Selena Gómez, the most popular in the world
No one has nearly 90 million followers on Instagram like the artist. What is the fascination behind? Why did she become a Disney princess despite her humble origins? The intermittent romance she had with Justin Bieber? The sexual ambiguity it hints at? in muse of fashion ?, or all the above?
New York has about 8.5 million residents. Los Angeles, another 4 million. Around 67 million people live throughout France ... Selena Gómez alone has more than 88 million followers on Instagram. She surpassed the members of the Kardashian-Jenner clan, queens of the selfies. She toppled her friend Taylor Swift, who until recently was the sovereign of social media. And despite the fact that in the past she was able to gain notoriety for being Justin Bieber's girlfriend, in this competition she left her ex behind.
exas, a state where he was born 24 years ago - and which has about 27 million inhabitants - was too small for him. Today there are only anecdotes the times when her mother, who had her at the young age of 16, saved up to take her to the Britney Spears concert. Of course, sometimes she could only give him one dollar pasta for dinner, which is why the artist admits that it took her getting used to "refined" food. Also, the adventures with her father, of Mexican origin, who named her in honor of the queen of Tex-Mex Selena Quintanilla, and who used her little girl as a hook to get the attention of the Hooters waitresses.
She confesses that she never expected her life to be so public. “It is disappointing to be turned into a tabloid story. That takes away everything I love about this business, ”she complained when rumored in 2014 that she had suspended her musical tour to be admitted to rehab due to drug and alcohol problems. The doubts did not disappear despite the fact that he explained that he was actually undergoing chemotherapy treatment because he was diagnosed with lupus. “Every child who grows up in this environment is an easy target. That is despicable, "he told Vanity Fair. In any case, the criticisms have contributed to cement its popularity: “The worst thing that can happen to a celebrity is that they ignore it. When they speak badly about someone, it means that they are on the mind of the audience, ”sociology professor Ellis Cashmore, author of the book Celebrity Culture, told FUCHSIA.
If they are going to talk about Selena, she prefers to be the one who brings the subject, and what better strategy than conquering virtual platforms. The actress and singer does not upload images with the frequency of other colleagues and perhaps that factor makes each post have a greater impact. Her formula is to be accessible and close to the selenators, as her followers are called. To describe their simple, yet exotic beauty, the gringos use the term "nonthreatening" (not threatening). She says that she likes to watch television, that she lives with a roommate who is not famous ... that she wants to be as "normal" as possible. But who can be when she has an entourage of admirers named in her honor? Those who defend her in a stampede every time someone calls her "fat", or having an "undocumented face." The same ones who express their tenderness when she tries to speak in Spanish, as she did for several seconds in a Pantene commercial. In the same way, she is able to break that daily life with a sensual photo and thus shows that the girl who appeared on the Barney dinosaurs show, and became famous at 15 when starring in the Disney series Wizards of Waverly Place, has already done her transition from teen idol to adult star. She is not even afraid to play at having the media speculate about her sexual preferences when she shows herself to be very intimate with a friend, like model Cara Delevingne.
The new generations know that today success is measured in the number of likes. Brands are clear about that power when choosing who represents them. Selena now shows her facet of style icon: she is the darling of Anna Wintour, empress of fashion, and recently she posed hugging Nicolas Ghesquière, creative director of Louis Vuitton, on the cover of Vogue Brasil. She had previously collaborated with K-Mart and Adidas in the development of collections. And for her Revival tour (the namesake of her most recent album), she wears Karl Lagerfeld clothes on stage and a fitted suit, adorned with 96,480 Swarovski crystals that she worked with the Monse label (which counts Sarah Jessica Parker and among its clients. Amal Clooney).
She admits that when she broke ties with Disney, she was confused: “I didn't know what I wanted. I had to learn to be myself. She has revealed that she felt prey to the public's expectation that she wanted to preserve "the good girl." “When a celebrity swaps their sweet image for a sassy one, it's a marketing decision. They sometimes go to extremes to shake off their childhood past, which can lead to negative reactions. A gradual transition works better, ”Dr. Jackie Raphael, editor of Building Bridges in Celebrity Studies, told this magazine.
Selena has been much more discreet in her choices than Miley Cyrus, who with her haircut and raunchy dances erased any hint of Hannah Montana. It is true that she asked her mother not to be her manager, arguing her desire to mature and achieve independence. It is also true that she starred in the film Spring Breakers about a group of crazy young people, and that her very appearance in a bikini made many think that she had "gone bad. But the critics applauded her. A drama set in the 1930s, In Dubious Battle, and a series for Netflix, of which she is the executive producer, are her new bets. And yet, she jokes that her main impediment to playing the characters she aspires to is continuing to look like a quinceañera.
