‘Taylor Swift tells us to take the lead!’ Could highly organised pop fans clinch victory for Brazil’s Lula?
“We’re inspired by these artists, and Taylor is always talking about how young people should take the lead,” said Josiane, a Swiftie. Her friend Giovanna, a member of the Army fandom for K-poppers BTS, agrees: “We need to step up and make ourselves heard.”
“A lot of people don’t keep up with politics, but they do follow fanclubs and fan accounts, so I think fandoms can bring this kind of discussion to more people,” said Raissa, a Beyoncé fan. “She’s a pop diva who talks about LGBTQ+ freedom and freedom of speech, and that matters to us too.”
Pop stars’ mostly progressive politics, however tempered by the commercial interests of the music industry, are the main convergence point for these fandoms. And the influence can run the other way, too. After Info Billie Brasil reached out to him, Finneas, Billie Eilish’s brother and collaborator, endorsed the movement with a story on his Instagram account.
