You Are Not Fun

“It’s so weird that VIPs think they’re so way too cool to do this!” exclaimed artist Chappell Roan last August during her concert at the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco. “YOU ARE NOT FUN,” she shouted forcefully, gripping the microphone while singing “Hot to Go!” after the VIP section failed to join in the iconic chorus steps. This not only reveals her character and imprint as an artist but also serves as a social critique, resonating with the current spirit of the times. Pretending to be cool is not cool.

Photograph of Chappell Roan by Lucienne Nghiem via Vogue

Chappell Roan is the perfect example of a Gen-Z pop artist. She began her career independently, publishing music on YouTube, where she gradually gained followers. Her first contract came in 2015, but it took nearly 10 years in the industry to achieve success. In 2023, her album "The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess" was widely loved by the public. In this one, she presented herself as a performative and theatrical artist with a unique and expressive aesthetic. Her major surge in popularity happened recently due to the virality of her songs on TikTok. Far from being a discredit, the ability to generate high engagement on social media through music is significant. The effectiveness with which she delivers a message in a chorus makes it catchy enough for millions to replicate in videos.

Chappell Roan’s case shows how an artist can quickly become a symbol with an inclusive and collective message reflected in her lyrics and performances. It’s understandable that songs like “Femeninoninom” and “Pink Pony Girl” go viral not just for their catchy rhythms but also for their social connotations. Some online users call her "the savior of pop." Some may criticize these trends as a form of mass submission, but we could also argue that in a world leaning towards individualism and distinction, following a trend acts as a way to connect with others and achieve collective conformity.

“Social belonging is manifested through cultural practices, which allow individuals to differentiate themselves and position themselves in relation to others. Culture, in its various forms, becomes a tool for asserting and consolidating social identity.” (Bourdieu, 1979).

This moment on stage adds to the viral moments that are part of Chappell Roan’s identity as an artist and reinforces the effectiveness of an involuntary marketing strategy. Virality also plays into the user’s choice of content as a self-measurement tool of public interests. The soundbite from the concert proclaiming “YOU ARE NOT FUN” also became viral.

The artist’s fervor arose from noticing that part of the VIP (“Very Important Person”) section was not following the steps of her most popular song's chorus, while the rest of the audience joyfully and synchronously participated. This need to differentiate from the privileged sector prompted the artist’s reaction. The VIP section, a privilege turned into a preferential space, is supposed to be the closest to the stage and theoretically composed of the most passionate fans. On the contrary, it is often filled with celebrities, sporadic spectators, and influencers. This is not meant to be pejorative, but the conflict lay in the need for distinction among them—occupying a privileged space and making it clear that you are different from the rest because you are too important to do such things.

“The small bourgeois man is one who, condemned to all the contradictions between an objectively dominated condition and participation in the values of the dominant culture, is obsessed with the appearance he shows to others and with the judgment others have about his appearance. Leading to overdoing things for fear of not doing enough.” (Bourdieu, 1979).

The virtual context accelerates the process of appearance, turning it into a performative showcase. Posting a story from the front row would be enough to appear as a fan of the artist of the moment. By exposing these tensions, Chappell Roan reaffirms the importance of the collective, without pretensions, because pretending to be too cool for anything is not fun.