White celebrities move in a space of white privilege that allows for both forgiveness and forgetfulness on behalf of the ever-present mainstream media machine. This is a space that Black artists are shut out of. As racial identity continues to be negotiated through images and representations, Black celebrities continue to be subjected to the deeply embedded archetypes and stereotypes of Blacks in this country. Read: Chris Brown as the “angry black juvenile delinquent” and Janet Jackson as the “hyper-sexualized, overly promiscuous black female.”Excerpt from the article "How many times should a black man apologize" click the link to read the whole article when you get a chance.
So unless you live under a rock or you just don't give a good shit you've been inundated with all the C. Brown hubbub this week, all the water cooler and gossip site discussions and of course all the news anchors weighing in with their opinions and all the talk shows that other celebrities have went on and of course anyone who's had their 20 minutes have voiced their opinion about the whole thing. When it happened initially I was like um so he flipped out at a news show, he going back to jail those were my immediate thoughts but as the week has went on and I have had time to think about the incident and just reflect on C. Brown in general I've realized somethings that I don't think a lot of people have stopped to think about.
1st thing I realized is I have three brothers and all of them have been teenagers and two have crossed the threshold from being teens into young adulthood. Now with saying that it made me reflect on my brother who is turning 21 this April and how he thinks, no he knows he is grown even though he still has to rely on my parents for his financial support but he figures he is grown because his voice is a little deeper, there is hair on his nads, and he can get in a car that he didn't pay for and just go where ever he feels like he wants to go in his mind that equals grown sometimes he plays a gig and makes some money but its not money that will sustain him like a 40 or 50 hr work week will. My point largely is this like my brother Brown feels like he is a man, he feels like he is capable of making his own decisions at the end of the day and largely he is right. A handler or PR agent can not control his client like a puppet if Brown wants to flip out he will and no one can stop him so a PR agent would have to be mighty powerful to totally control the actions of the client that is paying him. If my brothers don't listen to me then how could you expect Brown to listen to a PR agent plus thank goodness my brother is not known on a grand world wide level either so his mistakes barely make a ripple but Brown doesn't have the same luxury.
Brown lives under constant public scrutiny largely because of his occupation but mostly because the world and the media have branded him basically an animal who is out of control a danger and a menace to society another black reckless youth with money. I watched as the media who had given Brown his spotlight turn right around and stomp all over that said limelight and literally try and crush Brown like a bug beneath its collective toes. He was shut out of media events, he was banned from award shows, dropped from endorsements, his album was ignored, radio stations weren't playing his music, the media as a whole was punishing him taking money out of his pockets and turning its back on him. Now correct if I'm wrong but through this whole incident he didn't once out Rhianna he didn't talk bad about her he didn't throw her under the bus, but every chance she got she was on every talk show, getting endorsements left and right and overnight the world embraced her and shunned Brown. I think he showed grace under fire during the whole trial, the whole incident he owned up to his mistake, he did his anger management and he is paying the restitution that the court meted out but It's like he hasn't bowed down enough and not the way the world feels like he should so the media isn't finish punishing him for his misconduct. We live in very public times everyone is tweeting, facebooking, blogging, tumbling, youtubing their every step, their every whim, their every moment hoping to be in the limelight or get discovered. The crazier your antics the more you are rewarded with attention. Look at Rebecca Black her video is AWFUL but the whole world knows her name, billions have seen her music video she has been interviewed and the girl has no talent but how much you want to bet it has opened doors for her and pretty soon I'm sure she will have her own Disney show called it's Friday mark my words this is the way the world is working now.
How many times has a child that has worked on Disney done something like release naked pictures, self destruct, smoke weed, sleep around, act reckless, steal, do drugs, drive while drunk, play ring a round the rehab and jail? But the media embraces that kind of behavior it's like you can have reckless destructive behavior as long as your skin has no melanin in it because the wall of white privilege
Everyone wants fame but I don't think most recognize that with fame comes constant scrutiny and that is the price of fame now, if you become a star its an unwritten rule that you are signing your life over to the public which means you have to know that everything you do will be watched and analyzed until your relevance is over. It's like being a brand new discovered germ you will be under a microscope and studied and dissected and cut open, prodded, poked, provoked just so you can be fodder for the rabid media mass consumption that's the huge draw back to fame the moment you do something it is magnified 1000 times over and people you don't even know like me for instance will have an opinion on your actions how crazy is that? When I make obscene amounts of money I will not be under the scrutiny of the world no one will even know who I am but that's the way I like it you can keep the fame just give me the loot!
