“Age of Barbarism”: Are we doing enough to protect young pop stars?

“I used to be in a boy band, that’s why I’m so screwed.”

These were reportedly among former One Direction star Liam Payne's last words before he died aged 31 last week after falling from the third floor of a Buenos Aires hotel.

Subscribe The week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for this week's free newsletter

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News newsletter, get the best of the week delivered straight to your inbox.

Death at a young age is “not an uncommon thing” in the music industry, Bruce Springsteen said in an interview with The Telegraph last week following Payne's death. Young music stars “don't yet have the inner strength or the inner self to protect themselves from a lot of the things that come with success and fame,” the singer-songwriter said, ultimately pushing many of them toward “drugs.” or alcohol”.

“Plucked from obscurity as children” and “brought to you unrelenting global fame almost overnight,” it's no wonder teen stars struggle, wrote Nikki Peach for Grazia. The dream that industry bosses “peddle” is of “fame, wealth, fans, girls lining up outside your hotel rooms for pictures, number one albums, stadium tours” and “access to pretty much anything You want it, whenever you want it”. But they don't warn about the “immeasurable toll” that all of this can take on “your mental well-being, your ability to make rational decisions, your family, your friends, your private and public relationships, your self-esteem, your privacy and your health.” “.

Making children into world stars, “bringing them onto the world stage and shining a spotlight on their every action, simultaneously sexualizing and infantilizing them, telling them they are demigods but not letting them decide for themselves” is “dangerous “he wrote to Jennifer Weiner in the New York Times. And “there is a long line of damaged lives — of addictions, mental health issues, flameouts and tragic deaths — to prove it.”

“Will we one day look back on this era of teenage pop stars as “an unimaginable age of barbarism” and wonder what the hell we were thinking?” asked Martha Gill in The Observer. It certainly wouldn't be “such an incalculable loss to the culture if producers had to harbor teen singers for a few more years before releasing them to the public,” so perhaps it's time for a “law that restricts children under 18.” protects against this species”. a work that leads to enormous world fame.”

To continue reading this article…

Create a free account

Continue reading this article and get limited website access every month.

Already have an account? register

Subscribe for the week

Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters and more.

Cancel or pause at any time.

Already a subscriber to The Week?

Unlimited website access is included with Digital and Print + Digital subscriptions.
Create an account with the same email address registered for your subscription to unlock access.

“Age of Barbarism”: Are we doing enough to protect young pop stars?

ByVanessa

By Vanessa

Related Post

The 49ers fear WR Brandon Aiyuk tore his right ACL in the loss to the Chiefs

Commanders' Jayden Daniels undergoes further testing after rib injury – NBC4 Washington

The legendary heavy metal band's original lead singer has died

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You missed

The 49ers fear WR Brandon Aiyuk tore his right ACL in the loss to the Chiefs

Commanders' Jayden Daniels undergoes further testing after rib injury – NBC4 Washington

The legendary heavy metal band's original lead singer has died

Vampire Survivors finally goes full Castlevania with the new DLC