Coming out online: Memetic authenticity in Rebecca Black's "Friday (Remix)"

Rebecca Black was thirteen when her music video "Friday" went massively viral after it was uploaded to YouTube in 2011. Black re-entered the news cycle in 2020 after coming out as queer, and shortly thereafter releasing a remix of "Friday" for the video's tenth anniversary....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Popular communication 2024-01, Vol.22 (1), p.33-46
Main Author: March, Lucy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Authenticity
celebrity studies
Commodification
Fame
Media coverage
meme studies
Music
News media
popular music
Resilience
Trauma
virality
YouTube
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:Rebecca Black was thirteen when her music video "Friday" went massively viral after it was uploaded to YouTube in 2011. Black re-entered the news cycle in 2020 after coming out as queer, and shortly thereafter releasing a remix of "Friday" for the video's tenth anniversary. Through references to the online spaces and memetic cultures where Black was trolled and harassed, "Friday (Remix)" repackages trauma in a bright, nostalgic bundle. Through an analysis of the music video and media coverage around Black's coming out, this article considers how "Friday (Remix)" positions Black's rebrand as one in which, as a payoff for the resiliency she has exhibited throughout her career, the singer possesses newfound agency to express herself in an authentic way. Simultaneously, Black's play with her virality in "Friday (Remix)" demonstrates an increasing need in contemporary celebrity culture to engage in constant self-commodification and self-"memeification" to achieve this sense of authenticity.
ISSN:1540-5702
1540-5710
DOI:10.1080/15405702.2023.2287739