Do you have what it takes to be a V.I.P.?

The paradoxical phenomena of celebrity can be summarized by social historian Daniel J. Boorstin's succinct definition: "The celebrity is a person who is known for his well-knownness." Maybe it isn't just about the commodities and the luxury, so much as influence: there's satisfaction in knowing millions of people are going to hang on to your every word, so that, if you recommend an appetite suppressant (as Khloé Kardashian did in 2018) then other will accept your advice without question. Not to mention that being an influencer is "one of the most effective methods of accumulating serious amounts of money in the shortest amount of time" (Cashmore 2019). 

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The rise of social media has also made fame a sort of meritocracy in which people compete for the admiration of others. People are selected according to "merit"; if audiences think you deserve fame, you get it. But the days of Susan Boyle earning the entire world's approval through a single rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" are long gone. You have to fight tooth and nail to earn, oftentimes, coincidental merit. People go viral by absolute happenstance regardless of their content. Even if you do hit the viral jackpot, such as 14-year-old Jalaiah Harmon's Renegade dance, there are some instances where you might not even get due credit. Social media is oversaturated with creators, and some just happen to be parked at the intersection of luck and control.

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With 100 million followers on TikTok and the coveted Creator of the Year Streamy Award, 16-year old Charli D'Amelio has expressed that she doesn't know why she's famous. At one point, D'Amelio's bio was "don't worry i don't get the hype either". TikTok users like her so much because she is perceived as being another girl in their 8 a.m. zoom class (except she keeps her camera on). Seeing themselves in D'Amelio signals a promise of what the viewer can achieve, and she has achieved a lot in 2020 alone. Such as:

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• Earning approximately $3 million 

• Performing alongside celebrities like The Jonas Brothers, Bebe Rexha, J-Lo (at the SuperBowl at that)

• Going on The Tonight Show

• Getting featured in a Super Bowl commercial alongside T-Pain and Drag Race contestants Kim Chi and Miz Cracker

• Landing a voice acting gig in the upcoming animated movie StarDog and TurboCat

• Striking a production deal with Industrial Media to create a reality show alongside her family (sound familiar?)

• Starting negotiations for several brand licensing deals in fashion and makeup

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By the end of my sophomore year of high school, I got onto a few club executive boards and got my driver's license, but I didn't even consider capitalizing off of the latter. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seeing Olivia Rodrigo do it and flourish... I know I could've and that's the phenomena. It makes me think about the mundanities of everyday life, and what I can do to heighten the packaging and consumption of them. If I do my dishes blindfolded, can I go viral? If I hop on a dance trend in a Pikachu onesie, can I land a Nintendo commercial? Expressed like this, obtaining fame in the virtual landscape becomes formulaic and obtainable. It incites pushing one's clout-chasing boundaries. How far would you push? 22-year-old Pedro Ruiz and his 19-year-old girlfriend Monalisa Perez pushed to the absolute extreme. Content Warning: non-graphic description of gun-related death.

 

In 2017, stunt YouTuber couple announced their upcoming video, one that Monalisa had resisted taking part in for two months: 

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This video's stunt? Testing whether or not a .50 caliber Desert Eagle handgun held a foot away would pierce the encyclopedia Ruiz held in front of his chest. The answer won't surprise you, but it did shock Monalisa, who had been previously shown another book Pedro shot with the bullet lodged safely between the bindings. The stunt was recorded in front of their daughter and killed 22-year-old Ruiz before he could be air-lifted for medical treatment. It was not posted to YouTube.

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When asked by a reporter from WDAY-TV in Fargo about the incident, an aunt of Ruiz's revealed: 'He had told me about the idea and I said, "Don't do it. Don't do it. Why are you going to use a gun? Why?" He answered: 'Because we want more viewers. We want to get famous.'

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Monalisa was ultimately charged with second-degree manslaughter, but the then-pregnant Perez received a plea deal that included a 180-day jail term instead of the maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Now, Perez has found healing through wäke, a clothing brand created with her fiancé, Tyler Blake. Here is an excerpt from wäke's mission:

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A quote from Perez's bio says, "We all experience things in life and I just want to use my story in hopes of helping someone that is struggling with self-love through the clothing we create."

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How does that make you feel? Monalisa Perez doesn't elaborate on "her story," but she doesn't have to. Most already know it.

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She's a celebrity.