Rockstars take note: last week two moments in pop culture said a lot about the way society thinks about you.

First, Ali Zafar brought the house down with his cheeky song 'Rockstar' on Coke Studio.

The song, an original composition written by Ali himself, pokes fun at how we stereotype rockstars by adopting the persona of cliched pop celebrity: someone who we like to believe parties all night, falls endlessly in love, wears dark glasses indoors — the works. It goes:

"Kaali kaali rato main kalay chashmay pehan ke aata ho/In the dark of the night, I walk in wearing sunglasses... Ulte seedhay ganay gata hoon/I sing random, nonsensical songs... I'm a superstar, mujhe roze hota hai pyaar/ I fall in love every day."

Ali admits the song is a parody: "When it came to the lyrics, I knew I didn't want to write cliched lyrics about "a" girl. I thought why not [write about] girls and why not [write] about my life and how I feel in general. And then I thought, I dare not take myself seriously, so why not parody my own self. I think sometimes we all need to relax and not take ourselves too seriously."

He also admits that he doesn't quite know what a 'rockstar lifestyle' is, and that his own life is probably quite dissimilar to what people might consider common for a celebrity musician.

"My life is a mixture of various lifestyles," he says. "I have to wear different hats in a day and I like to do justice to each one of them. I want to be the best dad, the best husband, the best son and the best role model, but I also like my freedom and my time to write and create."

While 'Rockstar' may be Ali's self-parody, the song reflects prevalent societal attitudes towards rockstars and musicians in general.

It brought to mind a commercial that aired last week, which highlighted the worryingly common perception that music men (and women, we presume), are the stuff of parental nightmares. Featuring Mikaal Zulfiqar as a spirited punk rocker performing onstage, the ad pans over to his parents who look horrified, and then ask, "Yeh hamara hee beta hai?"

The ad prompted music buffs to jump to the rockstar's defense:

The ad makes one wonder whether the joke is on the parents for buying into the outdated notion that musicians are lazy or unreliable, or the rockstar, for being socially unacceptable because of his profession.

"I was very upset with the commercial," shared Yasir Jaswal, who was associated with bands like Irtash and Call.

"It's not just that they picked up the musician stereotype — everyone uses stereotypes because it's just an easy way to connect a question with an answer — but for a brand like Ufone to take a hit on music, which they've repeatedly used to sell their services is surprising. How one dresses or their choice of music is an individual's personal choice; you can't be calling people out on personal choices that don't affect anyone else. Besides, in Pakistan, even our rockers don't dress the way it was shown in the ad."

Ultimately, one has to ask some questions, like, why do we love to hate rockstars, and, isn't it about time we stopped?

Music is a notoriously hard field to pursue in Pakistan.

Dwindling concert culture, a heavy reliance on corporate sponsorship and copyright issues combine with the above societal judgment to proscribe entry into the field. Even Fawad Khan needed more than EP to keep him going! Musicians usually have to dabble in many crafts besides in order to cobble together a sustainable life, and it's worth remembering that those who 'make it' have made it against all of these odds.

Can local brands, the media and musicians' families stick to celebrating our rockstars rather than tearing down their profession of choice?

Only time will tell.