After watching hours upon hours of Emma Chamberlain I have understood her appeal. I have heard about her gas, about her favorite seasonings and other very personal facts. I have fallen in love with her honesty and her ability to make normal mundane tasks fun and exciting. She seamlessly blends a mix of sponsored content with her humour…
Emma’s intended audience is young girls who are extremely malleable. She got traction as an insecure quirky teen and that is audience she attracts. Emma has become a fashion icon. Vogue even went as far to say that,“Emma can control the fashion world by just putting it on her body” (Parkerwer, 2021) She revolutionized what is considered trendy and brought back a completely different style of large hair clips, acrylics, and piercings. Chamberlain got famous at the ripe age of 17. Friends of mine would endlessly watch her twenty minute vlogs.
People use Emma as a marker for what is going to be cool in the upcoming season. She is what I would consider to be among the best influencers because everything feels so genuine. In the case of most influencers, the famous person is very far removed from the consumer/fan, but in this instance we see Emma fail and succeed—we are rooting for her. She humanizes herself in a way that not many celebrities are able to do.
Emma’s vlog is titled “Running a marathon with no training”. She explains why she is doing it, and she says that she has absolutely no reason to do this. She then continues to explain that lululemon is sponsoring this video. She explains extensively about the lululemon leggings she is wearing and why they are the best leggings. She does not hide her blemishes through flattering lighting. She does not hide or body to make herself look thinner: she presents herself for who she is. She goes into the philosophy of lululemon. The consumer is aware of the advertisement, and the fact that she is getting paid to make this video, but the fact that she is so unapologetically honest with us is almost endearing in and of itself. There is tension between the fact that she is a good role model and the ability to market and sell. Adorno and Horkheimer would argue that Chamberlain is a master advertiser being that, “The triumph of advertising in the culture industry is that consumers feel compelled to buy and use its products even though they see through them.”(Adorno & Horkheimer, 1944, 12) She talks about her journey and gives us behind the scenes access to her life— including her bathroom breaks. She talks about her anxiety and depression so openly; she gives herself pep talks and quotes inspirational sayings. Her style is extremely choppy; it seems that she intentionally edits her videos with throwback videos spliced in, which has become the style of her content. She slows down and speeds up different sections of her vlog to enhance her comedic affect. She says, “I'm going to clickbait the video with…” She openly expresses that she is going to reel us in with her the title, even though she does not succeed at the challenge. She talks about how it was “technically a failure” but she is still going to post it because she ran more than she ever has. She runs us through her daily plan and her frustration of her nail breaking. There is no arc to her story; it is genuinely just word vomit for 17 minutes.
Emma finds trends from historically marginalized groups, and Emma’s followers are the definition of incorporation. They follow Emma like sheep. Emma goes to thrift stores, so thrift stores have become extremely trendy. This is disappointing because prices at thrift stores have now increased. Now people do not shop at thrift stores exclusively out of need, there is a huge population of affluent shoppers who go to thrift stores to find specific pieces which drives the prices up. In addition, acrylic nails, a historically African American fashion, have been white washed and influencers like Emma have incorporated them into her vlogs, and they have been coined one of her staples. Emma is not refined; she is “As the phrase “pop culture” gradually came to take the place of “low culture,” it was defined more by what it wasn’t elegant, refined, erudite than by what it was.” (Cooper et al., 2017, 1) That is why we are drawn to her; she presents herself in an unfiltered way.
Emma will stay on top because of her authenticity, her connection with her followers and her ability to be a role model. Although we must recognize that Chamberlain profits by thousands of dollars from every video, she is still a role model for young girls. Normally, girls only see influencers and their perfect lives. But the fact that she does not wear makeup and talks about her farts, makes her relatable and that is more important than the money she is making… She truly becomes a friend you are facetiming, and that is the power of Emma. She influences consumers as if she is their friend.
References
Adorno, T. W., & Horkheimer, M. (1944). The culture industry: Enlightenment as mass deception. The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446269534.n4
Cooper, B. C., Morris, S. M., & Boylorn, R. M. (2017). The Crunk Feminist Collection. The Feminist Press at CUNY.
Parkerwer. (2021, March 22). Emma Chamberlain and how she changed the fashion industry. VT Vogue. Retrieved October 12, 2021, from https://vtvogue.com/2021/03/22/emma-chamberlain-and-how-she-changed-the-fashion-industry/.
How Very: Heathers Over Time If you thought the classic trio was Harry, Ron, and Hermione, think again--it is clearly Heather, Heather, and Heather. In the 1988 teenage cult classic movie Heathers , these three girls dominate Westerberg High School with their shoulder pads, college parties, and unforgiving pranks. But unlike descendants such as Mean Girls, the movie touches on more than just social cliques and image issues. The central plot follows a popular girl, Veronica, who has long been absorbed into the Heather posse and recognizes its toxicity. She sees a way out through the mysterious JD, who becomes her lover and partner in crime as they begin to murder and feign the suicide of many of Westerberg’s populars. However, this sardonic comedy is not just commentary on teenage suicide; it takes on issues of rape, mental health, eating disorders, and descrimination based on sexual orientation (just to name a few). As director Michael Lehmann explains, “‘ It’s a satire ab...
I really enjoyed reading your blog post about Emma Chamberlain, Maia! I think it is so unique that Emma Chamberlain presents herself exactly as she is, rather than trying to create a fake presentation of herself. This makes her more relatable, and as you said, attracts a young audience that consists mostly of people who are just like her. I think you are spot on in your discussion of Chamberlain being a great advertiser, and I like how you bring up Adorno and Horkheimer’s discussion of advertising. I believe it is also interesting to think about the concept of the aura in terms of watching her videos. According to Walter Benjamin, the aura is a feeling that comes from being in art’s presence, and it is diminished when art is reproduced. While Benjamin only refers to the aura in terms of original art without technology, the concept of the aura can be applied to Chamberlain’s videos. As you stated, Chamberlain takes her audience into every aspect of her life and even talks about vulnerable topics such as her anxiety and depression. In this way, her audience can feel connected to her on a genuine, emotional level, in a similar way that Benjamin discusses audiences feeling connected to original pieces of art. I understand that the full potential of the aura cannot be reached here, and Benjamin certainly would not classify Chamberlain’s videos of possessing an aura, but I do believe there is something special about teenagers connecting with the rawness of these videos.
ReplyDelete^ This comment is from Amanda Pantzer. Don't know why it says "unknown."
DeleteAs an Emma fan, I loved your blog post! I agree that Emma is a great role model because of her ability to be vulnerable with her fanbase and not appear perfect all the time. Even though I love watching her content and use it to unwind after a stressful day, I too have noticed some problematic features of her brand. She is often called upon by teenagers to set the trends for an upcoming season. However, many of the trends that she “discovers” are actually popular activities or looks among subordinate groups such as lower income people or BIPOC. When Emma joins the trends started by those without a platform and gains the credit for them, it is the beginning of incorporation. When trendy teens began flooding thrift stores usually used by those who cannot afford to buy first hand items, they drove up the prices even for those original customers. I support Emma and any other people in incorporating trends from other groups into one’s own style, however, I find that people often don’t think about the consequences of their actions prior to doing them. Another interesting aspect of Emma Chamberlain is the style in which she does her ads. She is usually extremely transparent about the fact that she is getting paid to promote an object. I actually prefer this technique over influencers or micro celebrities who try to pretend that they are not getting paid to promote a certain product. When Emma includes ads in her videos, her fans usually assume that she actually uses and likes the product she is promoting. Furthermore, I completely agree with your thought that Emma’s fans feel close to her, almost like a friend. This relates to the topic we spoke about in class when fans like to feel close to the celebrities they like to watch. Overall, I really enjoyed your post and the topic you chose.
ReplyDelete-Chloe Greenstein
Hi Maia!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I want to say that I really enjoyed reading your blog post on Emma Chamberlain. When looking through all of the different blog posts that everyone posted, yours stood out to me because I also chose to focus my blog post on Emma Chamberlain and I was curious to see if we took the same approach to analyzing her as a YouTuber. Although we had a few similarities, I find it super interesting that we took different approaches. I really appreciate the connection that you make between Emma Chamberlain’s advertising methods to Adorno and Horkheimer, discussing how these scholars would explain Emma as “a master advertiser” due to “consumers feel[ing] compelled to buy and use… products even though they see through them” (Adorno & Horkheimer, 1944, 12). Although I did not discuss Adorno and Horkheimer in my own blog post, I think that it is a terrific connection. Something I do wish you mentioned is Malcom Gladwell’s idea of coolhunting, as you brought up how “people use Emma as a marker for what is going to be cool in the upcoming season.” When reading this, I immediately was reminded of Gladwell’s idea of what makes something or someone cool, as he explains that “the cool kids who started wearing old Dukes and Columbia from thrift shops were innovators” (Gladwell, 1997, 83). By saying this, Gladwell is describing how stepping outside the box and being unique is in fact what makes people cool, which is what Emma and her aesthetic encapsulates. Furthermore, when addressing Emma’s advertising method and explaining how “she is so unapologetically honest,” I was reminded of Susan Sontag’s idea of Camp, and how being Camp is to “dethrone seriousness” (Sontag, 1964). When Emma brings in advertisements to her videos, she does so in a serious, yet playful way, insinuating she is making fun of herself. Overall, I think that you did an excellent job with your blog post and I was very impressed by your analysis of her as a YouTuber.
- Charlotte Krevitt
Sorry I meant to say in the end that:
DeleteWhen Emma brings in advertisements to her videos, she does not do so in a serious way, but instead in a playful way, which insinuates that she is making fun of herself.
- Charlotte Krevitt