You know, once upon a time, it was pretty hard to become a major cultural sensation. Exposure wasn’t necessarily easy to get. You had to star in some movies, preferably ones people wanted to go see.
You had to have a hit television show or a stellar single. You had to have an agent. And maybe, you know, some talent.
Those were the good old days.
It’s been about a month since Rebecca Black rose to bizarre faux-pop star fame with her undeniably awful “Friday” YouTube music video. Created by vanity label the Ark Music Factory, “Friday” featured some freaky scenes of underage tween drivers, bowls of cereal, and animated calendars illustrating the days of the week.
Don’t forget the creepy old man rapper ostensibly singing about partying with the aforementioned tweens. Or the lyrics outlining the age-old Shakespearean dilemma as to whether ‘tis nobler to be kickin’ in the front seat or sittin’ in the back seat.
When “Friday” hit YouTube in March, the blog-o-sphere immediately picked up on its über camp potential. There was no question that a music video with a line like “Yesterday was Thursday, today it is Friday . . . tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday comes afterwards” entered into the so-bad-it’s-good category.
But the fame that followed “Friday” and Black herself was more than anyone expected.
A mere week after the world “discovered” the video, thousands of parodies popped up on YouTube, including one that boasted a surprisingly pensive fake Bob Dylan cover. Black, 13, gave an interview with Good Morning America, and her single shot up pretty high on iTunes’s top 10 sales.
Some of the “Friday” hype has calmed down, but Black’s 15 minutes don’t quite seem to be up. The other day, Stephen Colbert did a rousing rendition of “Friday” with the Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
Rumors have circulated about a future full-length album and a mall tour. Not too shabby for an eighth grader from Orange County, CA.
Black isn’t the only youngster out there who found fame — or at least, quasi-fame — via the Internet. Let us not forget that today’s reigning king of teen / tween pop, Justin Bieber, got his start on YouTube as well.
If you can recall, way back in 2008-’09 everyone’s favorite hoodie-clad cutie hit the big time when videos his mom posted of him singing R&B hits were eventually picked up by an agent.
That’s right, folks. The Biebs himself was once nothing more than an Internet sensation. Imagine that. The world must have been a completely different place.
The Internet’s ability to reach billions of individuals has pretty much changed the name of the game when it comes to mass coverage. In recent years, news and other media have managed to spread word like wildfire.
There’s no doubt that the Internet has lent a positive hand in helping prospective entertainers try to get their names and work out there.
With the rise of DIY music, art and film for instance, artists who might otherwise have flown way under the radar have had the opportunity to get seen and heard.
No agent? No money? No problem! The Internet is populated with thousands of amateur videos and mp3s. Some are pretty bad, but others can be pretty good, occasionally giving their creators a bit of a deserved cult following, and perhaps even eventual fame.
In a world where every piece of entertainment and artistry often feels manufactured, after all, it’s sometimes revitilizing to stumble upon an untouched, unmanipulated piece of work fresh off the World Wide Web.
But in Black’s case, the Internet might serve more as a method for exploitation rather than for experimentation. Her video — a $2000 gift from her parents — spawned so much ridicule and hatred that Orange County cops have been investigating death threats against her.
The Internet can be a great forum through which one can generate hype, but it’s also a dangerous place to navigate.
It’s badly policed and rarely censored, which is wonderful in one sense, but also risky, easily allowing individuals to exploit themselves and others with just a click of a button. Another web sensation, Charlie Sheen, proved this recently with his slew of wild Twitter rants.
It’s not that things like Tiger Blood tirades and tween weekend celebrations are bad. It’s just that sometimes, they can get a little out of control.
