Cultural Notebook: The Judy Syndrome

The latest viral web event is the back and forth regarding this fan video on Britney Spears non-come-back "Come Back" on the VMA awards. The somewhat hysterical video has engendered a number of different responses, many of which comment on the gender presentation and sexual orientation of the fan. Additionally, this purportedly heartfelt pixilated plea to "leave Britney alone" has spawned its own cottage industry of imitators and riffs on the original, some of which are rather funny and others less so, revealing the gendered dynamics of loathing at play.



My first response, aside from disgust at the vitriol directed at the video maker for his non-conformity to masculine norms (one can be disgusted, but not necessarily because the video maker is gay-ish; you're welcome to read the comments posted on the video's homepage for examples*), is to diagnose a severe case of what I think of as the "Judy Syndrome," the deep, irrational attachment some gay men display towards divas, cinematic, musical, or otherwise. This transference onto the feminine star has its roots in pre-Stonewall cultural politics, where young gay men in particular would form strong emotional bonds with the star (such as Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford, and Bette Davis, to name but a few), based on empathy with her performative strength as well as her private human travails. This YouTube video follows in that tradition, with the disturbing added benefit of contemporary Internet narcissism, and leads us to some questions to consider (discuss amongst yourselves and in the comments section):

• Why have gay men formed strong relationships with performative female figures?
• Is this all just too stereotypical? What is behind the stereotype?
• Can you locate where you first learned that gay men had something for tragic, boozy stars?
• How are stereotypes communicated to us, and how to we imbibe them?
• What do gay men get out of the relationship to the Star, before and after Stonewall?
• What does the Star, in turn, get out of a devoted gay fan base?
• Does star worship have a correlate in lesbian cultures, and if so, what and how?

Further Reading: Daniel Harris, "The Diva in Decline"

* One must remain skeptical of all web-based personality phenomena. After perusing the video maker's video home page on YouTube, I noticed a small detail: "for business inquiries- contactchriscrocker@gmail.com." One must question whether or not the whole viral moment of self-revelation and subsequent abuse is not indeed simply part of the larger cultural diorama of star cultures, instant celebrity, and narcissism that is not meant to generate something personal, much less sincere, but is rather cynical in its marketing and self-promotional strategies. Indeed, it appears the video is one big put-on solely meant to garner attention and financial lucre.

Further Viewing: Todd Solondz, Storytelling