How To Create a Tween Sensation

Demi Lovato is Disney's newest tween sweetheart. In this recent New York Times profile, they lay out the standard explanation for her success:

Now she’s the headliner, her warp-speed climb to the top of kid pop — by way of albums, TV films and her sitcom, “Sonny With a Chance“ — a testament not only to her indefatigable energy and legitimate talent, but also to the vitality and efficiency of the Disney star-making machine, which cultivates young talent across media platforms.

While noting Disney's strong grasp on the tween market, they fail to provide an explanation of how Disney effortlessly creates legitimate pop princesses. In the past decade, they have crafted the persona and facilitated the rise of Hilary Duff, Miley Cyrus, Lindsay Lohan, Ashley Tisdale, Vanessa Ann Hudgens, Selena Gomez, and now Demi Lovato. I'll add Taylor Swift because she fits the pattern as well.

Not surprisingly, each girl is very attractive and young. Yet, it's often stated that a tween artist can only attain fame if she easily relates to her audience. The relevant market for these acts is normal girls from ages 9 to 12. This period of adolescence is filled with emotional, social, and physical turmoil. How can an extremely attractive, popular pop star be palatable to a general audience of young girls struggling with all sorts of confidence issues and social problems?

Disney uses this fact to brand their acts. Disney provides a launching platform for each act, usually a show or movie. Each production is centered on the potential star, with a set of middle America parents, two (multicultural) best friends, and an antagonist or two at school. For example, Hilary Duff starred in Lizzie McGuire with Jewish and Mexican best friends, an annoying younger brother, an unrequited love, and a queen bee at school who constantly teased her. Anything sound familiar?

To the average tween girl, that's life. A prepubescent girl deals with not fitting in, feeling self-conscious about body image, and maneuvering new social structures. So Disney concocts shows where each episode deals with a familiar problem: your best friend didn't come to your aid, the boy you like likes someone else, you didn't get a good grade, or you're self-conscious about some uncool talent. Yet unlike the average tween, these very attractive stars should not confront the same issues. After all, they're beautiful, confident, and everyone seems to love them. The fact that a beautiful girl faces the same challenges (in the imaginary show) makes the tween girl feel better about their latest disappointment. If everyone failed a test, including that brilliant Asian kid in the front row, then why wallow in misery?

Disney formulates narratives for Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato much in the same way educational romantics treat Einstein. By framing adolescent problems so that even the coolest and best-looking girls go through it, Disney creates beautiful, talented and ACCESSIBLE stars.

Note: I didn't detail how each girl's platform put her in these positions so I'll provide one example. Taylor Swift's most recent song complains about a guy only seeing her as a friend. In fact, this her second song to deal with this issue. But, come on.