Last week, Passion Pit lead singer Michael Angelakos come out as a homosexual. Upon seeing this information on the right ticker of my Facebook, I googled images of him. I proceeded to post a deep cut from Gossamer as my "song of the day" and looked into his other work. Did you know Passion Pit dropped an album earlier this year, because I didn't. It was only as I looked at the album art that I realized I had done it again: I was obsessing over a celebrity because they were now a Known Gay.
Going from acknowledging their existence to knowing their life story is nothing new. During the summer of 2015, around 10 Youtube vloggers revealed their as LGBT status. While I'm sure they lost a few subscribers, most of them have gained notoriety. I haven't completely followed the bandwagon myself, but I will occasionally watch Shane Dawson videos when they appear in my suggestions. Last year, he was one of the worst people ever, and now I'm falling for his clickbait titles.
Why does this happen? For one, these people are finally being honest with not just the public but with themselves. If there's enough documentation, you can see the despair in the eyes while they were closeted vs the relief after they come out. Plenty of recently out people have even talked about their battle with depression and other mental illnesses because of all the stress it caused them. There's something compelling about that.
Of course, relatability is also a factor. I "discovered" Frank Ocean and Sam Smith way before my friends. [casually flips headscarf like hair] They earned my favor before their debut albums. However, when they opened up about their sexuality publicly, they instantly become members of Charles' Favorite Artists Club. Being able to sing along to a song about a man sung by a man allows me to connect with the lyrics on a level I was unaware existed.
Lastly, visibility. Here's a list of shows I'm a bigger fan of because they feature gay characters or actors: Shameless, How to Get Away With Murder, Glee, Happy Endings, Gotham, Scandal, Modern Family, and I'm sure there's more. At this point, I'm aware that having a queer character on a show is a marketing technique, but it's one I will gladly fall for if it means more characters for the younger generation to look up to.
Kindred's* ending, so I suppose I'll wrap this up by saying keep coming out, all you closeted actors and musicians. I'd love to support your work more than I already do. But if you lie about your sexuality just to gain LGBT fans, so help you we will find out and send Gandalf the White after you.
Word.
*Kindred is Passion Pit's latest album. I'll reserve my review for later... if I deem it worthy.
No comments:
Post a Comment