High School Stars (or, How I learned to Stop Worrying and Decide Which Seat to Take)

The internet is a frightening, desolate place.
It has spawned many horrible things over the past 20 years of public availability- 4chan, Chris Crocker, Rick Rolling and the Meme (to name a few). For all of it's achievements, there are at least a million things the internet is responsible for that you probably wish you could un-see.
The newest of these abominations is Rebecca Black, and her song 'Friday'.


Recently declared by Newsbeat's Technology Reporter as the "Worst Song Ever" (and I guess Radio 1 has the most experience of bad songs to be able to say this), Friday is an attempt by Rebecca Black to gain worldwide fame as an 13 year old internet musician. Some may argue that this has worked, as her official video on Youtube now has over 25 million views (as of time of writing).The reason, however, for her fame, is the ridiculously poor quality of the song- as you will have just seen. The lyrics are of particular interest, as they appear to make no sense at all;

"Kickin’ in the front seat
Sittin’ in the back seat
Gotta make my mind up
Which seat can I take?"

"Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday
Today is Friday, Friday (Partyin’)
Tomorrow is Saturday
And Sunday comes afterwards"

According to some information released about the video, it was made by a record company in Los Angeles called Ark Music Factory - a company that apparently deals with unsigned 'talent'. Now, terrible lyrics aside, that means that someone must have forked over a lot of money to make that deal happen. My bets are that Rebecca didn't pay for it with her pocket money. Mummy and Daddy Black did. For what reason?

Currently, another child star is dominating the hearts and minds of young impressionable boys and girls everywhere. He's Canadian, he's produced a film called 'Never Say Never', and his name rhymes with Hustin Nieber. I'm talking of course about 15 year old Justin "I don't know what German means" Bieber, who is probably making more money after less than 2 years of his career than John Lennon made over 20 years. It's no surprise, then, that there are some parents out there who want to make a quick buck out of their children in the hope that they may get as lucky as Bieber.

It is a terrible thing to see, children as young as 8 or 9 being thrust into the limelight by overbearing and pushy parents who want their slice of the fame that others have seen before them. It's not new- how could we forget Lindsay Lohan, who has probably made more of a name for herself since she started hanging around with Paris Hilton than she ever did when she was in the Parent Trap. Michael Jackson is perhaps the number 1 example of what happens to child stars, having been pushed into the business at just 6. There are many other examples, but you don't need me to tell you that they very often end the same way - drugs, sexual abuse or suicide. Except for maybe Wil Wheaton, of Star Trek fame, who still appears to be normal and drug-free more than 20 years after his fame died.

In my opinion, child stars are not really children at all, merely under-developed adults- forced prematurely into the adult world by popularity. They will never be able to experience the innocence of childhood because they are placed high on a pedestal in the public eye at an age when they should be out grazing their knees and picking their noses. They cannot act as a child should because everyone is watching them. Therefore, despite them MAYBE having some talent, like being able to sing really well or act, they shouldn't be exposed to fame. Huge amounts of fame will no doubt make the kid in question feel like they can do anything and they will be loved for it. When it's over, and their fame declines, it could be hard to accept that people don't think they're awesome anymore, maybe for no apparent reason. How is a child supposed to understand the fickleness of the public? It's a concept that could drive anyone to depression, drink and drugs, let alone a child. In my opinion, encouraging a child to become famous is nothing more than a indirect form of child abuse.

Relating back to our friend Rebecca Black, she has tasted fame not because of her talents, but because of the cruelty of the internet. We watch her video because it's bad - so bad it's funny. In her case, she might well believe that we like her because she has talent, but this would be a lie. She could well go though life thinking that her fame is deserved, and try and get even bigger. When she discovers the root of her fame is based on ridicule, imagine the damage this could cause and could already be causing. Has she recognised that she is being made a fool of, or does she think we like her because she's a good singer/songwriter? I'll leave you to decide that.