LORDE: Rhetoric of A "Real" Pop Idol (Critical Narrative)

 Click here to view my Glog (online poster) about the rhetoric surrounding Lorde to get a better visual than the one below.

Explanation of the Piece:

Seventeen year old Kiwi pop idol Lorde first came to my attention when I begin to read about the controversy surrounding Lorde's having publicized her birth certification in order to stifle media rumors that she was lying about her true age.  While the rumors were proved to be false, the most "fake" thing about Lorde might be said to be her stage name (she was born Ella Yelich-O'Conner in 1996).  Like fellow young celebrities Shailene Woodley and Jennifer Lawrence, Lorde has cultivated a "real" image, a uniquely striking but honest goth-girl-next-door type of persona, in her short but explosive musical career.

Celebrity and pop culture are figured worlds with which we are all familiar.  We are bombarded with their headlines whenever we glance at a magazine rack or turn on the television.  "Celebrity shaming" is a discourse easily observed in popular magazines and often takes the form of expository photos or scandalous stories designed to attract the public's attention by any means possible.  The general public could be said to be more aware of the latest antics of pop star Miley Cyrus, who has rewritten the discourse of "celebrity shaming" and scandal to her own commercial advantage, than recent natural disasters or political elections.

In the case of Lorde, she has become a renowned figure in mainstream pop music, performing at the Grammys' and sharing a highly-publicized friendship with American singer Taylor Swift.  Yet Lorde is consistently cast by the mainstream media, the public and her fans, and the artist herself as somewhat "Other" in the figured worlds of popular music and celebrity culture.  Lorde's youth-- she made her debut with the album Pure Heroine at only sixteen-- works to "Other" her more than perhaps anything else. As she remarked in the quote included on my glog, she is often made to feel like "a fascinating toy" in the discourse of her fellow celebrities and the patronizing media.  Lorde first faced "celebrity shaming" not for wearing provocative outfits-- she leans towards a visual style I might describe as "the-girl-in-your-high-school-drama-class"-- or writing offensive lyrics, but as a result of several well-publicized remarks to the effect that she could not possibly be seventeen.  The controversy over Lorde's "true" age went viral on the Internet and eventually induced the artist to present her birth certificate as "proof" that she was indeed seventeen.  I see this as interesting commentary about celebrity culture.  Because Lorde does not "fit" the typical image of teen idol within the figured worlds of celebrity culture, where long blond locks and photoshopped images are the norm, the discourse of that world has questioned her right to exist within it as a "teen idol".

Outside the discourses of media and celebrity culture, Lorde is often admired or embraced by young people seeking an alternative to the lyrics typical of popular music-- featuring, as one Lorde fan puts it, "parties and fake romance"-- and the air-brushed images of "unattainable" idols like Taylor Swift and Katy Perry.  As a fan myself, I find Lorde's lyrics to be uniquely resonating with my own experiences, criticisms of society, and anxieties in ways which most pop artists' lyrics are not.  Fan discourse (snippets of which are included on the glog) typically applauds Lorde's dedication to being "real" and providing what many see as a positive role model.  A quick search on Pinterest reveals that fans re-pin and "like" photos of Lorde and lyrics from her songs with frenzied intensity.  In a cultural discourses where the worthiness of young celebrities as "role models" is constantly evaluated, the majority of the public seem to feel that the down-to-earth Lorde passes the test, even as other online discourses decry her eccentric style or "too-mainstream" music.

In this piece, I have tried to capture images and rhetoric about Lorde across many different cultural spaces and figured worlds.  I have included snippets of fan discourse, "celebrity shaming" discourse in the form of tweets which insult her appearance or apparent age, lyrics from Lorde's songs, and two quotes credited to the artist herself which can be said to represent her relative disillusion with the figured world of celebrity culture and determination to remain true to herself.  In regards to the images, I have tried to represent a myriad of different perspectives on Lorde as a celebrity, musical artist, songwriter, role model, and as a seventeen-year old girl.