Pop Crush: Katy Perry

I have a confession to make.

I am a closeted Katy Perry fan.

Well, closeted no more, I guess. In real life (IRL as Katy’s younger fans would write), I’ve made it known to friends that I like her music, but I’m positive I haven’t written about it here (or anywhere) before. Look, I don’t own any of her albums. I would, I just stopped buying music ages ago (too much of my disposable income goes towards books and movies). I never really seek out her music, although writing this has inspired me to dip into her Spotify channel. But when a Katy Perry jam comes on, I genuinely dig it (especially the early to mid-career songs). I love “Teenage Dream,” “Hot ‘n’ Cold,” “Roar,” “California Gurls,” and “The One That Got Away.”

I loathe celebrity gossip or keeping up with pop stars’ antics or personal lives, so none of my Katy Perry love comes from that place. I couldn’t care less what she does in her spare time. I equally loathe music journalism, so I don’t read articles about her or interviews with her because, again, I don’t care.

What I do care about is when Katy Perry is performing—for the camera and for live audiences. She’s a regular spitfire—or, a “Firework,” if you will—and, for a time at least, truly one of the great pop stars of the last twenty years. Some would disagree with that assessment, but to me it’s indisputable. Her best albums are packed with absurdly catchy hits, and she performs the hell out of them. Her 2015 Super Bowl halftime show was full of Paul Lynde-level variety show goofiness, and I loved every second of it.

As much of a stretch as that Paul Lynde comparison might be, therein lies the appeal: Katy Perry is kind of a goofball. She’s been called the Queen of Camp, and if you know my love for things like Showgirls, Elvira, and the Batman TV series, to name just a few, then you know I adore good camp. So, Katy’s camp stylings are right down my alley. She doesn’t seem to take herself too seriously. Maybe she does, behind the scenes, but outwardly, at least, she seems to have a good laugh at herself from time to time. Her appearances on SNL, Nickelodeon, and The Simpsons are good examples of this. Katy seems like a good sport. I mean, she shoots fireworks and whip cream from her breasts in music videos, for goodness sake!

I may be in the minority here, but I find Katy Perry’s willingness to be goofy endearingly sexy. Her pop star persona was built on that campy-meets-sexy foundation. I know she’s done plenty of “serious” music (and of course plenty of admirable support to charities and feminist causes), but what first caught my eye about her was that sense of mischief. She’s a scamp, and a sexy one at that. She has fun with her style and fashion, too. Her ability to rock Bettie Page bangs better than anyone I’ve seen in ages is impressive.

I was weened on pop music as a kid, so even though I turned into a full-blown (punk) rock snob by college, I’ve always had a soft spot for great, hooky pop songs. These days I listen to as much pop as I do rock. Katy Perry’s brand of pop just makes me happy. She’s produced a lot of earworm songs since she stopped making Christian music (for real) and transitioned into being the sexy-silly Queen of Camp.

One more reason to love Katy Perry: it’s never been particularly cool to love her. Music snobs love to scoff at pop music fans. They denigrated Wham!, for goodness sake, and history has clearly shown that to be an outright crime against humanity—George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley forever! Those gatekeepers miss out on what’s really cool in life with attitudes like that. I like spitting in the face of that sort of snobbery, anyway—I guess that’s the crusty old Gen X punk in me. So I’m here to say I dig Katy Perry, the Pop Star, and don’t care who knows it.