At the castle of the Star Academybenevolence, advocated by production as a cardinal value of the show, was very well assimilated by teachers and students. Much less by their fans, on networks. Senomial, harassment, conspiracy, insults and, worse, toxic behavior to save “his” candidate saved the canvas during this season 12, which ends this Saturday evening.
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A few hours before closing the doors of the castle of the Star Academy Symbolizing the coming end of season 12, the association SOS Racisme announced on Wednesday evening filed on Wednesday evening with the public prosecutor of the Paris court concerning the racist attacks suffered by Ebony, finalist of the program. The 20 -year -old young woman, from Guadeloupe, talented in singing as in dance, is the most telling case of the drifts that accompany the dissemination of the cult program of TF1. But not the only one, far from it. The majority of students were the victim, during the program, of denigration campaigns, mockery and insulting messages from the followers of the program on social networks. The supports of candidates, organized in “teams”, compete on the web like digital armies to try to save their favorite pupil, even if it means harming others.
We can thus read, dragging on these platforms, that marine [l’autre finaliste, ndlr] is a “Manipulator and calculator” and that“A crying girl does not have her shoulders for the world of music, so it’s time to eliminate her”. That Ulysse, 24 years old and left the castle on January 4, is a “Guignol” “Drawing and bland”. That Marguerite, also 24, is “A ugly that will win” car “She’s pistonnated”. That Maureen was “Protected by the prod who wanted us to believe that it was a potential semi-finalist when it is slammed”. That Ebony, “Pretentious”, “Ugly and without aura”is also “Pistonnée by his father who pays the prod and the public”.
When she jumps around her daddy who came to surprise her to share a song with her on a bonus, these same accounts broadcast incestuous implications. When Paul, 23, decides to assume his tastes by dressing a fur coat and thigh boots for the first assessments of the season, we can read in Facebook groups that he is “A shame for France” or that it is “A horror. He says he is straight, I pity his girlfriend ”. The moderation team of one of these Facebook groups bringing together tens of thousands of viewers of the program told us that they have to do a moderation work “day and night” To try to keep the discussion spaces clean.
Behaviors opposite the values conveyed by the students at the castle
From the first days of life in common at the Château de Dammarie-les-Lys and like last season, Michael Goldman, who camps the role of director of the academy, gathered all the students in the living room to make them pass a message cohesion. The idea was to say: even if you are in competition, show team spirit, support yourself and show benevolence towards each other. A “troop” atmosphere, sought after by the production of the program, which makes the particularity of this reality TV that has become family – it has not always been – and not like the others, very often articulated around clashs more or less scripted .
This benevolence guideline has, this year again, was well assimilated by the residents of the castle: a student who returns from an evaluation or whose service we debrief are always congratulated or comforted by the group, we are delighted with the success of others, We encourage themselves in periods of doubt or fatigue. And if real moments of discord exist, as in any group that coexists in a house, the angles are quickly rounded by discussions posed showing a sometimes stunning relational maturity for the average age of candidates. The teachers convey these same values by being constructive in their criticisms and by multiplying, in particular via the scenic expression coach Marlène Schaff, the messages of self -acceptance with these young artists regularly in crisis of confidence and legitimacy.
-Identify with a candidate, a risk to know how to manage
But then how do viewers, however daily witnesses of this spirit of tolerance infused by the program, manage to adopt behaviors opposite the values carried by the program and the students they like to follow?
“When we identify with a candidate, we get attached to him, we love him and we want to defend him against others who, on the contrary, annoy us or find less good”poses clinical psychologist Amélie Boukhobza. “There is something personal that sets out, the candidate becomes almost an extension of himself.” Exchanges that Konbini was able to have with several people actively involved in the support of a student on the networks have indeed shown us the importance of the feeling of belonging induced by being part of a “team” which defends the interests of A candidate. It is also common to read or hear “If my favorite leaves, I stop looking”as if the person was eliminated from the program at the same time as the candidate he supports.
This excessive identification, combined with the power that viewers have to decide on the fate of candidates in the show by voting and influencing the vote of others, leads to some to the overflows mentioned earlier.
“A drive gear”
The role of algorithms in the proliferation of these toxic behaviors, which have always existed but are increasingly visible, is also decisive. These algorithms, notably that of X/Twitter and even more since its acquisition by Elon Musk, highlight the outrageous contents because they make react more, and tighten our positions by enclosing us in bubbles where everyone thinks like us. “This creates a group effect because we feel validated by the others”explains psychologist Amélie Boukhobza. “The more violent it is, the more it buzze, so it decomplex. Speeches, sometimes reinforced by anonymity that unleashes, are radical. We are taken in a drive gear and we no longer think of the consequences that words can have on these young people when they leave the show. ”
TF1 has several times broadcast prevention messages in this sense and some of the students already eliminated have entrusted their indignation by discovering the treatment reserved online to some of their comrades. The program’s final, between Ebony and Marine, is to follow this Saturday evening from 9:10 p.m.
