Bryan Stars was once known for his comedic and lighthearted interviews with alternative bands. He was different from other people in the scene, which was one of the reasons many people loved what he did, but something about him has changed for the worse--and it needs to be talked about.
Many have noticed that Bryan has not uploaded an interview in months, instead he has been contributing to a channel called "My Digital Escape." MDE is populated by modern-day "scene kids," all of which are aged 18 and under. They're cute, they love music, and they're people that other kids can look up to and get a laugh from without the large age gap that comes with bands. On their own, they're fine, but it's Bryan that rubs so many people the wrong way. Bryan is 25 years old, and lives with fellow MDE member Johnnie Guilbert, who only recently turned 18. The fact that who Bryan associates with has gone from bands his age to fans of those bands who are 7+ years younger than him is...well, concerning, especially considering that a few of them are minors. Even so, this is not the only concern.
As I previously said, My Digital Escape is targeted towards younger fans of alternative music. Generally speaking, this means girls aged 12-16. In order to appeal to this very young audience, Bryan's Twitter is full of stolen Tumblr posts and band memes. He tweets about not wanting to go to school, how "hot" certain band members are, and other similar things that young fans can clearly relate to, even though he himself is 25 years old. Although this in itself is uncomfortable to watch, the most upsetting things that he tweets involve something that rubs me the wrong way entirely: making light of mental illnesses, such as anxiety and depression.
One of my biggest pet peeves is the sudden increase in the spread of Internet memes that have to do with mental illnesses. For example, I have seen countless Instagram posts that say things like "100 likes and I won't cut tonight," which is totally unacceptable to me. There are absolutely many teens struggling with anxiety and depression, however I firmly believe that many of the kids posting these unsettling memes may be doing it because they believe that as a fan of this genre of music, it's "cool" and almost required to have a mental illness. Bryan Stars is perpetuating this with his "cool depression quotes" and even merchandise that capitalizes on self-harm.
Maybe Bryan is just trying to "be himself," but to me it seems like he's just trying to do whatever it takes to get more followers. What he may not realize is that he is setting an example for his younger fans that his behavior is OK. These fans will grow older thinking it's OK to post fan art and photography without credit, that it's OK to romanticize mental illnesses, that it's OK to fetishize band members, and most of all that it's OK for someone in their mid-twenties to show interest in minors. There is a place for everyone in this scene. For the younger members of My Digital Escape, it's exactly where they are, but Bryan Stars was better off with his interviews.
