Sugar and the Problem of Influence Peddling
The moral case for understanding how people use their influence.
We all want to have some kind of influence over other people.
It feels good when you say something and they agree. Particularly if they didn't agree with you before you said whatever it is. Knowing that you changed someone's opinion of you or another thing. Such as a political opinion or even just the idea of what you want to buy. There are any number of ways in which people try to influence others to the point that whole businesses exist for the sole purpose of getting you to change your mind about a thing. Maybe the most recent of these businesses is what's known as an influencer. Someone who's entire job is to make it seem like a product they're using will make you feel better if you're sick or get the life you always wanted. In order to do this, they try to portray themselves as having the perfect life. A life you can look up to as aspirational.
Of course, the people who tend to have the most influence are women. They tend to cross so many different boundaries. Men want to be with them and women want to be like them, for the most part anyway. Little girls can look up to them and little boys can put posters up on their walls about them. This is what used to be seen as celebrity culture but brought down to the ordinary person in some way. You can have this life too, if only you try hard enough. The problem is that being an influencer gives you something people can want from you. Men in particular can try to influence the influencers into doing what they want and pushing their own idea of what the perfect life looks like. Up to the point of criminal activity so they can bring these influencers into line.
Which makes being an influencer dangerous. Not only because your life can be in danger from these criminals, but also from the people you're trying to influence. If they discover that the life the influencer has isn't as glamorous as it appears on social media, this can be just as devastating. Being brought into the life can make you quickly learn this fact and the problems of such a life. Once you're in though, it's very hard to get out. People have expectations of you and have invested a lot of time, energy and sometimes money in you. How do you find your way out?
Sugar is very much about the life of an influencer and the dangers that exist there. Chloe Belle, as played fantastically by Katherine McNamara, is living the life of an influencer. She gets into clubs before anyone else, receives upgrades to hotel rooms and cruises just by telling people she can boost their businesses. All of these things seem really great to someone like Melanie, played beautifully by Jasmine Sky Sarin, who is drawn into the life by a chance encounter with Chloe. Everything seems to be going perfectly and the world feels like it's opening up before her. In part because Chloe does her best to keep the more underhanded parts of it away.
At least until she can no longer hide any of it and Melanie learns the truth. Leading them both down a very dangerous path. All because they have influence over other people.
Do yourself a favour and explore the dangerous life of influence peddling by watching Sugar as soon as you can.
Sugar is currently available on Amazon.