YMMV / Marina Diamandis

• Anvilicious: The more overtly political and feminist (see Broken Base below) songs on Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land got tagged this immediately.
  I just want a world where I can see the feminine.
  We only make up one quarter of the government.
• Broken Base:
  • Which music era is best. Many fans miss the themes and techno-pop influences of the "Electra Heart" album and were disappointed by how different her next album "Froot" was. Conversely, a lot of fans actually think "Froot" is her best album, praising its more mature, nuanced lyrics and cohesive, well-blended sound.
  • Whether Marina's work is feminist or not. On one hand, her music touches on a lot of issues that women face, and "Sex Yeah" is a blatant Take That! to objectification of women and gender roles (the "Sex" in the title referring to both meanings of the word: sexuality and gender). On the other hand, Marina has been seen by some as attempting to distance herself from that demographic ("Do you really want me to write a feminist anthem? I'm happy in the kitchen cooking dinner for my husband"), and some of her songs such as "Girls" and "Better Than That" (which specifically states "I'm not passing judgement on her sexual life/I'm passing judgement on the way she always stuck her knife") have faced accusations of Slut-Shaming, although their lyrics (especially "Girls") could be considered satirical as well. This has lead some to think that heralding her work as a feminist masterpiece is a serious case of Misaimed Fandom.
    • Marina is well aware of this debate, acknowledging as early as 2011 that she was uncomfortable singing "Girls" while in 2020 she resolved to only use women in the production of her next album. Said release, Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land, will likely put this debate to rest: Marina herself has described the album's "yearning for a focus on the feminine."
• Continuity Cameo:
  • "Better Than That", while most commonly interpreted as the rumour that Ellie Goulding had a fling with Marina's boyfriend, is also interpreted by fans as being a throwback to "Electra Heart", the title character of which acted very similarly to the promiscuous, deceitful back-stabber referred to in the song.
  • "To Be Human" is often interpreted as a Lighter and Softer follow-up to "Savages"; the latter song explores and criticises the darker side of humanity while the former is more a call for unity despite humanity's differences.
  • The second half of "Mowgli's Road"'s second verse ("Do you think you will be good enough to love others and to be loved?") is addressed in the corresponding section of "Life Is Strange" ("Is it ever gonna be enough to love another and be loved?"). Now that the subject has learned to open up and relate to others, what is the next step?
• Critical Dissonance: Electra Heart was her biggest commercial success and remains a fan favorite but is still her worst-reviewed album to date (which some fans would argue is a case of Took the Bad Film Seriously).
• Diagnosed by the Audience: The subject of "Primadonna" displays symptoms of Histrionic Personality Disorder - dramatic, attention seeking, wants the approval of others, etc.
• Fan Community Nickname: As explained on her MySpace: "I am Marina. You are The Diamonds."
• Fandom Rivalry: With Ellie Goulding's fandom, due to Goulding's Twitter posting of "NO ONE CARES" in a graphic style similar to Marina's Froot announcement, which cause the fandom to be enraged with her, even after she deleted it. It really doesn't help that many fans believe that "Better Than That" was about her, even with Marina's denial of the rumor.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • With Lana Del Rey. To the point on Tumblr users often associate them with each other. It also helps that they are good friends in real life too, to the point that Lana included Marina in Lust for Life among her team who helped produce her record, with Marina returning the favour in Love + Fear.
  • Melanie Martinez fans are becoming a part of the mix too. It helps many fans enjoy all three singers.
  • With Charli XCX fans ("Angels"), since they toured together and recorded a song together ("Just Desserts"), and both make electropop music with feminist themes.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Marina has commented that her fans in the UK took the "Electra Heart" album, and particularly its opening song, "Bubblegum Bitch" very seriously (and therefore totally misunderstood the theme of the album). In contrast, her American fans better understood the irony she wanted to get across. The fact that she's a Brit with a long-running fascination with USA's culture, especially the pop culture, probably has a lot to do with it.
• Growing the Beard: Arguably with Froot as it was her more nuanced and stylistically varied production to date - as well as an overall more contemplative and emotional tone contrasting with the more bluntly satirical The Family Jewels and Electra Heart. It becomes even more blatant with the highly stylized visuals seen so far in Love + Fear.
• LGBT Fanbase: Given her elaborate art/camp style and her pointed subversion of stereotypical gender tropes, it's not surprising she has grown a large international following.
• Memetic Mutation: At least in-fandom: "Oh my God, you look just like Shakira! No no, you're Catherine Zeta! Actually, my name's Marina."
  • Mediaphiles everywhere embraced "TV taught me how to feel/Now real life has no appeal".
• Misaimed Fandom: Electra Heart, and its titular character, are frequently misinterpreted as being played straight. In actuality, it is best described as a Deconstructive Parody of the kind of shallow self-absorbed person it portrays. Listening to all the songs in one go and paying close attention to even the more upbeat songs makes it clear Electra is a deeply depressed person who uses relationships, attention, and materialism to fill the void in her life. This is played for irony and subtle dark humor.
• Narm Charm: "Superstar" has saccharine, cliche lyrics about praising a connection with her partner- but something about it works, and combined with Marina's angelic voice, makes a heartwarming, catchy song that nicely contrasts with the dark, ironic "love" songs she's more well-known for.
• Never Live It Down: Marina was supposed to play at Lollapalooza Brazil in 2015, and last-minute plane problems cancelled the show. Parts of the fandom (which include people who went to the festival only for her, following huge expenses, and discovered of the cancellation already in the concert venue - mind you, the concert was scheduled for 20PM and some "Diamonds" were there by noon) didn't take it easily, and months later still complain on Marina's Facebook.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • The video from Mowgli's Road counts. Turns out Marina and her backup dancers are part-origami...
  • If one isn't expecting to see Marina completely decked up in black glitter in the video for "I Am Not A Robot", they might be a little startled when she opens her eyes and starts to sing.
    • "Fear and Loathing" ends with a faint spooky distorted recording of Marina's Grandmother singing a Greek folk song "“Ena Tragoudi Ap' T' Algeri" which can catch the listener off guard for the first time. However via fan interpretation that "Fear and Loathing" is Electra Heart's suicide note, it makes this part of the song a mixture of nightmare fuel and heartbreaking tearjerker as it is essentially Electra going back to a old childhood memory before she dies.
• Signature Song: "Primadonna" and "How To Be A Heartbreaker" were her biggest hits and remain her most casually-cited tracks, though "Hollywood" (for the memes), "Mowgli's Road" and "Froot" are also fan- favorites often based on what era they prefer.
• So Okay, It's Average: Love + Fear received this reaction from both the fanbase and critics.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
  • How some fans reacted to what a departure her third album Froot was from Electra Heart.
  • Some fans also reacted this after Marina changed her project name and released Love + Fear which continued with the musical departure set in place with Froot.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: Certainly not with her physical appearance, but her singing voice, however, has been described as rather androgynous.

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