Amala Dlamini, better known as Doja Cat, has found herself in hot water with her fans around the world. Many are boycotting her music, unfollowing her, and whatever else people feel necessary to do. There are multiple reasons why she had become a hot topic, none of them seeming to be connected.
“Paint the Town Red,” was released earlier this year, and caused quite the stir. We all know to “paint the town” is to go out drinking, clubbing, smoking, etc. The title isn’t the only thing “fans” hated. The music undeniably depicts Doja as a devil, or accomplice of The Grim Reaper. She is reflected in the scythe, bloodied and disheveled, very much like Carrie. Doja sports a white and red arm warmer, covered in pentagrams furthering the devil character she is playing. Although this possibly disturbing music video left a bad taste in the mouths of some, many are “coupling this up” with other situations.
Shaved heads have historically been associated with the loss of individuality and strength (the guardian). After Doja shaved her head and eyebrows, people seemed to believe she was becoming a Satanic devil worshiper and Illuminati member. Whether this view has formed from her new album “Scarlet”, the shaved head or both, fans fear she has lost herself to Satanism (npr). Another song in her album, “Demons” flat out mentions fans’ concerns. The music video had Doja portraying an all black demon, with red glowing eyes. This song is a little more obvious with its allusions to Satanism and the devil, but both songs have a similar feel. It’s due to the blatant mention of demons that fans are so dramatically criticizing Doja Cat.
Entirely unrelated to this new demon “phase”, Doja fans have been criticizing her due to a recent scandal. Doja tweeted, she doesn’t love her fans, because she doesn’t know them. Although this seems entirely fair and reasonable, fans took direct offense to it, unfollowing her. Doja Cat also mentioned how much she hated that fans called themselves “Kittenz”, saying “if you call yourself a kitten…you need to get off your phone and get a job.” To me, this is a popular singer attempting to put distance between herself and her fans because she is uncomfortable. Celebrities already have very little privacy, it’s perfectly understandable that she wants some space. Fans have begun struggling to separate actor to character- which is a whole other issue. With the rise of social media, fans seem to think they know their idol personally. It’s creepy, leave them alone, please. Writing fanfiction about real people who exist and can read it, that’s icky. Doja Cat is one of the few celebrities actually saying something about this new uncomfortable relationship between fan and celeb. She is comfortable enough to admit her boundaries, something we should all honor and encourage.
“Cancel culture” is one of the stupidest things Gen Z has come up with. Leave people alone, get off your phone, go for a walk, volunteer, do something worthwhile.
As Central Cee said so perfectly, “Somebody tell Doja Cat that I’m tryna indulge in that…”
