I want to be absolutely clear: I'm a huge fan of Chappell, I've said so on this board a few times. I love her music, I love her vibe. I love what she stands for. I'm also not on Twitter, and I'm barely on TikTok, so I didn't hear about this controversy until it hit my Threads feed, which means it's being talked about by a lot of older, mostly queer, mostly Black and PoC folks. So I got a general gist of what she was being dragged for before I actually listened to what she said…
And I can see why she's being criticized.
Because I have to tell you: "actually…have you all considered that maybe both sides are bad actually?" Is not a nuanced take. It's not a brave take. It's certainly not a radical take. It's not a leftist take, and it's not an interesting take. It's literally the political "noncommittal" lacking specifics comment MOST people default to. Y'all know "centrists"? That pocket of middle-of-the-road voters who flummox both the right and the left and are practically hated here? Speaking to those voters you would hear, almost word for word, what Chappell has said. To the degree that, if you took Chappell Roan''s name out of it, and had me read a transcript of her comments and tell you what I thought, I would just shrug and say, "This just sounds like someone who doesn't really want to talk about politics."
And that's valid! Chappell's position is common because by definition she's not alone in feeling this way. And that is ok. But that's also why people defending her by saying she's just being attacked because she didn't fall in line and endorse Kamala aren't making a whole lot of sense. Let me be clear again: I don't doubt that's happening. But she's also getting criticized by a lot of a) queer people, b) PoC, and c) people who honestly don't care if she endorses Kamala or not because they thought "Chappell Roan" was a landmark in Italy until a week ago. And it's because she's so branded herself (or allowed her fans to brand her) as such a radical, a leftist, and someone who thinks about these things…and she's so branded herself in the aesthetic of "drag" (you know, that famously apolitical artform)…that from where I sit, I think an environment was created where people were expecting more than the political equivalent of cold oatmeal. Fair or not.
Because it is absolutely possible, really easy even, to shit on Democrats, withhold your endorsement, hold them to task, talk about the actual nuances of how they've come up short and/or outright failed, without sanding down the very really and very present danger of the right. People do it every day. It's very easy to flame the shit out of Democrats without feeling the need to say, "pfft! OF COURSE we know Trump is bad!" Because, looking at how white women as a group have voted in the last TWO elections….jury is still out on that, just how much people "know."
So I'm not on board flaming this girl, but I'm not going to pretend like what she said was some perfectly logical take and any criticism of her is disingenuous. And you know what? I can say everything I just said about Chappell Roan, and still enjoy her music, still root for her as an artist, and still like HER. I can give her grace, because at the end of the day it reads to me like she just doesn't talk about this stuff much or really wants to (or maybe she does and just needs to get better at it, who knows).
And I think maybe some of the people who are rushing to defend her and position her as the next great radical queen need to also consider the pressure they're putting on her.
