Taking it Personal

Although I haven't been following the Chris Brown/Rhianna story all that closely, I felt that there was an interesting element here that makes this story bigger than the run-of-the-mill celebrity scandals.

Not that I in any way condone Brown's actions, but it will be interesting to see how this story continues to play out as far as public opinion. Not because of who he is or what he did, necessarily, but because of who she is. 

Let's take R. Kelly, for instance. Although the alleged sex crimes of R. Kelly and Brown's alleged assault against Rihanna are far different altercations--the proverbial sex versus violence, though both were assaults on women--who they involved (or in Kelly's case, who it didn't involve) has an impact on each singer's ability to recover in the eyes of the public.

It's hard for me to believe that had R. Kelly thrown the waterworks on an up-and-coming super-starlette, one as beloved by the MTV crowd as Rihanna, against her will, that he would still be seen as any kind of a hero. Although his offenses are often just seen as a punchline to a joke, or just some acceptable fetish kink, had the victim been famous as well, Kelly may have been singing a different tune.

Because knowing who the victim is makes it personal. For us.

Because, as it's been reported, Brown physically assaulted Rihanna--not just an unknown girlfriend, but a superstar--his reputation may not be salvageable. For fans of Rihanna and, to some extent, general music fans alike, Rihanna is somebody that we know. We know her face, her voice, bits of her personality. She seems as real to many people as their sisters, friends, acquaintances. The feigned familiarity that her fame has allowed us to experience makes Brown's actions personal to us. It hurts us. He assaulted somebody that we feel we know, even though we don't really, and that will make this altercation something all together harder for him to recover from.

As for Brown's fans who feel that they know the R&B star personally, beyond the shock that someone they admire has done something so atrocious, knowing the victim as well may make it too hard for them to stand by the singer after his actions. Not that they should, mind you, but it is often strange what celebrities can survive with their fan base in tact.

When this story eventually blows over, Rihanna will come out stronger and will, no doubt, have a larger stable of fans than ever before cheering her on. As for Brown, if being dropped from two endorsement deals and from rotation on at least one radio station already is any indication, it's going to get a lot worse for him before it ever gets better. And that's a big if.