What we learn from Beyonce-inspired series ‘Swarm’ on toxic stan culture

Amazon’s comedy horror series Swarm gruesomely satirizes the darker depths of stan culture. But the same thread of rabid loyalty in the show is not far off reality. “This is not a work of fiction.” “Any similarity to actual persons living or dead, or actual events is intentional.” As it says at the displayed viewer’s discretion before each episode begins.

IMDb | Swarm

What we learn from Beyonce-inspired series ‘Swarm’ on toxic stan culture

Swarm creates a lot of buzz for its intended audience, the internet. Dre (Dominique Fishback), an obsessed fan goes on a murderous rampage in the name of pop star Ni’Jah and avenges her dead adoptive sister Marissa (Chloe Bailey).

It is no denying that Ni’Jah is Beyonce’s TV tether and has a ton of not-so-subtle references to her many iconic pop culture moments. It covers almost everything — from her controversial 2016 album Lemonade, her husband’s alleged affair to “Becky with the good hair,” and the infamous elevator scruffle of Jay-Z and sister Solange.

The series does not shy away from spoofing the “Who bit Beyonce?” media frenzy in 2018. Dre, star-struck by meeting her hero, unconsciously bit her face instead of fruit at an after-party. Similarly, the Hive and the onscreen “killer bees” immediately launch a witch hunt. Nicole Curran, the wife of Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob receives death threats from hives for simply leaning over her to talk to Jay-Z at courtside.

IMDb | Swarm

Co-created by Atlanta’s Donald Glover and Janine Nabers, Swarm veers in the same direction of surrealism to critique the stan culture and parasocial relationships, which sometimes take a dark turn.

Being a stan is a badge of honor for fan cliques of public figures — Rihanna’s Navy, Mariah Carey’s Lambily (Lambs), and Phoebe Bridgers’ Pharbz. For those unfamiliar, stan refers to an overzealous or obsessive fan of a particular celebrity, according to Oxford American Dictionary. It traces the term’s origin to the fictional death of a fan in Eminem’s 2000 single.

Swarm is “not a work of fiction”

Swarm is all littered with Beyonce-isms. But the dangerous passion of the ‘killer bees’ was likened to “the Barbz,” the devoted fanbase of rapper-singer Nicki Minaj, according to some Twitter users. Of course, minus the bloodshed.

swarm was never about the barbz… it was about the beyhive. pic.twitter.com/OyIFaSZ504
— welp. (@YSLONIKA) May 7, 2023

Swarm should have been about the Barbz
— IS THERE A BUDGET? (@goldenpolaroid) March 27, 2023

But this designation was not conjured out of thin air; their previous ‘doxxing’ — releasing private information is partly to blame.

Minaj herself, in 2021, outed the names, contact details, and messages of two journalists investigating her infamous and now-deleted tweet on the COVID-19 vaccine claim. The Daily Mail and Trinidad’s Guardian Media Limited reporters receive spam calls and death threats from Minaj’s absolute ride-or-dies.

Another incident also arose in 2022, when YouTuber Kimberly Nicole Foster sued Barbz for threatening to kill and rape her after leaving a banal tweet about the rapper. It escalated quickly when one of the Barbz sent screenshots of her kids and said they would be “collateral damage.”

To be fair, this vitriol among fans is not exclusive to Barbz and the Hives. “Swifties,” Taylor Swift fans also dox Pitchfork’s senior editor Jillian Mapes for giving the singer’s album, Folklore, an 8/10 rating. Mapes receives angry messages on social media and Swifties tweets her address, phone number, and images of her home.

Unfortunately, the stan war on social media does not end with someone logging out of their account. Some fans feel that they owe their idols more than a tweet. The episode “Taste” starts with Dre breaking into someone’s home and eventually killing the man. It later reveals that he wrote a disparaging tweet about how Ni’Jah could not keep a man. Does this ring a bell?

AMAZON PRIME VIDEO | Swarm

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During her violent spree, Dre asks her many preys, “Who’s your favorite artist?” — is a hit from home as an unsupervised child on the internet. “How many Grammys has Lil Gibble won?” is hilarious and frighteningly accurate. It’s stan jargon at best, boasting about their artists’ stream numbers, awards, and appearances.

A look inside parasocial relationships

Shira Gabriel, a psychology professor at the University of Buffalo, illustrates to the Insider the murky line between a celebrity fan and being in a parasocial relationship. In which a person has a one-sided imaginary connection with a public figure.

It heavily involves a degree of emotional involvement. For example, you feel proud of their success and feel defensive when someone hurts them. Other behaviors include showing interest in their personal affairs, envisioning meeting and conversing with them, and writing letters or journals specifically for them.

Parasocial relationships often have a negative connotation online. But it can also help to provide comfort and companionship, which explains its increase during the pandemic, says Sally Theran, an associate professor of psychology at Wellesley College. Gabriel also agrees that one can find solace in parasocial relationships. For instance, the LGBTQIA+ community has gay icons like Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue, Beyonce, Janet Jackson, and more.

Parasocial relationship rarely becomes harmful

Also, this type of relationship does not need a lot of effort and, especially, voids the threat of rejection. Dre had an unforgiving childhood. She survives the foster system, her adoptive parents shun her away, Marissa, the only person who loves her, dies, and others treat her like an outcast while growing up. Her grief overlaps with Ni’Jah – who’s Marissa and Dre’s only shared interest. This might explain how the pop star’s face ultimately becomes her sister.

YOUTUBE | Swarm trailer

Theran says a parasocial connection rarely becomes harmful, and underlying mental health is at fault, not the personal relationship itself. Numerous harrowing incidents have occurred where mega-fans have inflicted harm on their beloved celebrity. The likes of late singer Christina Grimmie, whose murderer displayed an “unrealistic infatuation,” similar to the cases of John Lennon and Gianni Versace.

Swarm, sadly, lines up with Glover’s line of problematic representation of Black women on the small screen. Also, the plot about Beyonce’s miscarriage, in which Dre dances to the pole, is in poor taste. The limited series is not the female rage icon or representation of black serial killers” that Nabers desires. On its own, wanting to live up trendy serial killer game is appalling.