Chappell Roan of Arc
The newest arrival on the pop music scene is a name you’ve very likely been seeing everywhere. Chappell Roan is reinventing the culture by paving her own path and she’s not afraid to set boundaries with her fans. Despite how new she is to this world of fame, she is confident enough to tell it like it is, whether that be on TikTok or the red carpet. A video of Roan from the VMA red carpet went viral after a photographer told her to “Shut the f— up” and she yelled back, letting him know that she wasn’t the one to be yelling at.
The 2024 VMAs took place on Sept. 11, and it was our new favorite pop girl’s first-ever award show. She first took to the red carpet in a Y/Project & Rabanne look that was clearly inspired by medieval warrior outfits. The pop princess was nominated for several awards, of which she won the coveted Best New Artist. When combining Chappell Roan’s vocals with her lyricism and stage persona, you can see that she truly is this generation's best new artist.
She’s bringing fresh new air to a genre of music that has always existed and been widely loved. She is incredibly different from any other artist we’ve ever seen; her rise to fame is unlike any other. Chappell Roan has been making music for over ten years and only recently began gaining a cult-like following. She went from unknown indie artist to the whole world knowing her name practically overnight, and one can only wonder what that's like. Achieving your dream, but at what expense? Chappell came to TikTok a few weeks ago to discuss how hard her new level of stardom is hitting her. Not only are people tuning into her music a lot more now, but her personal life as well. So-called fans are stalking her, which is nothing new, but for a celebrity to post essentially a rant about it must mean that this parasocial “fandom” culture is out of control.
We have always accepted that stalking and aggressive paparazzi are just what comes with a high level of fame, but why is that something we have come to normalize? Why is Chappell Roan receiving hate for expressing her boundaries? Why is it wrong for Chappell Roan to yell back at a photographer when she isn’t the one who yelled in the first place? How can the internet be mad at Chappell Roan for asking her fans, “If you saw a random woman on the street would you yell at her from the car window?” and discussing a list of creepy things her fans have done, instead of being mad at those who are stalking her and her family?
It’s time to reevaluate what it means to be a fan. We have to learn how to separate the art from the artist. You can love a musician, their character and their music while still leaving them and their personal lives out of it. Chappell Roan is a stage character that the woman behind her created. Chappell Roan is becoming her own heroine, her own Joan of Arc, by advocating for herself and not letting anyone push her boundaries.