How Katy Perry became the Hot and Cold popstar
凱蒂·佩芮——成也蕭何，敗也蕭何的一代流行歌手／為何淪落自此？
Alex Taylor 亞力克斯．泰勒
BBC News Culture reporter英國廣播公司新聞——文化記者
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwynz85zj2vo
Earlier this week American singer Katy Perry, best known for her bubblegum pop, said she felt like a "human Piñata" after weeks of online backlash.
以泡泡糖音樂聞名的美國歌手凱蒂·佩芮，在歷經數周的網路抨擊後，於本周稍早表示：她覺得自己像個「人形皮納塔」。
The description felt suitably colourful - but the acknowledgement was serious. A decade on from headlining the Superbowl, Perry's part in a much-derided Blue Origin spaceflight has seen her star crash down to Earth.
皮納塔的確色彩豐富，她描述得很貼切——但這認知卻很沉重。距離她擔任超級盃主秀已過去十年，然而如今，佩芮參與了飽受批評的「藍色起源」太空飛行，導致她的星途墜落在地／一落千丈。
Mockery over the apparent worthiness of her reaction, including kissing the ground after landing and saying she felt "so connected to love", spread online. Fast food chain Wendy's even posted to ask: "Can we send her back?"
網路上大家都在嘲諷她那明顯有價值的反應／她的反應有什麼意義，包括在降落後親吻地面，並表示她的感覺「與愛如此地緊密相連」。速食連鎖店溫蒂漢堡甚至貼文要求：「我們可以把她送回去嗎？」
Trolls have now taken aim at her world tour, which began in Mexico on 23 April, criticising her dance moves and performances.
如今，酸民們將矛頭指向她四月二十三日從墨西哥開始的世界巡迴演唱會，批評她的舞蹈動作和表演。
It seems the star who first broke through singing about a boyfriend's mood swings now faces an icy reception. Perry's blamed an "unhinged and unhealed" internet - but is toxic social media the only reason?
曾因演唱關於男友情緒起伏／性情反覆的歌曲而爆紅的明星，如今卻遭受冷淡的反應／冷嘲熱諷。佩芮將此歸咎於「精神錯亂且未被治癒的」網路世界，但這有害的社群媒體，真的是唯一原因？
'A pattern of failed reinvention'「失敗的重塑模式／一系列的轉型失敗」
The music writer Michael Cragg, author of Reach for the Stars, believes Perry's problem is that she's stuck between pop cultures and feels increasingly out of touch.
音樂評論家麥克．克雷格《追逐繁星》的作者，他認為佩芮的問題在於，她被困在流行文化之間，而且感覺越來越遙不可及／脫節。
"Her pop star persona was cemented in the 2010s as cartoon-y, fun and playful, all whipped cream bras and goofy videos where she wore oversized braces on her teeth," he says.
「她的流行歌手形象在2010年代被黏牢／定型成像卡通一樣、有趣和俏皮——所有的／包含鮮奶油胸罩、搞笑影片，其中她還曾在影片裡戴著超大牙套。」他說。
For a period this worked. Her second album Teenage Dream, which doubled down on Perry's staple cheeky, sexualised girl-next-door image, scored five Billboard number one singles to match a record set by Michael Jackson. Its follow-up, 2013's Prism, bore transatlantic smash single Roar (her fourth solo UK number one), as well as Dark Horse in the US (her ninth domestically). Perry hasn't topped charts under her own steam since.
有段時期，這確實有效。她的第二張專輯《花漾年華》，加倍努力／強化了佩芮的招牌——俏皮又性感的鄰家女孩形象，其中有五首歌曲獲得了美國告示牌冠軍單曲，追平了麥可．傑克森的紀錄。隨後，於2013年發行的專輯《超炫光》，孕育出橫跨大西洋/紅遍歐美的熱門單曲〈聽我吼〉(這是她第四首登上英國排行榜冠軍的個人單曲)，以及在美國走紅的〈黑馬〉(她在國內的第九首冠軍單曲)。自此之後，佩芮便未能憑藉自身力量，登上排行榜寶座。
"That was a long time ago in pop terms and it feels like she hasn't evolved," adds Cragg.
「以流行音樂的角度來看，那已是很久以前的事了，感覺她並沒有進化。」克雷格補充道。
In the past year, her comeback single Woman's World, touted as a female empowerment anthem, struck critics as lyrically shallow.
在過去的一年裡，她的回歸單曲〈女人世界〉被宣傳為一首女性賦權的頌歌，卻讓評論家們感到其歌詞缺乏深度。
Some fans also seemed unimpressed that it was produced by Dr. Luke, who previously faced sexual assault allegations from the singer Kesha. The producer denied the claims and the pair reached an agreement to settle a defamation lawsuit in 2023, but Perry remained tainted by association.
一些粉絲似乎對於這首歌由路克博士製作感到不以為然，路克博士之前曾面臨歌手凱莎性侵犯的指控。而製作人否認了這項指控，且兩人在2023年的毀謗訴訟中達成和解，但佩芮仍然因與他合作而遭受汙染／牽連。
The track failed to land in the top 50 in the US and only just managed in the UK, at 47. "Her sort of spiritual 'let love lead the way' messages she posts don't really hold sway with very online pop fans in the face of that decision," says Cragg.
這首歌未能進入美國告示牌前50名，在英國排行榜也只是勉強擠進第47名。 「面對這項決定（與路克博士合作的決定），她所發布的那種精神訊息／她在貼文中對大家精神喊話『讓愛引領方向』，並未能影響那些活躍於網路世界的流行樂迷。」克雷格說。
"The regressive girl boss feel of Woman's World, and then the album not being great hasn't helped," he adds, pointing to rapper Doja Cat's success working with Dr. Luke without the same negative response.
「〈女人世界〉裡女性領導退化／開倒車的氛圍，再加上專輯表現不佳，這一切對佩芮都沒有幫助。」他補充，指出饒舌歌手蜜桃貓朵佳與路克博士合作後，並未招致相同負面的回應，仍然取得成功。
It followed a pattern of failed reinvention attempts stretching back to 2017's Witness, where Perry attempted to launch her socially conscious "purposeful pop" era.
〈女人世界〉延續了一系列轉型失敗的嘗試，可追溯至 2017 年的《見證》，當時佩芮試圖開啟她具有社會意識的『有目的的流行音樂』時代。
But its Sia-written lead single Chained to the Rhythm, which boldly attacked mindless pop culture, appeared to be undermined by Bon Appetit, a song openly objectifying Perry as a sexual meal.
但在這張專輯中，由希雅創作的主打單曲〈鍊上節奏〉，以大膽的歌詞抨擊無腦的流行文化，卻因為〈用餐愉快〉這首歌公然將佩芮物化成性感餐點，而似乎被削弱了影響力/相互衝突。
The 'pop girlie' has changed 「流行少女」已經改變
Female pop stardom has shifted. Last year's biggest breakout music stars – Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX – were women joined by a thread of fierce self-assurance, underpinned by relatability and authenticity.
女性流行音樂的明星地位已經轉變。去年最成功爆紅的音樂明星們：查普．蘿恩、莎賓娜．卡本特、酷娃恰莉——是一群由高度自信的思維集結、並以親和力與真實性為基礎的女性／她們共同的特點是高度的自信，並且由親和力與真實性所強化。
In contrast, Perry wanted distance from her pop persona - as the headline for Cragg's 2017 Guardian interview with her put it: "I created this character called Katy Perry. I didn't want to be Katheryn Hudson. It was too scary."
相形之下，佩芮想與她的流行音樂形象保持距離——正如克雷格於2017年《衛報》採訪她所下的標題：「我創造了這個名為凱蒂．佩芮的角色，我並不想成為凱薩琳．哈德森。那太可怕！」
Perry's first hit I Kissed A Girl caused controversy for the fetishisation of lesbians even back in 2008 when it was released. But today Roan's had global success telling her genuine queer awakening.
即使回到2008年，佩芮的首支熱門歌曲〈我吻了一位女孩〉發行的時候，其就因物化女同性戀而引發爭議。然而如今，蘿恩透過分享自己真誠的酷兒覺醒，取得了全球性的成功。
"The flip flopping has jarred in an era where... very defined pop star personas are the ones cutting through," argues Cragg.
「身處在一個形象明確的流行音樂明星，才能脫穎而出的時代，反覆無常的行為顯得格格不入。」克雷格認為。
Perry's 2021-2023 playground-styled Las Vegas residency embraced her surreal, fantastical image to commercial and critical success.
佩芮於2021至2023年在拉斯維加斯的駐場演出，其遊樂場風格，擁抱了／充分展現她超現實、奇幻的形象，並獲得商業與評論上的成功。
But it's not translating to a new generation of fans. "I think ultimately people see her as a bit cringeworthy now," Cragg adds. "Being shot into space on a billionaire's jolly while everyone watches that on social media platforms interspersed with war and the climate crisis... just feels tonally not ideal," he says.
但這並沒有轉化給／成功吸引新一代的粉絲。「我想最終，大家會覺得她現在有點尷尬。」克雷格補充道。「當大家在社群媒體上觀看她在一個億萬富翁的派對上，被發射到外太空／這場億萬富翁歡快的太空之旅時，那些平台上同時散布著戰爭與氣候危機的內容，這樣的氛圍，感覺相當不協調。」他說。
Perry may have misjudged the public mood, but at the same time, the venom in the blowback points to deeper issues in pop culture beyond her control.
佩芮或許誤判了社會氛圍，但與此同時，這場反彈中的惡意，表明了在流行文化中有更深層的議題，而這些議題已超出她的掌控範圍。
There is no doubt that the social media landscape has become more frenzied in recent years, with stars like Roan speaking against toxic fandoms.
毫無疑問地，社群媒體的環境在最近幾年已變得更加狂熱，伴隨著像蘿恩這樣的明星發聲反對有害的粉絲文化。
Simon Diego, the creator of Brazil's Portal Katy Perry fan community, described the scale of the abuse towards the 40-year-old as "unbelievable".
賽門．迪亞哥，「凱蒂．佩芮的巴西之門」粉絲社群的創建者，形容針對這位四十歲人士的辱罵程度感到「難以置信！」。
The group showed their support by clubbing together with other fan pages to pay for a digital billboard message in New York's Times Square for 24 hours.
該組織展現了他們的支持，他們與其他的粉絲頁一同集資，在紐約時代廣場上投放二十四小時的數位看板訊息。
"We're so proud of you and your magical journey and we love you to the moon and back," it read.
「我們為你和你的奇妙旅程感到無比驕傲，我們愛你之深，遠至月亮，再返至地球。／愛你，直到世界盡頭。」看板上寫著。
"Know that you are safe, seen and celebrated. We'll see you around the world, this is just the beginning."
「你要知道，你是安全的、被看見的，並且被讚頌的。我們會在世界各地見到你，而這才剛剛開始。」
It was this that Perry replied to directly with her Piñata remark acknowledging the backlash.
佩芮直接回應了粉絲的支持，她以皮納塔言論回應外界的反對聲浪。
"I think Katy and many other celebrities are feeling unsafe in the one space that used to connect them to fans," Diego tells BBC News.
「我想凱蒂和許多其他名人，都在那個曾經讓他們與粉絲聯繫的唯一空間裡感到不安。」迪亞哥向英國廣播公司新聞表示。
He believes that's why Perry has never posted photos of her daughter's face online.
他認為，這就是佩芮從不在網路上發布女兒臉部照片的原因。
But even that boundary was ignored in the wake of the spaceflight criticism, as commenters began targeting her four-year-old child simply because "it's cool now", he says. "They don't understand how bad it could affect her."
但在太空飛行爭議之後，那條界限甚至被忽視了，評論者開始將目標指向她四歲的孩子，僅是因「現在這樣做很酷！」他說。「他們不明白這可能會對她造成多嚴重的影響。」
Others, like Marie Claire Australia editor Georgie McCourt, think pervasive misogyny plays a part.
其他人，如《美麗佳人》澳洲版的編輯喬治．麥考特，認為普遍的厭女情結起了一定的作用。
"There's a particular ire reserved for women like Perry: ambitious, unapologetic, hyper-visible," she wrote in a column, noting that male celebrities have already gone into space without such surveillant reaction.
「有一種特有的憤怒被保留給／專門針對像佩芮這樣的女性：野心勃勃、毫無歉意、引人高度注目。」她在專欄中提到，並指出男性名人早已進入外太空，卻未受到如此監視者反應／密切的關注。
So where next for Perry? Cragg says a hit single would help.
那麼，佩芮的下一步是什麼／該何去何從？克雷格認為，一首熱門單曲可能會有所幫助。
"I'm not saying it will return her to the commercial highs of old, because that ship has sailed for a lot of pre-streaming artists, but it will steady the ship."
「我並不是說這會讓她重回昔日的商業輝煌，因為對許多前串流媒體時代的藝人來說，船早已開走，但這會穩住船隻。／那段時光早已過去，但這能穩固她的事業。」
