Palestine cannot be saved by stanning the right Celebrities
Stan culture is a very specific description of behavior that blends parasocial following of notable influencers, artists, actors, musicians, or athletes. Over Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms, it has its subcultures and language that has built community. For some influencers like streamer Hasan Piker, pop culture and gaming were a starting point to growing in capital-P political notoriety.
When does stan culture become a problem for the causes they support? From what I've observed, there is a bleeding effect where real-world human rights crises are used offhandedly to refer to people, concepts or ideas disliked by stans.
A search for the term "spiritually Israeli" on twitter, for example, brings up the following discussions:
Avatar the Last Airbender plotlines
Interview with the Vampire
and Palestinian people playing a gacha game
The term "spiritually Israeli" (and using "Zionist" to describe people and concepts outside of "believes in Jewish supremacy in Israel and no guaranteed rights for non-Jews" ) reveals this creative bankruptcy among fandoms. They could use other phrases or terms to describe colonial behavior, privilege or bigotry. But "Israeli" has become more than the concrete nation-state taking violent action. This troubling evolution is particularly dire as Palestinians have struggled to retain attention, sympathy and solidarity. In real time, more and more of them are starving, lacking medical treatment access and being subject to the horrors of abrupt and unprompted attacks. It is a reality that should not be forgotten or undermined, particularly if those commenting on "Zionist" or "spiritually Israeli" celebrities aren't victims of Israel's real attacks. At best, the subjects of Stans' ire or adoration are several degrees removed from the political decisions allowing the genocide to continue.
The obsessive Harry Potter fandom, who cling to the franchise despite rank bigotry by the book's authors, spawned "I am begging you to please read another book" as a quippy response. To be frank, now is a great time to put down the cartoon tv series, vampire dramas and video games for just a moment.
Pop culture-first political junkies could do well by taking inspiration and look at the problem of genocide with the sobriety it requires. We are three years into watching American-funded Israeli troops snipe, bomb, burn, beat and otherwise destroy the people of Gaza.
It's high time that fans stop typing into social media to protect their favorite stars and get serious about ordinary people being eradicated from the face of the earth.
To read more about Palestinian voices and history, visit these resources:
rafeeq
The Key
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