"she describes getting a backdoor entry into restaurants where she sees “the head chef (who probably hates you) and the waiters (who probably hate you too) as they sweat away doing an actual real service industry job while you strut through the kitchen with your 4 best friends”." GEE I WONDER WHY SHE WOULD THINK THEY HATE HER, BRINGING FIVE PEOPLE INTO A CONFINED AND FAST PACED WORKSPACE (9 years in restaurants so this made me cringe HARD).
it also makes me laugh that she even included that. she could, easily, just choose to go through the front entrance with her 4 best friends. or rent out the restaurant if one doesnt want the attention.
Amazing article! It would be difficult for a pop star to attempt to humanize themselves whilst still being a brand. What we know to be “charli xcx” is a brand and she does not do much to help that with her writing because she enjoys the aura of being this mysterious party girl (for lack of better words)
"they are not made from an audience’s imagination, they are made from corporations and market research and very rich people." YES. that whole paragraph too, is essentially why I started writing my substack years ago, to document the discrepancy between the power we're told audiences and fans have with the reality of corporate infrastructure that feeds the very attachments, conspiracies etc that allegedly harm these brands. there is no equal footing, and disowning your role in the equation is so annoying, and in certain cases outright sickens me.
i keep thinking that substack is just another platform for celebrities to do the work of fostering these unhealthy attachments, profit off of them and wash themselves off any corporate responsibility (they ARE brands and llc and have HQs behind them) because it's just little ol' them and their stream-of-consciousness ~sharing. no agendo, no sir!
and i think it would be such a different conversation (or rather no conversation at all) if the type of content these celebrities chose to put out was not what it is… i feel it is very easy to write something truthful and honest and intimate to an audience of people who already appreciate your work. but alas….
love the “aesthetic of honesty” bit. hate that substack is an alternative to more mainstream social media that still can’t measure up. i guess there are always posers. it’s hard to figure out how much people believe the stories they tell themselves — i can see how it’s nice for charli to control the narrative. her ending is so out of touch with itself and i can almost see it being a pasted-on solution, a way to wrap it up, keep it light and fun. and then “the intimacy is aesthetic, not relational” — yes. which goes against everything that intimacy is?? she’s almost inviting us into a third space from both substack and fame, it’s like a parasocial relationship w fans but without even knowing the fans. and then ofc it really just feeds back into substack and we give her a bigger platform by writing about it … doesn’t make it less interesting
I could not agree more. Her writing feels like a stream of consciousness which is hollow and waffling. I understand from a world building perspective it helps her to have a substack to feed in to the cool girl-thought daughter narrative but all it does is add more noise. It would be cool to hear from her on platforms like Service 95 and Perfectly Imperfect but truly this is not it.
"she describes getting a backdoor entry into restaurants where she sees “the head chef (who probably hates you) and the waiters (who probably hate you too) as they sweat away doing an actual real service industry job while you strut through the kitchen with your 4 best friends”." GEE I WONDER WHY SHE WOULD THINK THEY HATE HER, BRINGING FIVE PEOPLE INTO A CONFINED AND FAST PACED WORKSPACE (9 years in restaurants so this made me cringe HARD).
On the other hand, wonderful article by you.
it also makes me laugh that she even included that. she could, easily, just choose to go through the front entrance with her 4 best friends. or rent out the restaurant if one doesnt want the attention.
but anyway thank you keagan!! ❣️
Amazing article! It would be difficult for a pop star to attempt to humanize themselves whilst still being a brand. What we know to be “charli xcx” is a brand and she does not do much to help that with her writing because she enjoys the aura of being this mysterious party girl (for lack of better words)
Reading this so I don’t have to read the essay
"they are not made from an audience’s imagination, they are made from corporations and market research and very rich people." YES. that whole paragraph too, is essentially why I started writing my substack years ago, to document the discrepancy between the power we're told audiences and fans have with the reality of corporate infrastructure that feeds the very attachments, conspiracies etc that allegedly harm these brands. there is no equal footing, and disowning your role in the equation is so annoying, and in certain cases outright sickens me.
i keep thinking that substack is just another platform for celebrities to do the work of fostering these unhealthy attachments, profit off of them and wash themselves off any corporate responsibility (they ARE brands and llc and have HQs behind them) because it's just little ol' them and their stream-of-consciousness ~sharing. no agendo, no sir!
and i think it would be such a different conversation (or rather no conversation at all) if the type of content these celebrities chose to put out was not what it is… i feel it is very easy to write something truthful and honest and intimate to an audience of people who already appreciate your work. but alas….
love the “aesthetic of honesty” bit. hate that substack is an alternative to more mainstream social media that still can’t measure up. i guess there are always posers. it’s hard to figure out how much people believe the stories they tell themselves — i can see how it’s nice for charli to control the narrative. her ending is so out of touch with itself and i can almost see it being a pasted-on solution, a way to wrap it up, keep it light and fun. and then “the intimacy is aesthetic, not relational” — yes. which goes against everything that intimacy is?? she’s almost inviting us into a third space from both substack and fame, it’s like a parasocial relationship w fans but without even knowing the fans. and then ofc it really just feeds back into substack and we give her a bigger platform by writing about it … doesn’t make it less interesting
This is so interesting !!!
gtg going to steal the idea for this post shamelessly
Ok this one goes
Celebs should charge readers $$ for stacks just like everybody else
love her bangers since boom clap but what is she even doing here
yep this is a great analysis
Simo this was great to read. Good points made!
the lizzo note omg
Capital. Letters.
I could not agree more. Her writing feels like a stream of consciousness which is hollow and waffling. I understand from a world building perspective it helps her to have a substack to feed in to the cool girl-thought daughter narrative but all it does is add more noise. It would be cool to hear from her on platforms like Service 95 and Perfectly Imperfect but truly this is not it.
Excellent thought piece - who is charlie xcx? 😜