Introduction Flashcards
What is Daniel Boorstin’s definition of celebrity?
“A person who is known for his well-knownness”
Celebrities are human pseudo-events, trivial and empty of meaning
What is Turner’s theory of the birth of celebrity?
A celebrity is born “when the media interest in their activities is transferred from their public role to their private lives”
What are Rojek’s three types of celebrity?
Ascribed - famous due to their lineage (Royalty)
Achieved - famous because of talent and skill (actors and musicians)
Attributed - famous simply by being famous (Kardashians)
What are some of the different approaches to celebrity?
1) Celebrity as part of a cultural change
2) Star theory
3) Media production and celebrity
4) Audiences and celebrity
What are some characteristics of the celebrity as a cultural change theory?
The assumption that success can come without work and that the celebrity gains instant gratification over any hard work. It assumes a golden age in the past and an erosion of boundaries occurs (e.g. through the celebritization of politics)
What are some characteristics of the celebrity as a populist democracy theory?
That it is a process of social levelling, it is an end point of democratization and development of capitalist market society, it enables the audiences themselves to select who their celebrities should be and fame is seen as part of the Western ideal of personal freedom
What did Rojek note about the decline of religion and magic in regards to the rise of the celebrity?
He noted that the decline of religions importance in society could be compared to the rise of the celebrity and the way that they were perceived to possess God-like qualities. Celebrity is a modern phenomenon associated with growth of democracy, the decline in organised religion and the secularisation of society
What are para-social attachments?
Horton and Wohl described para-social attachments as relationships formed between people who experience each other only through the mass media
What are some of the results of para-social attachments?
They create the illusion of face to face contact with the performer, learning about things that we would only know about close friends.
What is the star theory?
It is involved with the construction of star images through the media industries (mainly movie stars and TV personalities) , with the star’s role being speaking about what it means to be an individual,. The star represents more than him or herself
What does John Ellis distinguish the difference between?
He notes the difference between stars and TV personalities, using Barthes ‘photo effect’ to note the absence/presence paradox of stardom and the ordinary/extraordinary
What are some approaches of the media production and celebrity theory?
1) Organisational approach
2) Political economy approach
3) Post-structuralist approach
What are some characteristics of the organisational approach?
It studies how media professionals work, looking at the everyday shaping of celebrity in LA via participant observation, examination of documents, interviews etc. It might be a limited approach
What are some characteristics of the political economy approach?
It studies the economy in relation to political, social and cultural life. Celebrity is seen as a way of controlling risk, with the creation and maintenance of stars reducing uncertainty in media production, helping distinguish products from one another
What are some characteristics of the post-structuralist approach?
Celebrity is viewed as a set of discourses that regulate the relationships between what it means to be an individual and what it means to be part of a collective. Celebrities are representative embodiments of what it is to be an individual, and they can control the masses and chanel their emotional energies
