HomeEntertainmentIs there anything more horrifying than being a pop star?

Is there anything more horrifying than being a pop star?

When Liam Payne died, his fans and peers condemned the trappings of fame.

More than 100,000 people have signed a petition in support of legislation to protect the mental health of musicians since his death on October 16, although little is still known for certain about what happened to the singer and former member of One Direction happened before he fell. from the balcony of his hotel room.

Robbie Williams, a former boy band member, responded to the tragedy by calling for change in the way society treats celebrities, saying: “I’m the problem if I don’t do anything. We are the problem if we don’t do that.” Bruce Springsteen also responded, saying, “Young people don’t yet have the inner facility or inner self to be able to protect themselves from many of the things that come with success and fame.”

Payne, who became hugely successful at the age of 16, has previously spoken about his struggles with addiction and mental health at the height of his fame. He is far from the only pop star to say something. Chappell Roan, whose popularity has escalated astronomically in the past year, faced criticism for calling out how fame can be “insulting.” It’s often something media outlets and fans apologize for after an artist has already suffered, as seen with Britney Spears, Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston.

The horrors of pop stardom are so ingrained in the culture that they form the basis for three 2024 films.

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Smile 2, which had the biggest opening weekend of any horror movie this year and is now in theaters, follows a singer as she launches a comeback tour a year after experiencing a tragedy. Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) is not only haunted by a parasitic demon determined to ruin her life; her own mega-stardom is torturous.

Naomi Scott in Smile 2

Naomi Scott in Smile 2. (Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection)

The film shows Riley forcing herself to endure fittings, photo shoots, meet-and-greets, stalker encounters and physically demanding rehearsals. She is recovering from drug addiction, but her mother/manager forbids her from canceling charity event appearances or postponing tour dates, reminding her how fans and investors rely on her. A photographer not-so-subtly urges her to “give me more!”

“Music gave me everything I ever wanted, but music almost killed me,” Riley says during an event where her teleprompter doesn’t work, forcing her to go off script. When someone urges her to “think about the tour” — a possible nod to the oft-cited statement Justin Timberlake made to police after being arrested on DWI charges in June — Riley claims, “F*** the tour !”

Writer-director Parker Finn told Entertainment Weekly that he was inspired by Spears and Houston’s public struggles with fame, as well as by members of the “27 Club,” a group of notable musicians who died at age 27, including Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain. In the movie, Riley is 27.

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On the outside, it appears that Riley is slipping back into drug use – and that leads to her rejection of her struggle. Even if she wasn’t slowly murdered by a supernatural being, her treatment by the public would have been the same. They are complicit in her suffering.

In Fall, In a thriller that hit theaters in August, police use a pop star’s concert as a trap to catch a serial killer known as the Butcher (Josh Hartnett) who attends the show with his daughter. Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan pitched the film as “what if Silence of the Lambs happened at a Taylor Swift concert?

Saleka Shyamalan trapped.Saleka Shyamalan trapped.

Saleka Shyamalan Fall. (Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection)

The pop star at the center of the film, Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan), agrees to the ‘trap’, but accidentally becomes deeply involved in capturing the killer. She has more agency in this film than Riley does in hers, but that may be a response to the fact that real pop stars rarely do. A 2017 terror attack at an Ariana Grande concert killed 22 people, and Swift canceled tour dates in Vienna after a terror plot was uncovered. Both were under pressure to get back on stage quickly despite their trauma.

In a short film titled “Dream Girl” in the horror anthology film V/H/S/Further, which began streaming on Shudder in October, a Bollywood star named Tara is confronted by her manager after an intense performance of a pop song.

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A paparazzo, who previously said that the pressure of stardom should not be so overwhelming for her because of her wealth and success, approaches Tara in her trailer, where he had been hiding. He tells Tara not to let herself be pushed around, and in response she reveals herself to be a robot and starts terrorizing and killing people.

Namrata Sheth poses with dancers in V/H/S/Beyond.Namrata Sheth poses with dancers in V/H/S/Beyond.

Namrata Sheth poses with dancers in V/H/S/Continue.(Shudder/Courtesy Everett Collection)

It’s an over-the-top gorefest, but the character has to deal with the same kind of name-calling as Riley in Smile 2and what so many real pop stars have to deal with. She can just do something about it.

These films all followed the success of concert films that captured Swift’s “Eras Tour” and Beyoncé’s “Renaissance World Tour.” Instead of focusing on the cheer of an onstage performance and the joy of the fans, horror is finally causing pop culture to confront the dark side of musicians whose lives have been torn apart on a massive scale.

Even if audiences don’t demand consistent performances, stars still feel the pressure. That is being confronted Sunset Boulevarda 1950 film with a Broadway adaptation starring pop star Nicole Scherzinger, and the new horror film The fabric – both about aging starlets who take drastic measures to stay relevant.

If horror isn’t afraid to face the demands of stardom, why are we? The genre is known for reflecting what makes society truly terrifying, from McCarthyism to terrorism and AIDS.

Maybe this time we can recognize what horror is reflecting back at us and do something to make it stop.

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