Hear ye! Hear ye! Influencer rights advocate James Charles has a few words to say!
Before anything else, it should be remembered that we have nothing against influencers. They, too, are innovators, creatives, and therefore, are content creators like a lot of us. It just so happened that their platform is the world wide web and in a data-driven, hyperconnected world, social media is what makes the world go round. It’s our new source of information; a platform that’s literally for anybody and everybody. There’s a place for all of us here and it’s growing just like the vast universe beyond our world. But some things just have to stop. One of those is James Charles acting like he’s the first (and only) YouTuber at Met Gala and his words that are not very well thought of. Apparently, he’s pushing forward “influencer representation” at The Met. Here’s an important question though: how oppressed and marginalized must these influencers be, according to Mr. Charles?
James, Oh, James…
James Charles hasn’t been as careful as we’d expect him to be with his words. Before this “influencer rights” issue, he once said that he’s not “full gay” because there are girls he’s found attractive before and there were also trans guys that he was “really, really into for a moment in time.” This only made it appear that being attracted to trans men while being not “full gay” invalidates the sexuality of transexuals and transgenders. But we’re giving it to him since he then apologized for his “transphobic” statement saying, “I apologize & should’ve chosen my words wiser!”
But it seems as if he never really learns.
Influencers Represent!
An excited James Charles posted on Instagram about his very first Met Gala attendance. We understand how excited he must be knowing that not a lot of influencers get coveted invites for the event. In his post, the beauty influencer said that “being invited to such an important event like the ball is such an honor and a step forward in the right direction for influencer representation in the media” and added that he is “so excited to be a catalyst.”
Here’s where the problems begin. Let’s break it down to tiny little pieces. “Influencer representation” is a non-existent term. Even if it does, it should be grouped along the lines of “All Lives Matter,” “White Privilege,” and “White Feminism.” When I heard these very words, I was completely taken aback. Just how under-represented do you feel?
The world revolves around influencers. The fact that they are called such means that they are at a certain stature that allows people to look up to them and everything they do basically becomes a standard for a whole community who believes in them. If anything, influencers are over-represented. There are influencers on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter; their profiles are all over Linked In too. And if it isn’t enough, you can catch them on literature, film, and TV as leads, as topics, even as creators behind each project—they are all over media and not just social media. They are the new celebrities. With the term “influencer” becoming a trend, it’s easy to create and slant stories about them. As exciting as a Met Gala invite can be, getting invited to the exclusive event only adds up to the many ways influencers are being represented all over media. Are they oppressed? Don’t even get me started about that.
As Tyler Oakley would put it, perhaps the ‘I’ in LGBTQIA+ stands for influencers; we just don’t know it yet.
All Hail, James Charles of The Internet!
James Charles may have been getting ahead of himself when he claimed to be a catalyst. Liza Koshy was the very first “influencer” I know of who has attended Met Gala. It all began with her in 2018, so if anyone’s to be a called a catalyst, it should be her. Not to mention Lilly Singh was also a part of this year’s campy crowd. Even Liza and Lilly didn’t call themselves catalyst as they got their Met Gala invites—perhaps people of color simply knows what does and what doesn’t exist.
We understand that James Charles may have been too excited, but his words simply invalidate what he said in his past apology when it comes to choosing his words carefully. So, dear influencers, are you a James Charles or a Liza & Lilly?
