Dear Marina,
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Marina on her first American tour -
we loved her use of Beyoncé's diva hair fan |
We are true Diamonds. We have followed your artistic journey since the very beginning, admiring you both as an artist and as a person. Minna read your first blog before it was deleted & scrambled to buy the
Crown Jewels EP the day it was released. We vividly remember seeing you at Boston’s Paradise Rock Club on your first American tour. Minna drove EIGHT hours that night just to see you, and we doubt she was the only one. How many artists have fans like that? It was a performance to remember; we loved your glow-in-the-dark lipstain and pointy-shouldered Hannah Marshall velvet gown. What we appreciated most, though, were your heart-felt words in between the sets. When we screamed, you said, “And they wonder why I love American crowds.” You stated that you knew “real diamonds [were] in the audience [that night].” We will never forget when you confided in us:
“I don’t typically say this, but you guys are a special bunch. Whether you’ve followed me from the beginning or just heard of me yesterday, I want to tell you that you should chase after your dreams and do what you love, as long as you’re not hurting anyone in the process. Life is too short to be unhappy. You don’t know how many people said, ‘Marina, you’ll never make it! No one will ever love you!’” Marina, those words resonated with us. We will forever carry them in our memories and consciousness.
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Marina at a Dolce & Gabbana party
celebrating Naomi Campbell's
25 years in the fashion industry |
However, we feel that your special relationship with your fans is going awry. The closeness and connection evident in your words that night seem to be dripping away. As truly devoted Diamonds, this pains us greatly. In
this recent webcam chat, you said you’d do anything for your fans. You’d even die for them! Yet, when a fan asked if s/he could attend your birthday party, you responded with something like, “Well, I don’t know you, so no.” Marina, what happened to doing anything for your fans? Where did that special, intimate connection go? Of course, you can’t invite everyone to your birthday, and you may have feared that thousands of fans would ask to attend, but you could have said, “the first five fans to ask for an invite get to come.” That’s how you give back to those who support you.
Your twitter has become a way for you to network with your famous friends in London and Los Angeles, as opposed to a tool through which to communicate with your fans (as it used to be). It seems as though you are more enamored with the POP star lifestyle and your glitzy pals than with your true Diamonds, who aren’t chauffeured in Mercedes and don’t get free clothes from Vivienne Westwood. You’ve always said that your stage name, Marina & the Diamonds, represented a community - yet, as you’ve shot up the POP star ladder, you’ve forgotten about those who helped get you there. You live a glamorous life, and that’s fantastic! We've always hoped for your success! But why don’t you allow the fans who helped bring it to you participate along with you? You began as a woman who detested the elitism of the music and fashion industries, yet now, you’re enabling and enforcing the hierarchy by partaking in it. Why don’t you act more democratically by sharing the trappings with your fans?
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| Marina (on the far right) at London fashion week |
We don’t mind that you’ve died your hair blonde (you look fantastic and the character of Electra Heart fascinates us!) We’re not bothered by your contract with Max Factor. In fact, your glamor and aesthetic is part of what drew us to you and your art. We don’t care that you’ve changed your mind about many issues; before, you spoke against certain artists using sexuality to sell records, and you talked of never performing on X Factor because they supposedly dumbed down the show for viewers. Now, you’re friends with those aforementioned artists, saying that sexually forward female POP stars are empowering, and we agree (to a degree). You now claim that you’d love to perform on X Factor, and that’s fine. Really, that’s great! We'd love to see you on the show! As people live, they learn, and they change their minds. We do it all the time!
You’re not a hypocrite. You’re simply growing up. Altering your opinions is only human.
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Marina looking luminous in
one of our favorite Max Factor ads |
We don’t care that you’re going more POP on your second record – we’re counting down the days until its release. We think it’s great that you’re working with people like Dr. Luke and Stargate. We adore Dr. Luke and can’t wait to hear what you two have come up with.
Radioactive is fantastic. A true artist changes with time, and it’s understandable that you wouldn’t want to make
The Family Jewels again – that would be artistically stagnant, not progressive. However, there’s a difference between working with a hit-maker because you love his music and working with a hit-maker because you want to be famous. You admire Madonna, and we do, too. However, while Madonna may be an iconic POP artist, she is a
vile and
unappreciative human being. Madonna may have more fans than you numerically, but her attitude is the reason why most of them are fans-LITE. Marina, what you don’t understand is that to your devoted fans,
you are already FAR more iconic than Madonna will EVER be to hers! What you have is
a human touch. This is the rarest, most invaluable gem that a POP star can possess - worth more than any sum of money, any arena stage, and any amount of fame.
As we feel the gap between Marina and her Diamonds growing... all we want to say is this: "Please don’t forget about us, Marina."
Unapologetically,
Gregory & Minna
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| Minna's motivational wall when she taught English abroad. |
