Let's Talk About it: Manon's Hiatus

 

Let's Talk About it!

Over the past couple of weeks since Manon's hiatus was announced on social media, Katseye stans,  Manon stans, and just social media in general, have been spiraling since the news broke.

We were speculating that she would return in time for the performances at the Lollapalooza shows, but she didn't. Then we were predicting that she would for sure be back in time to perform at Coachella. Oh baby how wroooooong were we! My girl was looking forward to that performance dawg.

Just recently, Katseye dropped their new song "Pinky Up", my pinky is DEOWN, that most of us hoped would have included Manon, but the fandom and I were met with disappointment. My girl was supposed to be popping out of that trunk! The label refuses to tell the public if Manon is still a part of Katseye or not, but they keep proving, time and time again, that they don't care about the fans or even the girls for that matter.

Even though Manon is getting a lot of love from within the fandom and outside of it, her being put on this, allegedly, forced hiatus has fueled more hatred towards her. This whole situation is even affecting most of the members in the group who have also been getting hate from others.

This company makes stupid decisions, but they're smart as hell. People on social media, blogs, and news sites kept asking the question if Manon was out of the group, and if she was going to be performing at Coachella. The label waited until the day before Coachella to come out and say that Manon isn't going to be performing with the girls.

In my honest opinion, I'm over the BS. The label, whichever one it is, just needs to come out and say something...other than she's not performing and she's still on hiatus. Like we're all over these "What If's".

At this point I don't even want her in the group anymore. I held out so much hope for her return, but once the narrative of "mistreatment" and the crap Dani's father was spewing...sista stay away. She's been out and about, on vacation, going to concerts and things of that nature. She even came out and said that she was healthy and fine after the label came out and said she was on hiatus.

Katseye isn't Katseye without all six of my girls and I'll stand on that hill proudly. Me personally, I'll be taking a step back from the group. At at this point, the music can't even keep me here. I was just sticking around for the sisterhood at that point, but the label ruined that so...I will support my girls on their separate future endeavors.

It's messed up to see how much of a high my girls were on just to see them come crashing down. Like the internet is tearing them up along with the label...even though the label should be taking all the lashings...It's just sad to see my girls go out like this even though I know the Eyekons that are sticking around fully gon hold them down regardless. I just don't see them completely come out on top after all of this, but we shall see. "Pinky Up" was the icing on the cake though...no shade. They keep giving my girls these songs...justice.

-Libby <3              

 

Kids Don't Have Any Magic...

    

     Recently, I've been thinking about a lot of the media I used to watch during my childhood, and what kids nowadays are watching. Even outside of the fact that kids often don't watch actual shows (or read books, as for some reason many of them think reading is the end of the world), but spend most of their time on YouTube, kids' media has lost its sense of magic.

    Literally.

    Kids' media often involved magic and powers in some form or another during my childhood. Magical worlds that were completely different from our own, or worlds just like ours that made us believe we could perform magic right in our backyard. From shows like Wizards of Waverly Place, That's So Raven,  and My Babysitter's a Vampire to Danny Phantom, Avatar the Last Airbender, Winx Club, Etc. 

    These shows, while wildly different, all held some form of wonder and imagination. Fairies, vampires, witches, ghosts. Otherworldly things that brought something different to our everyday lives. We grew up thinking we could do and be anything. It furthered our imagination. 

    This isn't limited to just shows. Movies, Books, and even some of the content we were watching on YouTube provided much of the same. Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, and Percy Jackson. Even Minecraft roleplays in all their crazy, weirdness. All of these forms of media were magical and arguably complex for kids' media. 

    Now, this is not to say that every form of kids' media needs to have magic involved with it. Nor am I saying that we are missing magic completely from kids' media. I am saying that good kids' media that involve these elements are few and far between. And it's affecting children's imagination and creativity. It also seems to sort of be affecting their aging. 

    Something I've noticed with my younger brother is that he, for some reason, knows a lot of the same references and media that I do. For reference, I am a junior in college. A part of that is due to the fact that kids don't entirely have their own spaces ( a post for another time), but also, I've noticed that supposed kids' media includes more adult-like, reality TV, realism content. Baddies and Love Island are two of the shows that culture has seeped into kids' media.

    This is not to say that the internet or other places were completely safe when I was a child. That is far from the truth. Still, we had enough media that was willing to push and encourage our imagination and creativity (and was actually meant for us). There were no limits, and it honestly brought us joy. Joy and a sense of creativity that have luckily followed us into adulthood. 

    Magical media seems to be making attempts at coming back. Varying opinions about the Percy Jackson series aside, it is a great example of this. A young, diverse show that gives a magical place to children, much like the books did. Not to mention that Ryan Coogler is developing an Animorphs series. Introducing a whole new generation to the IP. 

    Essentially, all I'm really trying to say is that the kids need magic. Even in small ways, it's beneficial. Their creativity, their imagination, their ability to dream big, and their ability to simply be kids. Magic in media benefits all of it. It can shape them in important ways (as all media can and we'll eventually talk about media trusting and caring about the intelligence of its audience. 

    Kids need magic, let's bring it back. 

~Amiyah