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.)

Finally, keep in mind that sometimes we get so wrapped up in the “how to” that we can forget the “why” component of a project. Once you figure out your personal preferences and comfort levels with Twitter tools, shortcuts and applications, I do hope you’ll realize the potential Twitter has for enhancing our course experience. Ditto for the blogs, but that’s for next week. Happy tweeting of paper topics this weekend.

The readings for today introduce us to important definitions in the critical and cultural studies traditions. I outline my thoughts on some of them here. While this is not a graded individual blog post, the questions I pose here (as in future posts that review readings) are not simply rhetorical. I’d like for you think about them and offer a comment (on this blog, not your own). I don’t object to you discussing on your own blogs (for that counts toward overall participation, too), I simply encourage you to comment here toward a group conversation. Additionally, these questions are intended as prompts for in class and Twitter discussion.

From Danesi:

The phrase “pop culture” surfaced in the United States in the 1950s. The post-war and baby boom era brought unprecedented buying power, especially to the new class of “teenagers.”

It’s important to understand culture historically and subjectively, also known as cultural relativism. This means we have to work hard to not morally or even aesthetically judge forms of pop culture by current standards. This doesn’t mean we can’t form and share opinions, just that the practice of cultural critique involves analyzing culture on “its own terms” (p. 3).

Scholars and fans alike have contested the distinctions of high, mid and low categories of popular culture. The examples Danesi shares in Table 1.1 on page 6 identify Mozart and Frontline (a PBS program) as high culture, while PBS is listed  as mid along with Oprah. Finally, American Idol and Budweiser are included as examples of low culture. What do you make of these placements? Are they arbitrary or do they make sense based on your understanding of high/mid/lo culture choices? What institutions and/or types of people impact what becomes hi, mid or low?

On page 25, Negroponte’s definition of convergence culture is included as an example of how media, technology and cultural forms are becoming intertwined and, I argue, indistinguishable, if we combine this with McLuhan’s symbolic artifacts (where culture, society and science are conflated). Your reading uses the jukebox and the automobile as prime examples of convergent, symbolic artifacts. What examples exist today? (Hint: this is a prime example of how to engage popular culture via Twitter! Perhaps, tweet your ideas? #justsaying)

The article also discusses entertainment spectacles. What are prime spectacles in popular culture we currently consume? How have they changed from previous eras that Danesi outlines?

From Martin:

The concept of power is crucial in critically analyzing popular culture. Everyday life may feel as it moves along naturally, put our actions and experiences are very much tied to politics and people/institutions in power (p. 13). This doesn’t just mean economic power but also cultural power and identity politics. Her argument, grounded in Marx and Gramsci (which we discuss soon), encourages an understanding of structures and policies that organize and command our lives and choices, but also that we interrogate how we operate within, around (or perhaps beyond) these rules and forces.

From Storey:

Our textbook author summarizes key terms such as Marxism, hegemony, ideology and articulation toward emphasizing the political nature of culture. If you don’t grasp what these ideas mean, ask here, as they are foundational to critical theory. In fact, rather than me regurgitating the definitions here why don’t you attempt commenting your interpretations of one of the above four terms?

This brief multimedia mashup from Amplify Me is helpful as we begin discussing definitions and implications of popular culture.  As you read and take notes from the Danesi article, keep the following terms and concepts in mind :

Cultural relativism

Culture hierarchy

Convergence culture

Symbolic artifacts

Spectacle

Welcome to Pop Academy!

You can browse the syllabus and assignment rubrics by clicking on the Course Documents page above. I suggest reading through the syllabus carefully since it contains all the major assignment descriptions. You’ll also want to click on the Twitter Toolkit page and read the brief articles about Twitter, as well as click on the various links about getting familiar with and using Twitter. If you’re feeling ambitious, click on the Blog Instructions page for information about setting up your blog. FYI, at the toolbar atop this home page you should see a Sign Up tab. We’ll discuss this info in class too, but the guides are good preparation.

I realize I’m asking lots of you during the first week, so please please please make sure you’ve read the brief articles about Twitter for the first day so we’re all on the same page. We won’t need Blackboard expect to for grades, readings and the shared Google docs that will contain all of our Twitter names and blog URLs. Please do visit the Blackboard site soon and add your Twitter name and blog URL to the Google Document I’ve shared in the “Course Information” tab. Later I’ll create another shared document assigning you to specific final project topics. We’ll do everything else on the blogs (and in class of course).

An alternative to individually following your classmates is follow the Twitter list I created for the class: comm326. As you all begin following @popacademy I’ll add you to the list. You can then click “follow this list” from my profile page. Similarly, if you use a client like TweetDeck or HootSuite, you can add a search column for #comm326. You can also create a saved #comm326 search on your Twitter home page. While this class is HIGHLY social, if you’d like a less shared medium to express your thoughts about the course, I created a Blackboard forum where you can post anonymously.