Netflix’s ‘Cheer’ Made Monica Aldama a Star. Her Life Has Been Hell Ever Since.
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Netflix’s ‘Cheer’ Made Monica Aldama a Star. Her Life Has Been Hell Ever Since.
“There’s a particular kind of fame that’s very normal now,” Allison told me. “But no one was prepared in that era. They used to call it micro fame, and it’s this experience of blowing up when you don’t expect to. You’re not blowing up the way Taylor Swift blew up. Instead, you get a lot of attention and become a big celebrity—but only in a select n
... See moreTaylor Lorenz • Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence and Power on the Internet
I’m fascinated by the way that the cheerleaders themselves have narrativized this sort of self-objectification: in all the talk about locking eyes with a spectator and giving them that special moment , in the focus on the happiness you provide just by existing , in the focus on sanding down just enough individuality (even height differentiation) to... See more
Culture Study Meets 'America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders'
“She and the women like her were ornery, assertive, relentlessly capable, weathered and threadbare. She was a monument of dedication to her family, her work, and her community.”
Adam Lehrer • Who’s Afraid of Elena Velez?
he brought not just his showbiz sensibilities but his reality TV instincts into the Oval Office: a savant’s understanding of Americans’ hunger for “reality” over reality, for the outrageous, for the cruelty of Simon Cowell and the brazen individualism of “I’m not here to make friends.”
Lindy West • The Witches Are Coming
Years before Instagram influencers and TikTok stars, these young creatives invented an entirely new model of fame, luring in audiences not yet trained to spend hours of their days absently flipping through the internet.
Mark Bergen • Like, Comment, Subscribe
The frantic push to commodify exceptional young people.
Alissa Bennet, the Cword