Katy Perry‘s eleven minutes in space have been a cause for much conversation since the pop star’s launch aboard Jeff Bezos‘ Blue Origin New Shepard NS-31 spacecraft on April 14. This all-female tourist flight launched into space from a site in West Texas and safely landed via a parachute-assisted landing, with the rocket booster also returning to Texas.
The 6-person vessel, including Katy Perry, Gayle King, film producer Kerianne Flynne, Aisha Bowe of NASA, and civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, left the atmosphere and officially crossed the internationally recognized boundary for space over 62 miles above Earth’s surface. This celebrity-clad trip was a promotional flight for Blue Origin to showcase their New Shepard model and illustrate the future of space tourism.
It was just before Katy Perry’s Lifetimes tour that she was launched into space, and thus launched the online world’s hate campaign against her. Perry, specifically, has received a bounty of backlash on her space jaunt with publications criticizing her left and right, saying that this was completely unnecessary and untimely, especially in the scope of today’s economy. Some publications write that this trip was just a spectacle and an unrealistic glimpse at what the oligarchy can achieve on the backs of America. Other public figures note how untimely this flight was, and that it is even insensitive timing.
On a recent episode of Today With Jenna & Friends, actress Olivia Munn shared her thoughts on the space trip, lamenting, “there’s a lot of people who can’t even afford eggs,” and deemed the space trip gluttonous. Many others have also called upon the untimeliness of this feat, and critics also remark on the damage this incites regarding carbon dioxide production.
While Bezos boasts clean fuel powered by a mix of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that leaves no carbon emissions during flight, it is unlikely that these takeoffs are successful without real fuel. Environmental scientists are also pointing out the long-term impact these flights could have chipping away at the Ozone layer.
Perry remained the center of the critique on this trip, with many people questioning why she even went. When Perry returned to Earth, she kissed the ground and held up a daisy (for her daughter named Daisy) and said she had never felt so connected to love. Yet, instead of channeling the love Perry was feeling, people are poking fun at her and responding with ridicule.
People love to hate on a woman having fun and speaking her mind. This harsh commentary against her and the flight mates is so unnecessary and jaded. Yet, this hate has gained so much momentum as more publications and other public figures hop on the bandwagon, making harsh comments about Perry’s space trip, as well as criticizing her singing and dance moves on her current tour. Some haters comment that she didn’t even go to space and just left the atmosphere briefly. However, this is incorrect, as she crossed the boundary into space, called the Kármán line.
Katy Perry may have left the atmosphere, but she left no crumbs when she spoke out to stand up for herself and her space mates. In response to a fan post, she noted that the internet world can be an unhinged and unhealed place, which suggests that anyone’s problem with her might just be their own problem. She handled that in true queen fashion, but also very gently and respectfully, which is admirable since she’s always stood for love. In a recent Instagram post on her official page, Perry also wrote that she’s not perfect and that she has actually removed the word perfect from her vocabulary.
“When the ‘online’ world tries to make me a human Piñata, I take it with grace and send them love, cause I know so many people are hurting in so many ways and the internet is very much so a dumping ground for unhinged and unhealed,”
-Katy Perry in an instagram comment
This historical flight may have been untimely and capitalistic, but it certainly is a nod to human capability and long-time scientific treasures turned into successes. In addition, it brings inspiration to the younger generation, and Perry shared a beautiful and hopeful moment singing What a Wonderful World amid the short flight. Even though right now space travel is only accessible to the very top of the top 1%, even air travel was once too expensive for the public. While their trip on the New Shepard was brief, it was still a successful space trip that shows people it’s possible on a larger scale. The passengers expressed nothing but love and gratitude upon their return, which the world could use a little bit of right now.
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