The Jonas Brothers vs. Me

The Jonas brothers came to Toronto the other day. I was walking to work at 9 in the morning, weaving in and out of the massive lines of preteen girls, some boys, some parents. Kids slept on the street to secure a place in line to get a glimpse of those three humans. Yeah their pretty cute, I guess, and wear nice clothes, but they are they’re not particularly talented by any stretch of the imagination. What is it that dragged all those kids out of their postered bedrooms to the city to line up for probably days?

Are the Jonas brothers Gods? Do these kids know something I don’t?

I don’t know if catching a glimpse of a 15 year old pop musician reveals any penetrating truths - in theory, we know this. But still,people pilgrimage great lengths and endure unfavourable sleeping conditions to even get a quick glance at stars in the flesh. People like the Jonas Brothers have become so entirely dehumanized to the point that I’m not even sure if they lead lives anymore. They lead more of a packaged existence, much like a preservative laden can of parmesan cheese with an expiry date. They are equally cheesetastic and probably equally as musically inclined. Celebrities must have such a skewed sense of self identity.

When the Brothers careers come to an end (at the dried up age of 30), will the world turn a blind eye to them? deem them has beens and consider them barely even a distant memory? Insofar as celebrity culture goes, life is lived for validation of others.

While the untouchable and god like celebrity may always exist, celebritydom is becoming more and more accessible and oriented toward reality. In strange and overwhelming reality TV phenomena, everyday life is glorified. Viewers want to see the relatable struggles of the mundane and domestic.

Britney Spears – an invincible icon of our time who serves as a metaphor for the world, fills the void in many lives as a higher being providing an example, inspiration, a model of success. The sheer intensity of her fame is horrifying. I cannot imagine not being able to go to restaurants, not being able to leave my house without a disguise.

But the truth is, anyone can be a celebrity on Facebook. The contrived self promoting pictures, favourite books, sharing ‘whats on your mind’ ... who gives a fuck what Pam Beth and Sherry are doing every 5 minutes of the day? But how is Britney any different, really? Under all the drugs, sequins, trashy relationships, she’s just a person with a troubled childhood and an aimless future, just like you and me! In the Facebook world, we see profiles as people. In truth they barely even represent people. You can manipulate every detail according to your every whim. To me, that sounds more like the packaged existence led by our aforementioned Brothers than ‘real life’.

But with the increasing multitude and popularity of Twitter and networking sites, new heights of self promotion, controlled self presentation, new avenues to popularity, and essentially, stardom are made totally accessible. It seems like a fairly natural progression.

The self conscious celebrity has always existed. Andy Warhol and his ‘medium is the message tactic’, providing a mirror for culture, and in turn, himself, Paris Hilton and her ‘in on the joke’ idiosyncrasies (which, for the record, I do believe. Was there ever a time in history that beautiful blonde women didn’t get anywhere being exceptionally ignorant? Genius!). We are all guilty of a contrived self presentation at some points in our live, especially when money is involved.

On that note, I’m going to go get ready for my hot date with Joe Jonas(‘s facebook profile). I only exist on the internet, after all.