Blog Assignment 1: Dissecting Popular Celebrity
Posted: August 30, 2010 at 8:00 am | Tags: Celebrity
The readings for today get at the heart of the course aims. O’Shaugnessy & Stadler provide a theoretical framework for understanding the star system. Collins explains the impact of reality TV on celebrity politics. Ellcessor shifts the analysis from reality tv to social media. As you take notes toward your first graded post on your individual blogs, pay attention to following concepts:
From O’Shaugnessy & Stadler:
Cult of celebrity
Star v. Celebrity
The “discursive” vs, “market” constructions of celebrity
The three ways stars operate in the media industry: 1) financial commodities 2) texts/image; and 3) embodiment of sociological/ideological values
Primary v. secondary circulation (types of publicity)
Identification
Fandom
Interpellation
Effect of technology
From Collins:
Reality TV as the performance of the “everyday”
Democratization of celebrity
Economic function of “disposable” celebrity
The paradox of more celebrity (p. 95)
Deficit financing
Authenticity
Three things that the power of a star/celebrity depends on: 1) visibility; 2) spectacle; 3) image
From Ellcessor:
Asymmetrical nature of Twitter
Intimacy potential for fans (including beyond traditional celebrity)
Social capital
Prompt for your first assigned Pop Academy post: Consider your own love/hate relationship with celebrity. Since we all have different tastes regarding popular culture, some of us may love particular actors or directors. Others admire sports figures, politicians, musicians, bloggers, reporters and so on. I’m sure I’ve left a category out. Feel free to add to my list. However, some of us may actually despise particular famous people or celebrity in general. If so, I’m not sure you’re in the right class. Still, this may provide you a good critical eye to discuss topics this term. Pick a particular celebrity in one of the aforementioned fields (or choose your own if it’s not listed). In about 375 words explain the public persona of your celebrity. How do the key terms from the readings come into play? For example, is your chosen person a star or a celebrity? What types of financial and cultural commodities surround your person? What ideological values do they employ? What image do they construct/is constructed for them? In your experience, how are fans interpellated into the discourse of this persona? How has reality TV and/or social media (i.e. democratized media forms) impacted image construction and fan identification? I know these are lots of questions that you may not be able to fit complete answers to in a single post. As such, give me your most articulate, thoughtful, grammatically correct shot at least one or two of these questions, where you ACTIVELY connect to concepts in the readings. Answer the remainder of questions, and of course pose your own, on Twitter and in class. Don’t forget to use #comm326 in your course-related tweets. (Original post due by the beginning of class Sept. 1 with comments to others’ blogs due Sept. 6.)
Dr. Stern
The Discussion
see what everyone is saying
Marshall Mathers a.k.a. Eminem is a man with a deeply trouble past that he uses to connect with his audience in a stocking way through his music and public persona. Eminem’s music tells a very dark story but in a somewhat comical way, rather then a gangster, through his use of background effects and wordplay. However true this may be the fact is he is truly a cold-hearted hateful person with no room for humor, as can be seen in his interviews and public appearances. He is one the celebrities that has crossed from stardom into true celebrity status. O’Shaugnessy & Stadler state that a star is characterized by an individuals personal achievement, for Eminem this cannot be more obvious provided that the individual has some basic knowledge of the rapper’s offensive and obscene lyrics he resonates in his songs. His background consists of being raised in a father-less home with his mother who had a lack of parenting skills and an abusive drug habit, but it is his triumph over these circumstances that have brought him into the star spotlight. It is what he has done since his first LP was released that brought Em into the celebrity status he has achieved today. This could not be proven more with the release of his newest appearance in funny people soon after his release from rehab. In the pop-culture world Eminem has become a very vibrant person for the media, one who’s public and private life have now attracted the attention of millions as his celebrity status only grows (O’Shaugnessy & Stadler). Eminem has reached this status because of what Collins refers to as the audiences is “interpellated” into “a discourse of care” as they engage in the commodification of Eminem. In Em’s case the audience is interpellated through his lyrics and music because of the ability for some to relate to his message. Which establishes the “discourse of care” because they are now sharing emotions with the rapper. This would not be possible without the industry’s commodification of the rapper by selling Eminem to the public through the social media outlets, such as iTunes, MTV, and another outlets of the industry. The accomplishment of this comes through his record sales, memorabilia, and public appearances that construct the man which are aimed at the fan’s ability to identify with Eminem’s hard, tough lifestyle. All of this is what Ellcessor defines as the audience’s ability to create intimacy with the rapper even though they may not know him on a personal level. This is the goal of the agencies in control of a celebrity’s image and the better this goal is achieved the more successful the “job” was completed.