Swarm shows where the fictional idol trope truly belongs: in horror.
vox.com/culture CULTURE Iâm a longtime fan of fiction that deals with public figures. In fandom, thereâs a whole form known as âreal person fictionâ that often seeks to imagine what the lives of celebrities and other public figures are like behind the scenes. Such fiction typically explores this interplay between the figure, her persona, and the publicâs consumption of that persona. Itâs not always pretty, but itâs always fascinating. Ari Sapersteinâs piece on [the cultural treatment of pop princesses]( understands the fascination but also the dehumanization that can attach to a pop idol. Building on Amazon Primeâs Swarm and its close study of Beyoncé and her fandom, Saperstein traces the trajectory of female pop stars in the media, and the flawed portrayals that too often uphold an untenable image of these women as unknowable, purely sexualized divas. Saperstein outlines Swarmâs inversion of that pattern, and how the troubled fan at its center stands in for an entire cultureâs projection onto the star of desire, fantasy, and resentment. The result? Placing the fictional pop star in the genre where she âclearly belonged all along: horror.â â[Aja Romano](, culture writer What fake pop stars say about our real world [Niâjah, the fake Beyonce of Swarm]( Amazon Studios The new Amazon Prime series Swarm starts with a familiar disclaimer turned on its head: âThis is not a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is intentional.â First and foremost, itâs a nod to one Mrs. Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter and her Swarm doppelganger Niâjah. Everything about Niâjah is a [thinly veiled allusion]( to Beyoncé â from her [glittery bodysuits]( to [familial elevator fights]( to [surprise album drops](, the similarities are endless. But the disclaimer goes beyond just the singer, referring also to the world that revolves around her. Niâjah has a devoted BeyHive fan base that calls her Queen BeyBee and floods social media to discuss every morsel of information about her. In depicting not just celebrity, but the cult of celebrity, Swarm has started to figure out how to portray a figure thatâs long been misunderstood and misrepresented by TV & film: the Fake Pop Star. We all know the Fake Pop Star. Youâve seen her in The Bodyguard, A Star Is Born, Get Him To the Greek, and plenty more. Every story about the Fake Pop Star tries to use her as a vessel to say something shrewd and insightful about culture. Instead, they become unintentional time capsules for our limited and misguided perception of pop stars. Swarm boldly goes where no Fake Pop Star has gone before by looking at the archetype through the lens of a deranged super fan named Dre. Part dark satire, part psychological thriller, Swarm embraces the truth about real pop stars weâve been reckoning with over the past few years: that fame, fandom, and pop stardom is scary shit. All too often, the Fake Pop Star gets played for laughs; Swarm aims for â and gets â gasps. But to truly appreciate what makes Swarm so distinct in its depiction of a Fake Pop Star, you have to first understand the trappings and troubled history that plagued the Fake Pop Stars who came before. [Read the full story »](
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