Joshua Gamson and Fame

Joshua Gamson (1994) ‘The Celebrity Text’ in Claims to Fame

‘In the old days, fame was a result of achievement. After a body of work,
performing artists acquired a certain status, which was the natural consequence
of accumulated excellence. This inspired others to follow in their
footsteps, to work just as hard to emulate those successes. Today, in this
streamlined age of labor-saving devices, we know there are quicker methods with
which to achieve notoriety. With the refinements of hype, the ultimate
20th Century invention, it is now possible to purchase fame through media
manipulation, to acquire it by dogged self-promotion or simply by association.'

(Charles Marowitz ‘The Angel of Publicity’)

The growth of PR affected the idea of celebrity in three ways:
1. Garnering and shaping attention became more difficult as markets became more niche.
2. News-media has become increasingly dependent on celebrities as the entertainment
section has grown.
3. Visual technologies have increased and emerged allowing for more coverage.

Early celebrity based magazines began to need more stars to focus upon to fill up inches, so ‘expanded the concept of a star’.

Building a star is costly and not everyone can make it. Many stars/celebrities are not only useful for selling and business but also as a business themselves, made for selling. Celebrities have become merchandise, inventory, property, products and commodities, while their fans become markets.

The role of the agent had also changed as they don’t just nurture celebrities, they mould them to fit a particular niche or market.

The publicist is god in the world of the star; the better the publicist, the more famous the star becomes. They can teach the star to be readable and human during interviews allowing the viewer to see behind the veneer of the camera and see the real person being interviewed as vulnerable and normal.

This vulnerable appearance can also be seen in comic articles and sketches where the celebrity allows themselves to be the centre of many jokes. ‘You can have your cake and eat it, too. You can wallow in all the marvelous successes of modern-day American life and at the same time be superior to it because you’re mocking it at the same time that you indulge in it’.

So, in reality, what we really see when stars appear in the media is a cleverly crafted media text, that shows the star in the way their publicist wants them to be viewed. Everything is relative and predicted to show a certain message.

Consumer Culture

There’s a huge number of media texts, especially in today’s society which exemplify consumer culture; but the particular media text I’ve chosen is Vogue Magazine.

The magazine was created in 1892 by Arthur Baldwin Turnure and was picked up by Conde Nast Publications shortly after his death. It’s published in 19 different countries and in my eyes epitomizes consumer culture.

The New York Times once described the magazine as;

‘Vogue is to our era what the idea of God was, in Voltaire’s famous parlance, to his: if it didn’t exist, we would have to invent it. Revered for its editorial excellence and its visual panache, the magazine has long functioned as a bible for anyone worshiping at the altar of luxury, celebrity and style. And while we perhaps take for granted the extent to which this trinity dominates consumer culture today, Vogue’s role in catalyzing its rise to pre-eminence cannot be underestimated.’

Vogue is famous for being the ‘fashion bible’ so it’s far to say the majority of its consumer culture comes from the fashion industry. For the elite fashionistas; if it’s in Vogue they have to own it. Vogue is the magazine responsible for enshrining the supermodel as a celebrity. Everything about the magazine oozes glamour and sophistication; so it’s no surprise that most budding fashion journalists see a job at Vogue as their dream job.

Another way in which the magazine has added to consumer culture is through works about the magazine itself. In 2009 The September Issue a documentary about behind the scenes at Vogue was released on DVD adding merchandise to the list of things the magazine endorses. The novel The Devil Wears Prada is also said to based on Vogue magazine and the events taking place in the offices of Vogue; as it was written by Anna Wintour’s one-time assistant Lauren Weisburger and the story details the struggle of an assistant working for a power-hungry magazine editor. The novel was made into a movie starring Anne Hathaway and once again added to the consumer culture of fashion magazines.

So, Vogue Magazine is everything consumer culture hopes to be: the magazine itself is subject to consumer culture through other media texts and inside the magazine’s pages, consumer culture is in operation as its readers feel the need to wear the latest fashion and be seen at the latest hotspots.

Su Holmes and Celebrity

Su Holmes (2006) ‘Understanding Celebrity Culture’ in Framing Celebrity: New Directions in Celebrity Culture

‘I want to be a celebrity. I want to be loved. I want the glitz, the glamour, the sparkle and the essential glow. I want the red carpet treatment. I want VIP champagne parties. I want TV chat show hosts to fawn over me. I want to be harassed and harangued by the tabloid press. I want to be on the cover of Hello magazine. I want fame. I want celebrification.’

This is how Holme’s co-editor introduces the concept of fame. It’s the thing that most people desire for but only a few have. If you’re not one of the few famous people, you’re part of the legions of fans that celebrate the famous.

Stars and celebrities can be seen as filling in for real friends, as the obsession grows, bordering on the brink on Fandom. Fans feel they are getting unrestricted access when they see their favourite star in ‘normal’ clothes or without make-up. It proves to them their idol is real.

Reality TV has heralded the new type of celebrity; ‘the epitome of the fabricated celebrity’ or the bottom level ‘regularly replenished’ celebrity. They appear in the press regularly, but due to the fickle nature of fame, are easy to forget. It can be said that success depends upon national and international appeal; ‘cultish’ capital and the market value of said person’s fame. Economic ‘worth’ is of the highest value for potential visibility.

Dyer (1986) believes stars, ‘articulate what it means to ‘be human’ in capitalist society, dramatizing ‘ideas of personhood, in large measure shoring up the notion of the individual but also at time registering the doubts and anxieties attendant on it’. In other words, stars can be said to help answer life’s questions.

The problem with today’s celebrity is that as notoriety because more and more associated with celebrity, the currency of celebrity is devalued in the public discourse. Whilst many still adore celebrities, others see it as a phase.

Celebrities can be described as, ‘overtly public individuals’ who are permitted to ‘move on the stage while the rest of us watch’ (Marshall 1997), but it is still a very ambiguous term, as when our views on celebrities change, so do the definitions.

It’s far to say that the idea of celebrity is a complex one, with all forms of media claiming they created celebrities and turn people into celebrities. All that is for sure is that the idea of celebrity will never disappear and with the increase in user generated content, personally I don’t think it will be long before we’re all celebrities of some description.

Fandom Lecture

Here's the notes i took from our online Fandom lecture


Pathologised fandom – fans seen as dysfunctional – something wrong with them mentally.

How are fans seen in my eyes:
Obsessive
Conventions
Violent football fan
Screaming teenage girls
Geeks
Male Star Trek fan

Geeky male fan – lack of masculinity
Football fan – excessive masculity

Fans – knowledgable audiences as they organise themselves

Fans active – tend to have large online presence – creative with media texts – actively discuss fan objects

Do we discourage or celebrate fans

Cult Fans and Mainstream Audiences
Cult – find niche media texts – tend to become experts as not many people research into it

Mainstream media fandom – men or women
Twihards
Gleeks

Fan Community
Acceptance
Friendship
New public spheres for discussion
Also have higherarchial structures – based on extent of knowledge (fan cultural capital) – connections to industry or industry (fan social capital)
Offer space for fans to articulate identities
Affection and knowledge

Justification of fandom

Most fans are not just in one fandom or do not stay in one fandom for life (cycles of fandom) – challenges devotion idea – links to idea of process of discovery.



Fans are often presumed to be deficient in some way - the fandom is seen as some kind of replacement for "real" human relationships and preoccupations

so that's why we get anti-fans? Coz people who don't understand think there's something wrong with fans

Fans can sometimes become quite obsessive and behave in strange ways. people are scared of what they dont understand and thats why they react so negativley sometimes

Fandom = religion?

Fans and Non-Fans – are you a non-fan because you don’t attend conventions or buy the clothes – maybe in the eyes of fanzines.

So how can we see stereotypes of male and female fans in relation to dominant ideas of masculinity and femininity?
They replicate
women tend to become stereotypically followers, and men aim to become leaders. t's all the horrible stereotypes put into practice.
female fans are looking for the hero - men are wanting to be the hero
Charlotte: I guess stereotypes are all about making something complex and diverse very simplistic - but they may be accurate for some people in some ways

both sexes go weak at the knees for their heroes... grown men cry at football... i think both sexes become passive when they have to follow the object of their fandom

it’s hard to be rational about something you’re emotionally attached to

Online forums allow for people to show their emotions as there identities can be hidden – it’s like a dirty little secret.

It’s ok to be subjective in ethnography of fandoms – as reflecting on your own experiences and subjectivity may show how the research will be affected – but you wouldn’t really want to research a fandom unless you like it

Mainstream fandom is often linked to girls


Shipping
Supporting fictional romance relationships

I think everyone gets involved in shipping when you watch a film or tv programme – because it’s a point of discussion – will they won’t they etc.

Fan Fiction and Fan Videos – change the story so that they’re favourite characters get together eg Harry and Hermionie – Ned’s Declassified
Slash Fiction – imagining two straight characters becoming couples in media texts – eg Harry and Draco

Both seen as ways of reading against the grain as fans try to exploit any suggestions in text of putting their couple together.

Can challenge dominant ideologies of text and channel unseen ideologies

EG. Twilight – fan boards all showed shipping as being central – so shipping can be one of staple pleasures in Twilight – offers pleasures of fantasy and escapism, investing emotionally in the media text. Twilight is an extreme because of the Team Edward, Team Jacob usage – fan practice of shipping travels across national borders.

Ideology and Cultural Identities
Jacob and Edward slash shipping – but most seen in Twilight support dominant ideologies of sexuality – shipping showed heterosexual desire in setting of an community – ideologies of gender through characters – some challenged dominant ideologies (were these anti-fans or did they just want to change subject to gender power).

Audience Power
Critiques of characters in love triangles etc – use of text twisting and analysing reading against the grain

Fans show their power over the text as they oppose some of the ideas – could even re-write and give texts to other fans. Most fans do accept the preferred reading – but Twilight saga is open to interpretation.

Why do fans ship?
Happy Ending
Fulfill a fantasy
Creativity
Escapism
Experimenting with sex and sexuality

Who Time

YEP i've changed my mind on my research report - instead of looking at Heat magazine i'm going to look at Doctor Who fandom instead - let's be honest it sounds a lot more interesting and so far it is.

I've got to watch Doctor Who episodes all in the name of research and trawl through numbers of Doctor Who fan forums - i'm even planning a trip to the Who Shop in London.

It all just amazes me the amount of time and thought people put into their posts and theories they come up with about the show - the photoshopped avatars and backgrounds are brilliant too - it makes me wish i was a photoshop whizz!

There's an awful lot that i've learnt so far about fandom, especially in terms of what defines fandom along with info about Doctor Who - so he's a little list of what each book i've looked at so far has taught me - it's a bit long but there's a lot of literature around these two subjects:

Doctor Who Books and Journals Quotes


Bacon-Smith.C (1992), Enterprising Women, University of Pennsylvania Press; Philadelphia.

Fans never prosecuted for their use of characters – no one to prosecute and fandom doesn’t create much profit if any. Plus fandoms show appreciation for the producer’s work.

Conventions used to be where fans met, now it’s online

Fanzines use each other to climb up fan hierarchy. Many joined Doctor Who Fan Club of America purely for it’s BBC links. Knowledge is power.

Fanzines have influence of studios and producers

‘Mobile Geography’ = worldwide conventions.

Hammond, M and Mazdon, L (2005) The Contemporary Television Series, Edinburgh University Press; Edinburgh.

It’s difficult to define cult television as a distinctive genre; it’s better though of as a range of texts that typically fall into genres such as fantasy/horror/science fiction/comedy, and which share qualities such as creating detailed, expansive diegetic worlds as well as displaying endlessly deferred narrative.

Doctor Who marked by sustained enigma as has ongoing or unresolved mysteries about the characters, character relationships or aspects created in their worlds.

Jones (2002) ‘Paradoxically, the repetitive structures of cult television series and the repetitive viewing practices of fans facilitate the series’ lack of closure. The repetition of the already-known releases fans from the thrall of casuality….. The predictability of the cult series decisively relocates the pleasure of viewing, shifting it away from the anticipation of major story events and towards the always-unfolding and unforecloseable how of the metatext.

Tertiary texts - fan produced (fan fic or fanzines)




Muir, J (1999) A Critical History of Doctor Who on Television; McFarland; North Carolina.

5 categories of Doctor Who websites for fans:
1. Service and merchandise oriented
2. Devoted to the series as a whole
3. Devoted to one particular character or actor
4. Fan Fiction – ‘Warm Gallifreyen Nights’, ‘Splink’
5. Downloadable content.

‘Doctor Who’s legacy is not what it will bring to audiences in the future, but what its 26 years on the air have already bought. Doctor Who offered intelligent television science fiction in the early 60’s, when such a thing was rare. Its impact on later programs, particularly Star Trek: The Next generation, was significant. It is the longest-running sci-fi television show in history, and it has been seen all over the world’.

Premiered on British TV on 23rd November 1963. ceased regular production in 1989 after 26 year son the air. Largest viewing audience 14.5 million in UK.

‘Doctor Who’s historical position is an important distinction in the universe of visual science fiction imaginings. It is an oft-repeated American pop-culture myth, perpetuated now for over 30 years, that Star Trek was the first science fiction television series to probe continuing characters, adult genre principles and futuristic philosophies in serious terms. This is a singular honour. However, history records that Doctor who was seriously investigating continuing characters, cosmic turbulence, otherwordly societies and moral dilemmas of all varieties while in America Star Trek was an embryonic glimmer in Gene Roddenberry’s eye’.

‘Succinctly put, Doctor Who began exploring outer space and the darkest corners of time before every sci-fi production familiar to Generation X was conceived. Accordingly, many revolutionary aspects of Doctor Who serials, such as time travel ‘law’ non-humanoid aliens, alternate dimensions and living machines, had never before been envisioned for the masses, even though today’s viewers re so familiar with these inventions that they are considered cliches’.


Ross, S (2008) Beyond The Box; Blackwell; Oxford.

Fans can affect the programme content through their online discussions and theories e.g. lesbian tension between Xena and Gabrielle. Producers have details in episodes that are homages to fans – some producers visit online forums.

Mary Sue writing – Larbalestier (2002) – when an author writes him/her self into the world of the show and in theory de-thrones the main star – happened in Buffy with ‘Jonathon’ – Mary Sue’s are always clever and brave – wish fulfilment of authors.

Matt Hills (2002) ‘endlessly deferred narrative’ of cult texts leads to fans building communities and taking ideas outside the realms of the plot.

Philippe le Guern (2004) cult texts produce communities that maintain enthusiasm for endangered shows through rituals of performance rooted in demonstrating mastery of a show’s encyclopedic knowledge-base.

Marienne Cantwell (2004) – fan knowledge is rewarded within the show and within fan communities. Online fandom resolves around knowledge – knowledge is power.

Janet Stauger (2000) – many people use internet for fandom because of it’s anonymity and because it can be their guilty pleasure.

Philippe Le Guern (2004) – Fans seen as having low cultural taste – they feel underappreciated. Us vs them rhetoric as many fans were teased for being fans to turned to the internet. Some have pride in fandom as they continue to watch despite disparagement from others.

Many fans feel the need to defend their texts in why they like them. The defences quite often include sex and love possibly to draw in others.

John Mepham – ‘ A quality television show aims to provide diversity, to tell stories that are usable within the larger culture and to tell the truth about some elements of culture or society.

Fandom Hierarchies – based around knowledge and participation – the more often and faster you could post – the more respect you earned. New members often have to ‘prove’ their devotion to the show.

Fiske (1987) – stories that are producerly – stories that engender among viewers a sense that they can contribute to their meanings and trajectories – inspire a loyalty that many cultures tend to dismiss as excessive.

Fandom is…… a spectrum of practices engaged in to develop a sense of personal control or influence over the object of fandom in response to subordinated social status (Harris 1998).

Or, as a newsgroup put it: ‘We are the people – We have the Internet – We have the power – Any questions?’ (Wen 1999)


Perryman, N (2009) Doctor Who and the convergence of the media In Cultural Theory and Popular Culture; Pearson; Essex.

Doctor Who is prime example of transmedia storytelling – could explain it’s large fandom base – as very easy to be interactive with.

Transmedia of Doctor Who made it easy for fans to get involved.

Brooker (2004) ‘The experience of following a favourite Tv show has already changed for many viewers. The structures are there to enable an immersive, participatory engagement with the programme that crosses multiple media platforms and invites active contribution; not only from fans, who after all have been engaged in participatory culture around their favoured texts for decades, but also as part of the regular, ‘mainstream’ viewing experience’.

Transmedia – ‘news levels of insight and an experience that refreshes the franchise and sustains consumer loyalty’.

What is the Cultural Significance of 'Heat Magazine'?

I'm going to write my media culture report about 'Heat' Magazine, primarily focusing upon gender representation.



I intend to look at how both women and men are portrayed in the magazine and how this effects each gender repectively.



I believe i'll find that men are seen as sex symbols and the reasons behind women's problems; whereas women are seen purely asthetically and that their appearance is everything.



Folowing a report released this month by Dr Linda Papadopoulos, claiming that magazines are responsable for the sexualisation of young people; i'm considering at looking at the importance of sex in the gender representations: through photoshoots; comments about appearance and mainly through my virtual ethnography of 'Heat World' the magazines accompanyign website.



Reading List:

# Asa Berger, A (???) Seeing Is Belieivng: An Introduction to Visual Communication, 2nd ed , Mayfield Publishing Company, London
# Barlow, D and Mills, B (2009), Reading Media Theory; Pearson Education Limited; Essex
# Franklin, B (2005) McJournalism, Journalism: Critical Issues; Open University Press; England
# Hartley, J (2006) Communication, Cultural and Media Studies; The Key Concepts; 3rd ed, Routledge, Oxon
# Hicks, S (2008) Gender Role Models... who needs 'em; Qualitative Social Work: 7; 43
# Krais, B (2006) Gender, Sociological Theory and Bourdieu's Sociology of Practice; Theory Culture 23; 119
# Richardson, D (2007), Patterned Fluidities: (Re)Imagining the Relationship between Gender and Sexuality; Soiology; 41; pp457
# Selzer, A (2010), 'The Aftermath of feminism: gender, culture and social change' by Angela McRobbie, Gender and Education, 22: 1

Hypermodernity/Supermodernity

Key Features
This cultural theory is described as being so modern, that it changes the way we look at everything else, both in the future and historical. Historical artefacts are seen as being acquired in a ‘lesser’ time; therefore they clutter up today’s culture.

Hypermodernity is said to reflect an intensification of modernity. Characteristics of Hypermodernity include: a deep faith in humanity's ability to understand, control, and manipulate every aspect of human experience. This can be seen in the commitment to science and knowledge; resulting in an emphasis on the value of technology as a tool to overcome limitations; as technology is worth more today than it was during Postmodernity. Our knowledge has grown because of it.

Other features of Hypermodernity are: a commitment to reason and the ability to improve individual choice and freedom, through a view of plausible truths. This is supposed to result in expanding wealth, better living standards and medical advances etc.

Key Theorists
# Gilles Lipovetsky
# E, Etzioni-Halevy
# Marc Auge
# Sébastien Charles

Reading List
# S. Charles and G. Lipovetsky, (2006) Hypermodern Times, Polity Press.
# S. Charles, (2007) Hypermodern Explained to Children, Liber, (in French).
# S. Gottschalk, (2009) Hypermodern Consumption and Megalomania: Superlatives in commercials; Journal of Consumer Culture.; 9: 307-327
# M. Auge (translated by J.Howe)(1995).– Non-Places: An Introduction To An Anthropology of Supermodernity ; London
# E. Etzioni-Halevy,(1998) The new theories of postmodernity and hypermodernity : Social/ideological context and implications for inequality; International Journal of Contemporary Sociology; vol 35, no2, pp 189 – 207; Joensuu University Press, Finland

How could I apply this to my Research?
As I am studying Heat Magazine for my research project; I would focus upon this part of hypermodernity;

‘a deep faith in humanity's ability to understand, control,and manipulate every aspect of human experience’

The magazine producer’s understand their readership, so know what to print in order to manipulate them into buying the magazine and treating it like their own Bible. An example of this is seen in the issue of weight; Heat Magazine know their readers care about their weight so by constantly featuring stories regarding celebrity’ weight and ‘how to lose weight like this celebrity did’; they know the reader will buy the magazine.

Manipulation of human experience can be seen in the subliminal messages of the magazine and with the constant emphasis on celebrity and how we should all aspire to be like these celebrities.

Finally, when I complete my virtual ethnography, I will be following the hypermodernity idea of the importance of technology.