing guitar since age 3! But if he genuinely wanted to pursue that kind of career, I do think the opportunity would have come around. Regardless, his viral video gained him the chance to release an EP for an album, an appearance on Ellen, and a performance at COACHELLA. You know, the ginormous two-week long arts and music festival in the middle of the desert with hundreds of artists? Yeah, he was on the setlist. And it all started in a supermarket.
Emma Chamberlain Cronie
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Joana Ceddia: This is another one of the people on this list that I quite enjoy watching, but again, she is one of the people that was catapulted into the public eye because of a hard-to-explain algorithm… And do you know which video sparked a lot of subs? Her “I DIY-ed Emma Chamberlain’s New Clothing Line.” This one can actually be justified because the use of Emma’s name in the title made it more clickable to Emma viewers, but Joana is also just an everyday girl with a hobby of making videos. Again, I’m not trying to diss her, but there isn’t a distinct event to pinpoint her growth other than a spoof off another content creator who’s already graced this list.
Did you get the tingles?
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Life with Mak: Okay, I think this is the last person on this list who I actually enjoy. Again, this girl is 13-years-old and is an ASMR-tist (meant to be a fusion of ASMR and artist). If you’re not familiar with ASMR, it stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, which can be most easily described as “tingles” or shivers down your spine through listening to different sounds (examples include bubble wrap, tapping, eating sounds, etc). It has become VERY popular on YouTube, and Mak is one of the youngest to reach a sufficiently high level of visibility—she recently hit 1 million subs and has recently been announced as part of Teen Vogue’s “21 Under 21” issue. Overall, Mak, in my opinion, is a good ASMRtist, but it just seems a little strange to get so much publicity for a talent or hobby like that.
CASE TYPE #2 – TV
Somebody call a doctor!
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Danielle Bregoli: This girl gained popularity after being on an episode of Dr. Phil and in an argumentative tone saying, “Cash me outside, how bow dah (how ‘bout that)?” in response to another guest on the show, insinuating she wanted to go outside and fight physically. With the clout (defined as influence or power) she gained, she began making music that people received well?! She got famous for being RUDE on national TV, and that is definitely not something that I support.
Ka, ka, ka, ka-ching!
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The Kardashians: I’ve already written an article this semester about this family and while their successes as businessmen and women has made them pretty much American royalty, their talents are not easily distinguishable. I wrote about them as a “guilty pleasure,” because I kind of feel bad that I enjoy watching the absurdity of their lavish lifestyles… the question is, what do they do that has deemed them worthy of all this limelight? And are the people who watch, like me, the problem with why they get so much air time?
Fendi, Ferrari, Infidelity… oh my!
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Real Housewives of… : Again, this show breeds another host of tactless women who have become mass-produced media moguls and are rewarded with lavish lifestyles and a sense of entitlement to walk around like rules don’t apply to them. I’ve never watched these—because I like all the brain cells I have currently—but they don’t strike me as individuals we should be putting on pedestals for high praise.
GTL—Gym, Tan, Laundry!!
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Jersey Shore cast: Okay, so I did watch this too, but I think you should be sensing a theme by now: these reality “stars” are not ones to be gazing after. The show was raunchy, violent, at times VERY promiscuous, and overall, not a suitable source to find role models. Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi has made strides to redeem herself since that show stopped airing, but her efforts gained her yet ANOTHER contract to be on TV and show her character clean-up with her best friend, Jennifer “JWoww” Farley. Disappointed, but not surprised.
Pay attention in sex-ed, kids!
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Teen Mom, 16 And Pregnant: Now, I’m not trying to be condescending towards the girls on this show, but I am also by no means condoning this as a way to get famous. These girls, for whatever reasons in their life, thought it would be good to go through such a grueling time at a VERY young age for a mass audience to watch. Some of the show did focus on showing the girls improving their lives for the child’s sake, but I would have loved to be in the pitch room when MTV hatched that idea. I. Just. Don’t. Get. It.
A dollar makes me holler, Honey Boo Boo!
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Honey Boo Boo: This was another of my guilty pleasure shows because the family was just so painfully hard to look away from in their journey of pageantry. Somehow, people thought it would be a good idea to give these rural hicks a national platform. The national platform compelled us, myself included, to keep watching, kind of like a train wreck.
I can admit though that some of my opinions here have been contradicting each other, so let’s Hannah-LYZE what I think.
There are some people that I mentioned on this list who have actual talents (Mason Ramsey, Life with Mak, JoJo Siwa) and have used their platforms to express that, albeit in some inflated ways. The others, whether they be whole TV casts or individuals, have hit the jackpot with acquiring their fame through little evidence of talent. Overall, I do think there is some validity to why certain people go viral. Times are tough, and sharing a viral video that makes us laugh is a short-lived way to lighten the mood. Where I think the problem comes in is when we herald these people as pseudo-celebrities and begin to give them too much credence as public figures and role models.
It can also be difficult in this age of mass consumption of content to separate funny content creators from people who deserve to be celebrated as celebrities. I think that collectively if we work towards developing a working definition of who should be considered notable figures in our society, we will end up with less fake famous people who are overstaying their 15 minutes of fame and more role models. Because we need more of them.
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