the problem with Karma there is an inevitable moment in the life of any child star when they attempt to shed their family-friendly image in order to prove to the world that they're an adult we've seen these growing pains manifest in a variety of ways over the years some take a break from the public eye and return a few years later with a degree some take on more mature projects to force people to take them seriously some let loose and become Hollywood's latest Wild Child and some just get an edgy new look and call it a
day transitioning from child to teenager to adult is a stressful process for normal people so I can't imagine how difficult it is for celebrities every single thing they do is put under a microscope and they're not only role models to thousands of impressionable fans but they're also responsible for the success of entire Brands that's a lot of pressure to put on someone because they've spent most of their youth working and following other people's orders these rebrands serve as a way for child stars to express themselves for the first time which sounds great in theory but
in practice it isn't as simple because people are used to seeing them as a child when they suddenly become an adult it's disconcerting and as a result these rebrands often see a good deal of push back from the public if you've been anywhere online this past week then odds are you've seen the countless jokes think pieces and criticisms directed towards the bow wearing reality TV phenomenon known as Jojo siwa Jojo who's about to turn 21 has recently entered her badir ERA coinciding with the release of more adult sounding music and an alternative look however this
Rebrand doesn't seem to be going over very well with people calling it everything from uninspired to disingenuous to embarrassing there are a lot of levels to this rebranding attempt that would be difficult to understand without first having an understanding of who JoJo siwa is and unless you were a child in the 2010s odds are you're totally clueless as to why she's such a big deal so let me fill you in back in the early 2010s everyone was trying to cash in on the reality TV craze that had blossomed the decade prior thanks to shows like
Keeping Up with the Kardashians The Real Housewives and the hills reality TV at the time focused on drama and chaos and as a result big personalities were prioritized with a handful of reality TV stars like Snookie and Honey Boo Boo even becoming cultural phenomenons a pattern quickly formed with more bizarre behavior being rewarded with better viewership so producers set out to not only create ridiculous scenarios but also cast people whose personalities would Clash one of the most popular reality TV shows of this era was Dance Moms which began airing in 2011 while the show's premise
was fairly innocent following a group of children as they prepared for various dance competitions it was the cast that had America fixated the dance studio was run by Abby Lee Miller who would frequently berate the dancers and pit them against each other causing conf conflict between her and their parents which would culminate in passive aggressive behavior shouting matches and even physical altercations I've only seen a few episodes of the show but honestly it was never my cup of tea something about all of those kids sobbing while their mothers actively exacerbated the situation for a check
and some screen time never sat well with me because Dance Moms was such a hit a spin-off aby's Ultimate Dance Competition was put into production which pitted a group of dancers against one another to win 100 Grand and a scholarship to a Ballet Academy JoJo siwa made an appearance in the second season of the show in 2013 and although 9-year-old JoJo was eliminated early on she caught the eye of the producers and ABY Lee Miller and was subsequently brought onto Dance Moms in 2015 in order to replace a recently departed member JoJo was immediately presented
as the odd man out with her outspoken personality clashing with not only the other students but the moms as well while on the show she was called Annoying talented arrogant and rude with some of the cast members even going as far as to mock Her speech impediment and appearance a reminder that she was only 11 when she joined the show and oh I got these for free and I got these for free and I got these for free in spite of this JoJo remained positive and upbeat on camera and this resilience made a great impression
on viewers shortly after she began posting videos to YouTube where she quickly grew a following and in May 2016 she released her first single Boomerang which addressed bullying the song went viral and thanks to its be the bigger person message JoJo was quickly proclaimed a role model seeing how powerful the JoJo Sia brand was becoming Nickelodeon came a knin and after signing with them in 2017 JoJo left dance bombs in the dust Nickelodeon immediately set out to make her a star having her make cameos in various shows performing at live concert events and selling an
array of branded products kids couldn't get enough of her and JoJo seea hair bows could be found on shelves at Claire's Walmart Target and JC Penney JoJo wasn't your run-of-the-mill celebrity she was a billion dooll brand and as a brand JoJo didn't have time to be an ordinary kid she toured the country as a caricature of her 13-year-old self for years and while her fans were able to grow up and try new things she didn't have that luxury she had to be marketable or else be at risk of losing her Empire in the 20s JoJo
returned to her reality TV Roots appearing either as a contestant or judge on an array of shows including the Masked Singer Dancing with the Stars special forces world's toughest test So You Think You Can Dance and RuPaul's Drag Race around the same time JoJo came out as queer a revelation which she said she received criticism for quote I had a lot of Corporations tell me that I made the wrong choice and that I shouldn't have come out they said that I shouldn't tell my young demographic that I'm gay nickol Lans seemed to take particular offense
to this announcement excluding her from the 2022 Kids Choice Awards despite having her as their poster child for the better part of a decade since JoJo had been primarily marketed to children I can understand why this might have caused a stir but considering she'd spent most of her life dressed like Elton John were people really that surprised as child stars get older they begin to rebel against their pre-existing public persona for some it's more drastic for others it's more subtle JoJo start started off by dressing more minimally and chopping off her hair ensuring that she
would no longer need to wear one of her signature side ponies she also began posting thirst traps with a few of the videos where she was dressed as Draco Malfoy going viral for their cringiness she also began swearing publicly drawing criticism from parents who said that she should be better about setting a positive example in 2024 JoJo began teasing a new musical era Karma one that she proclaimed would prove to the world that she was an adult this was by no means A New Concept with dozens of other musicians changing their sound and style when
transitioning from their teens to their 20s like Christina agilera for stripped Rihanna for good girl gone bad and Britney Spears for Britney many of these projects receed polarized responses being criticized for drifting too far away from their pre-existing sound while simultaneously not taking enough risks when female artists undergo a mature rebranding it typically translates into a more provocative image which can un fortunately backfire as it results in them being sexualized By Their audience instead of being taken seriously by them but there's no denying that the strategy does succeed in making people view them as an
adult instead of a child while promoting her new project JoJo compared it to Miley Cyrus's 2013 album bangers which was a major turning point in her career with her controversial Behavior at the time fully separating her from her Hannah Montana Persona considering the overlap between their fan bases I don't think that was a bad point of reference for JoJo to have but now that Karma has been released I can safely say that she missed the mark the song which starts off with the lyrics I was a bad girl I did some bad things comes across
like a 13-year-olds idea of rebelliousness and is just way too overproduced sure she says [ __ ] but she can't commit to saying [ __ ] making the song solidly PG-13 instead of R-rated and although I commend her for fully embracing her queer identity in the video it's incredibly underwhelming vision in large part because of what she's wearing although JoJo had acted as though we were going to see her style change significantly the loud makeup rhinestones glitter quaffed hair and bold shoulders are still reminiscent of what she'd worn during her Nickelodeon days she's maybe showing
a bit more skin and her color palette is less saturated but that's about it up until quite recently JoJo was still bopping around in her pink hair bows and rainbow jackets and this look feels just as juvenile as those did honestly it reminds me of a kid trying way too hard to upset their parents case in point this episode of Hannah Montana where she dresses up in a faux Punk style or when Lizzie MaGuire has a bad girl phase JoJo's main outfit for karma seems to take notes from Jean Simmons from the rock band KISS
a reference I find incredibly odd for someone born in the 21st century like you're 20 why are you dressed like a 7-year-old man nothing about this look is cool or trendy or aspirational which is what unique need if you're trying to appeal to Jen Z instead of Jen Alpha now keep in mind that JoJo siwa is by no means the only kid-friendly star who has changed their image in the last few years Jenna Ortega who's only a year older than JoJo was once the lead of the Disney Channel show stuck in the middle and the
voice of Princess Isabelle in the Elena of avalor series but now she's a proper scream Queen with invites to the Met Gala Dove Cameron Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo were also Disney Darlings who were for to maintain a wholesome brand image for years but now they're performing in front of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide in fish nut tights while making sexual inuendos the reason these rebrands succeeded is because they felt authentic and genuine with their maturity being a gradual progression that was naturally reflected in their work even when it comes to Miley Cyrus she
had already shown an interest in a more grown-up sound and look in 2010s Can't Be Tamed so when bangers came around a few years later it wasn't actually as dramatic a shift as people acted like it was most importantly it felt true to her even if it seemed a bit strange to her fans at the time whereas with JoJo it still feels like she's a puppet on a string doing what she's told instead of what she actually wants sure the song says She's a wild child but apart from her sexuality which shouldn't be an issue
to begin with there isn't anything that would alienate her pre-existing fan base sure there are photos of her leaving a sex shop but with the giant plushy and melong receipt it's so clearly staged that kind of feels pathetic or there's the fact that she has an entire sleeve of stick on tattoos showing a complete lack of commitment to the bit tweens might think that this direction is edgy and cool but it doesn't have any longevity or broad appeal so unless she wants to be acting like she's 13 for the rest of her life she needs
to come up with something else quick plenty of artists have had outlandish looks over the years look at David Bowie Boy George Lady Gaga Katy Perry or Nicki Minaj but I don't think that that's the right direction for Jojo as she moves forward if the JoJo siwa we'd seen up until this point was really just a character why wouldn't they take this opportunity to go in the complete opposite direction most people already associate her with crazy costumes bizarre hairstyles and overe exuberant dance moves so why not subvert expectations with something toned down and vulnerable I'm
not kidding her stint on that special forces show where she's running around with no makeup and cargo pants is far more appealing than whatever the hell she she's doing with Karma considering her age it'd be easy to pin the blame on her management but after seeing the way JoJo talks about this project I think she's equally as responsible but considering she spent more than half of her life as a product not a person it's sort of understandable that her aesthetic choices would be utterly devoid of any real creativity since her time on Dance Moms JoJo's
personality has received a good deal of criticism and while I'd argue that everyone's a bit insufferable at that age it's interesting that the same comment are still being made today like many child stars JoJo was homeschooled but because she was constantly touring she spent her adolescence surrounded by either children or grown adults there wasn't anyone her own age to hang out with and I really think it shows those teenage experiences from the more simple things like studying for finals and sitting at the lunch table to the more fun stuff like prom and House parties are
incredibly important for your development and I'm not surprised to see that without having experienced those things her social skills can sometimes come across as a bit off now most of her childhood was robbed from her and she's only 20 so it's possible this is something she'll grow out of as she gains more experience but what I personally noticed was a lack of humility and awareness on her end to the point it almost feels disrespectful in one interview that's currently making the rounds she proclaimed that she wanted to make a new genre of music called Gay
Pop I said it back in the day when I first signed with Columbia I said I want to start a new genre of music and they said what do you mean and I said well it's called gaypop went into the Disney Channel building and I sat down with the president of Disney Channel and I said I want to make history and that's what this is disregarding the fact that she's by no means the first openly gay person to make pop music Karma isn't Innovative in fact it's so generic that it almost feels like AI wrote
it honestly if she hadn't acted like this project was the best thing since sliced bread I don't think she would have received half as much flak following the negative reactions to this new project JoJo has changed her tune saying that the over-the-top dancing cringey interviews and outlandish clothing were all a marketing strategy but I don't really buy it sure it got people talking about her but not in a good way and let's be real trolling people isn't a great strategy if you're trying to build a fan base the criticism directed towards JoJo's rebranding also stems
from the timing of it all with some even calling it a cover up in February she and her mother came under Fire following an expose by Rolling Stone which alleged that they had mistreated former members of her dance group X OMG pop made up of kids between the ages of 8 and 14 the article claimed that the sea was had failed to properly pay the performers and force them to work in spite of medical conditions considering what she experienced firsthand on Dance Moms it's disappointing to hear that JoJo might be continuing the cycle of abusive
Behavior but I can't help but wonder what it means about her team and what she might have gone through in her youth JoJo also has close ties to other controversial internet personalities with both Colleen Ballinger and James Charles attending Karma's release party this past week and you know what they say about birds of a feather now as you can probably tell I'm not a fan of JoJo's bad girl era but I can also acknowledge that I'm not the target audience which let's be honest our kids deep down I think she's scared and she'd rather keep
doing the same thing forever instead of having to sit down and be honest with herself it's still working for now but I hope she realizes that no one stays 13 forever and someday all of her fans will grown her what do you think of Jojo sewa's Rebrand I hope you enjoyed this video don't forget to like And subscribe and I'll see you soon bye
