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.

Postmodernism

This weeks reading is by Mr Dick Hebdige and is entitled, 'Postmodernism and 'The Other Side'. I did find this reading a little bit baffling at times; as i just couldn't see what he was trying to conclude: one minute i thought he found Postmodernism to be a bad thing and the next it seemed like he was a fan.



Main Points

• Many things are referred to as being Postmodern: it's a bit of a buzzword
• Post can be different in different national contexts e.g UK vs USA and London ICA vs Gallic anti-populism of Lyotard
• Postmodernism can fracture through negotiation and be seen as a form of change
• There are 3 negotiations of postmodernism: Against Totalisation; Against Teleology and Against Utopia
• Against Totalisation - the abandonment of universal change; rejection of Marxism. Growth of 'representation' and 'ideology'?
• Against Teleology - use value is completely absorbed into exchange value - knowledge is more important than production.
• Against Utopia - close to 'anti-teleology'; there is no perfect state of being. the sublime is beyond our grasp.
• Gramsci focuses upon the multiple axis' of power and the popular. Importance of ideology and articulated speech.

Method

• There isn't a clear pinpointed method; but Hebdige has built upon other theorist' work and drawn his own conclusions; particularly based around Gramsci.

Conclusions

• Postmodernity is good in some ways as it tends to get rid of Marxism; but the ideas of the lack of Utopia; show postmodernity to be depressing and worse than modernity.
  

My Opinion

• I found the extract to be a little confusing. I like the idea of Marxism and classes being irrelevant in the Post but I don’t believe this will ever happen
• I agree that Utopia is near impossible to achieve and that we are fooling ourselves by believing in it, but am unsure of what was meant by Against Totalisation

Quotes

• 'Postmodernity is modernity with out the hopes and dreams which made modernity bearable'.
• ‘No one owns an ideology because ideologies are themselves in process: in a state of constant formation and reformation’.
• ‘hegemony is a precarious, ‘moving equilibrium’ achieved through the orchestration of conflicting and competing forces by more or less unstable, more or less temporary alliances of class fractions’.
  

Stuart Hall: Deconstructing 'The Popular'

Main topic and issue

• This extract focuses upon actually defining what popular cultre means by looking at the many definitions for both words.
• The reading also looks at periodisation and movements, throughout time such as the emergence of the popular press.

Main Points

• Reformation and transformation changes people: therefore it changes culture
• Revolutions and Capitalism along with the emergence of the popular press; influenced popular culture
• There are many definitions of the terms 'popular' and 'culture'. All are correct in their own way, but it is difficult to pinpoint one definition which sums up 'Popular Culture'.
• There are many different categories to 'culture'; it's always moving and always changing
• Culture = struggle: mainly class struggle, resulting in resistance (mabye even anarchy?)
• 'Tradition' is difficult to have in 'culture' as everything is constantly changing and the meanings of signs and words always change.

Methodology

• Not really mentioned - but i might suggest a form of historiograpghy as Hall discusses different eras and cultre then.

Conclusions

• 'Popular Culture' matters as it is where the struggle for and against the powerful takes place. 'It is the arena of consent and resistance'.
• 'Popular Culture' constitutes socialism and secures hegemony.
• Without 'Popular Culture' the mass would be living in a state of 'false consciousness' or does popular culture really create this?

My Opinion

• In some senses i agree with Hall, especially with the fact that 'Popular Culture' is very hard to define. However, i still don't understand whether 'Popular Culture' is a good or a bad thing: people enjoy 'Popular Culture' but is it just really being used to oppress the masses further.
• It is true that we think of things as either being a cultural object or being uncultural; there's a definate blank space inbetween which many things fit into; like Hall's example of the 'Daily Mirror' - it's not working class; but it's not fleet street level, so where does it fit in?
• Personally, i feel that 'popular Culture' and 'Culture' in general is a very complicated chasm, which once opened and the further and further you dig the more complicated it gets!

Useful Quotes

• 'The study of 'Popular Culture' keeps shifting between these two, quite unacceptable, poles: pure 'autonomy' or total 'encapsulation'.'
• 'Actually it recognises that almost all cultural forms will be contradictory in this sense, composed of antagnostic and unstable elements. The meaning of a cultural form and it's place or position in the cultural field is not inscribed inside it's form. Nor is its position fixed once and forever'.
• 'There is a continuous and necessary uneven and unequal struggle, by the dominant culture, constantly to disorganise and reorganise popular culture; to enclose and confine its definitions and forms within a more inclusive range of dominant forms. There are points of resistance; there are also moments of supersession. This is the dialectic of cultural struggle.'

Week 3: The Frankfurt School

This week in Media Culture, we looked at The Frankfurt School: a ‘school of thought’, comprising of individuals connected to the Frankfurt University.

The main theorists we looked at were: Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer and Jurgen Habermas.

My task for this week is to construct a Frankfurt School critique of a culture industry.

The industry I’ve chosen is that of online celebrity gossip such as: Perez Hilton, Mr Paparazzi and TMZ.

This industry would be a concern to the Frankfurt School as it epitomises all of
their shared concerns for society and culture:

• Mass Production - most of the stories featured are reproduced; mainly as they're all from the same sources and the sites tend to copy off one another. As Horkheimer would say it has 'the same stamp on everything'.
• Culture Industry - this form of 'culture' is very negative to the Frankfurt School.
• Mass Oppression - the position of those featured in these websites is a frequent reminder of our positions in the superstructure and how they will not change. The mass production of the stories also supports this and highlights this fact even more. To readers the view is that only the elite are allowed to appear on these websites.

Online celebrity gossip websites do not contain the social needs which Habermas states are importnat to a cultural society. These are aesthetic, theraputic and explicative discourses: that focus upon the importance of the curator and critic; self knowledge and the use of language. The language used in the gossip websites is very informal; with many posts simply being a question and a large image or video. Not that cultrual if you ask me.

These online gossip websites are extremely standardised in their relationship to the industry; as they form the basis for many celebrity magazines and all place high importance on embaressing images of celebrities and scandals. The style of the websites is that of a tabloid newspaper.

Pseudo Individualization is also apparent in these celebrity gossip websites; as they all attempt to be individual; whilst they try to make there readers forget that what they are reading they have read before. Perez Hilton does this by grafitting the images on his website; TMZ create their own videos and Mr Paparazzi man uses his own 'Paps'. However, this still does not take away from the fact that what we are reading is regurgitated.

The Leavis' and The Canon - my interpretation

This week in Media Culture; we studied F.R and Queenie Leavis; looking in some detail at The Canon.

The Canon was created to contain a list of 'authoritative' examples of work and authors; which contained Universal Values which were shared and upheld in society.

In class we came up with lists and films and bands which we thought the Leavis' would choose to be in The Canon; which made me realise how difficult it is to choose a 'sweetness and light' text and to put your own opinion to the back of your mind.

So, my task for this week was to attempt to write a Leavis style analysis of a media text; similar to what would have been seen in 'Scrutiny'.

The media text I am going to scrutinize is.............'The Sun' newspaper.

The Sun newspaper is a disgrace to modern journalism. All it is concerned about is Sex, Celebrity and Sport. Politics is rarely featured (unless a politician is involved in a sex scandal) and finding a business story is like finding a needle in a haystack.

The average reader of 'The Sun' is part of the Populace, who likes nothing more than to shout, swear and drink: therefore it's not surprising that this newspaper is known for it's Page 3 girls and has a reading level of an 11 year old.

The style of 'The Sun' is all about the images and not about the text; the only text they place importance on is the headlines; as they try and fail to make them as witty as possible.

All in all, this newspaper is a disgrace and has no cultural importance to it. Culture to 'The Sun' is a high class Porno!

Matthew Arnold (Culture and Anarchy) claims that culture, ‘has one great passion, the passion for sweetness and light’ and ‘the passion for making them prevail’. Culture is ‘the best that is though or said’. When this is achieved the whole of society is in the fullest measure of real thought, real beauty, real sweetness and real light. Speaking of classes Arnold says culture:

‘seeks to do away with classes; to make the best that has been thought
and known in the world current everywhere; to make all men live in an atmosphere of sweetness and light, where they may use ideas, as it uses them itself, freely – nourished and not bound by them’.

Based on Arnold’s distinctions; I’ve found it really hard to try and find a media text I thought epitomised ‘sweetness and light’ as everyone’s idea of what contains ‘sweetness and light’ differs not only based on their culture but based on personal opinion.

After much deliberation; I believe that Slumdog Millionaire is a media text that contains, ‘sweetness and light’. My reasons for this: the film shows that anything is possible if you put your mind to it; it doesn’t focus upon class – it may focus upon a young boy’s struggle, but the ending is a traditional happy ending. Another way in which the film contains ‘sweetness and light’ is because it allows for insight (for me) into another’s culture and it made me appreciate the things I have in my life more.

The film shows real thought in it’s scripting and the way every answer to the ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ leads to a story. Real beauty is seen through the backdrop of the film, but mainly through the love story and how Jamel will do anything to find Latika. Finally real sweetness and light are seen in the feel-good feeling or atmosphere the film ends with, making it the best that is thought or said.

My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding

I wouldn't say that the 'Gypsy/Traveller's' culture was a part of my culture but i really fancied watching 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' on Channel 4 this week just to gain a bit of an insight. By the looks of things i wasn't the only one as 4.5million people watched the programme.

I have to say my eyes have been well and truly opened to aspects of the Gypsy/Traveller's culture and to be completely honest, i think we could all take notes form them: the children don't drink, smoke or do drugs and they do not have sex before marriage. These rules are actually stuck to, which really surprises me.

There may be aspects of their culture that i find wierd such as the young ages at which they marry, but it seems to work for them and as divorce is not accepted in their culture; the couples have to work at their marriages and aren't able to take the easy way other through divorce; like people who i'd associate with my culture do.

The only thing i can't quite put my finger on and fully except is the style of clothing the young girls wore and the reason's behind it. I know certain meet-ups were used for the girls to find suitors; but i suppose that not to dress in very little is something so heavily embedded in my family culture; that i will find it hard to accept.

However, i do feel like i'm starting to realise what culture is and how accepting other cultures and embracing aspects of other people's cultures may improve my own.

Culture according to F.R.Leavis and Raymond Williams

Raymond Williams describes culture as ‘one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language’. I have to admit it agree. I asked my mum and my boyfriend what they thought culture meant; to which my mum replied, ‘I suppose culture is described by what you believe in and the things/hobbies you do’ and my boyfriend replied, ‘I’d say it’s something people want to have. You associate culture with rich people; art, books, theatre’. This led to a great discussion about the classes and turned into a bit of a Marxism rant!

However, Richard Williams does give a good description of culture in Keywords by splitting it into three categories: ‘Ideal’ which is ‘the best that is thought or said’; ‘Documentary’ which responds to ‘how we live or have lived’ and ‘Social’ which is described as ‘the stuff that surrounds us’. Knowing this description helped me to better understand the F.R.Leavis reading, ‘Mass Civilisation and Minority Culture’.

One of the clear messages I got from this reading was similar to that of Matthew Arnold’s ‘Culture and Anarchy’: class is everything and class is minority keeping. Whether culture is trying to do away with classes to create an atmosphere of sweetness or light or whether by splitting the population into Barbarians, Philistines and Populace, culture is really highlighting the class differences: a person’s class is important to a person’s culture.

So to F.R.Leavis himself; who seems to look in detail at language and culture through literature. Firstly Leavis states that he believes culture to be in a crisis. I got the impression he blames Americanisation for this. Leavis looks at how Americanisation has impacted on films; taking a very negative look in my eyes; suggesting that Americanisation has led to the dumbing-down of films and literature and therefore the lowering on culture.

Leavis states how because the variety and number of types of literature has increased since Wordsworth’s time; meaning one has to be especially gifted or favoured, before he begins to discriminate. I understood this to mean that nowadays in order to discriminate against another’s culture; you yourself must be of a high class or of a high culture. This maybe harder to achieve nowadays if high culture is becoming harder to find or attain.

‘High-Brow’ is also touched upon by Leavis and I have to admit this term confuses me as I always though high culture and high-brow were more or less the same thing. In the reading high-brow is said to cut off the minority from the powers of the world as never before: once again the idea of class is being thrown back into the works.

The conclusion is simply, that culture is in trouble. Mass culture will not save the culture we are losing. Modern life and Americanisation seem to be the reasons for the loss of culture. Add the importance of class into this and the ever widening boundaries between classes and culture really is in trouble.

First Film Review of the Blog - Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

The cinema was packed when i went to see this film and rightly so; it was brilliant! I wasn't really expecting a lot from the film, so i was surprised at how good it was! I enjoyed everything about the film: the storyline, the actors, the special effects, it was all just spot on.


Brief synopsis: Percy Jackson is a normal schoolboy; little does he know he's the son of the Greek God Poseidon - making him a Demi-God. The trouble all begins when Percy is accused of stealing Zeus's lightning bolt so he's shipped off to Camp Half Blood, where he learns to fight and enhance powers he earnt from his father, like healing in the water. Percy and his friends Grover (a satyr) and Annabeth (another demi-god) set out on a quest to prove Percy's innocence by visiting Hades, but its not that simple they must find three pearls to be able to leave Hades's lair. Throw in beasts, Medusa and the Lotus Casino and it's one hell of a quest!

Who's in the film: Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Uma Therman, Steve Coogan, Logan Lerman, Kevin McKidd and Catherine Keener.

In a strange way, Percy Jackson was quite an education film; Greek Gods who are not so well known were featured plus characters such as fates, centaurs and hell hounds. I liked the idea of the Gods pyshically being on Earth in human form before returning to Olympus and i thought the size of the Gods when on Olympus was also quite a clever idea.

The only bad points of the film were the predictability of Hades's wife and the amount of time the big names were actually in the film for.

Great film to take the kids to or a great form of escapism for those of us who need it !

A Media Text that I believe describes 'My Culture'

I have to admit, i found it quite hard to think of one media text which sums up 'my culture'; as i'm not part of an outside of University club, i don't part-take in any Sports teams: my life kind of revolves around University, Work, the Cinema and Restaurants. But i think my favourite film may just do the trick........

....... I have chosen 'Confessions of a Shop-o-holic' as the media text which sums up 'my culture'.

This media text appeals to me and can be seen as part of 'my culture' as i felt i could relate to many aspects of the main character 'Rebecca's' personality and life.

Rebecca is a young female redhead: as am i and we are both Journalists. In the film Rebecca treats her current job as a stepping stone to the job which she really wants. In the same way i think of uni as a stepping stone to starting my career as a Broadcast Journalist.

Family and career are of high importance to 'Rebecca'; as they are to me and 'Rebecca' has high aspirations to climb the social and professional ladder; so she can afford all the things she craves; I also have aspirtaions to climb the social and professional ladder.

All my friends and family know me as a fan of shopping and i have been labelled as a shop-o-holic many times. In a strange way i feel that shopping is part of my culture as i grew up going shopping frequently with my Mum and still do today.

Finally, the fact that 'Confessions of a Shop-o-holic' is a film can be seen as part of my culture as i go to the cinema with my boyfirend every week; sometimes more than once a week! Watching films is something i really enjoy; mainly for the idea of escapism.

So... i see the film version of 'Confessions of a Shop-o-holic' as a part of 'my culture'; because i believe aspects of my life and myself can be mirrored with the characters and storylines in the film.