Mest 4; Essay Plan

INTRODUCTION

My Independent study is focused on celebrity obsession. I will be investigating on the influences, status and power of celebrities, on Fans, audience and society. My research will be focused on the three platforms E-media, Print and Broadcast showing how media texts represent celebrities and society obsession of celebrities. I will be looking closely as whether institutions create celebrity obsession or if the celebrities gain status and power to create their own image will discuss theories such as postmodernism, uses and gratifications theory to support my investigation. (Ml, I ,I)

Celebrity recognition in the 21^st century (I ,N) POSTMODERNISM

• ‘We only accept reality through TV and other simulacra'

Comment: Many of us believe that what the media portrays to us is how we should live life - it’s our reality. So because celebrities are living the 'Glamorous ' lifestyle we should also do the same. When in reality it’s not real. some people don't know the difference between reality and the media world so they generally tend to think they can do the same thing people in the media do.

E.g. My Super Sweet 16 is an MTV reality series documenting the lives of teenagers who usually have wealthy parents that throw huge celebrations for their 16^th, 18th and 21^st Birthday. They tend to imitate celebrities or try to be a celebrity. The daily mail criticized "In an age of celebrity, where anyone desperate and rich enough can get their 15 minutes of fame, the series is a depressing indictment of our next generation's goals and aspirations" displaying "the crippling excesses of fame and capitalism that have come to symbolise our society”. (Postmodernism (hyper reality), Ideologies)

'A celebrity’s image is not just his or her films, but the promotion of those films, public appearances, interviews and biographies. Their image is also what people say or write about him/her'

Comment: Not only does a celebrity make themselves known but they are also known through what the audience think of them from positive and negative criticism. A celebrity gets their image recognised through promotion and advertising, public appearances and websites.

• For e.g. Justin Beiber a talented boy discovered first by fans on YouTube then Usher a well known RnB singer. He is now one of the youngest millionaire musicians. The New York Times quoted “Usher, whom the singer handpicked to be Justin’s manager and ‘swagger coach’ – sharpening his moves, his attitudes and his wardrobe; Identities are not given but are constructed and negotiated. (Ideologies and institutions)

• http://www.mediaknowall.com/Popular%20Music/popstartheory.html
• A star is an image not a real person that is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials (e.g. advertising, magazines etc as well as films [music])
• E.g.: Nikki Graham from Big Brother best known for her temper tantrums was giver her own reality show after leaving the house, titled princess Nikki. She also appeared on many TV appearances such as the weakest link and 8 out of 10 Cats. She was also the 12^th most ‘written about’ person of 2006 in the UK, according to a channel 4 Poll. She has a column for OK Hot stars magazine and has written a book about her struggles with anorexia.
• Comment: Nikki has now become one of the UK’S most talked about celebrities because she is known for her temper tantrums and bubbly personality. She has been CONSTRUCTED by the media to be a celebrity. She now becomes a celebrity, through institutions, advertising and magazines. This has given her a celebrity IMAGE. (I, I and R)

• ‘since the media are more or less omnipresent in all of our lives, this means we are all influenced to some extent by what we view, listen to, browse, play and read’
• Comment: Violence, sex and drugs, plastic surgery, reality, being successful the media are present everywhere we go and in everything that we do. All of us are influenced through the media in some way. Celebrities tend to be the most influential people in the media. They are constantly being followed by paparazzi and on the front covers of magazines and newspapers. This makes us some what involved in the celebrities’ life through what we read about them and how they are pictured. Teenagers are influenced by celebrities negatively. This could be because adult obsession with sex is exposed onto the children minds. Celebrities advertise media images that influence young adults especially girls to focus on their appearance.
• Eg: Heat magazine has pages such as ‘star style find it’ ‘star stalker’ and ‘one week for hot looks’ heat know what readers want and that is to have the ideal image of a celebrity. So for readers to look like their idol or to have the same clothing as a celebrity. They automatically think that they are a celebrity. The Sun (Newspaper) has a page called’ Bizarre’ that gives an insight on celebrity lifestyle and gossip on a daily basis.

Another example is Music Videos as they either influence people both negatively and positively for instance:

Band aid charity song has a positive influence on people as a group of celebrities released a song in order to raise money for people in Africa with Aids.

Rhianna’s Video - ‘Rude boy’ has a negative influence on girls her lyrics “Come here rude boy, boy is you big enough Take it, take it”. Her lyrics are sexual and could influence girls to take part in sexual activities. (ML, R, A, S)

Celebrity influences Through (N, I,S,H,E,P)

• Moral panic

'verbal aggression is a form of aggression which means that studies which are interpreted by most people are being about the representations of physical violence may actually be more concerned with the use of swear words . This is related to violence.’

Comment: The media often uses bad language; this is shown in music videos or films. The verbal aggression used in theses text influence people especially the younger generation to use these words. For instance films such as Adulthood, is aimed at the youth aged between 16+ , the language used in the film is what people of that demographic are unfamiliar with. (ML)

• 'The media concerns itself with the factors that influence how we look at images of our world. Images are created in order to communicate a message'

Comment: the media industry, institutions have the power of how an image is portrayed to us. They can make something bad look exceptionally good or vice versa. These images are shown through magazines, newspapers, films, video games etc. for e.g. Sex, drugs, alcohol, violence can be glamorised. This links to Marxism as institutions make and produce the product. They also mentally make up our decisions. (institutions)

• http://thinkexist.com/quotation/celebrities-can-have-a-positive-influence-on-our/1255188.html

‘Celebrities can have a positive influence on our life, with positive messages. They can be very helpful in terms of increasing awareness and decreasing stigma about many problems, including health problems that might otherwise not get the attention they need. ‘

Comment: celebrities have some positive influence over us, they can be very helpful, whether it’s a boost in confidence or the can make us feel good by the way we act or where were from. Most celebrities are seen as inspirations, some are from poor backgrounds and have made it big in the industry. The inspire there fans to believe that anything is possible.

• For e.g. Angelina Jolie has adopted 3 children and JLS has launched a condom range to promote safe sex and healthy living.
• Barack Obama ; first black president motto “yes we can”

Celebrity obsession is a form of worship.

• We are inundated with celebrity culture in today’s world, and as Lawrence says, “The number of people we know in the ‘artificial world’–actors, singers, sportspeople, TV hosts – is much larger than the number of people we know in the real world.”. People feel as if they know a celebrity because of the way they are portrayed to us on TV. Once again we believe that we know these celebrities because they have become a part of our everyday lives through the media. We feel connected to them in some way. (uses and gratification theory; diversion, personal relationships, personal identity. Postmodernism. ideologies ).
• We’re drawn to know more about celebrities because of a kind of personal connection we may feel with them; the relationship we have with a celebrity (all one-sided) is easier than many of our real life relationships. Yet, our connection to a celebrity can bring us closer to those around us.

E.g. Keeping up with the Kardashians (reality TV show )the audience may feel connected to them because the reality show series how they live their life together and the normal things they do.

• Not only do we love celebrities, but many of the teens and twenty-year-olds today want to be celebrities. Our culture has emphasized the importance of fame, and many people are desperate for it. We think it is a quick fix to our lives, and that when we’re discovered; all our dreams will come true.

E.g. TV shows such as the X Factor and Britain’s got Talent.

• Religion: celebrities have now become Gods and goddesses. They are worshipped people which is wrong. Fans have become so obsessed that they are treating these celebrities like humans. When in fact they are like any other normal person. (ideologies and values)

Celebrities status/power – fans and audience

• 'The direct communication channel between artist and fans means that the artist have much more control over material that is released to the public, and ultimately more control over the image the convey.’
• Comment: A number of artist now promote themselves through websites such My space or Twitter, they often release snippets of there tracks, post pictures and often update statuses to keep fans informed of what they are currently doing. So the idea that artist releases their material to the public they control how people react to them or how they are represented to their fans.

• TV stars: our relationship with them can get complicated, because we might feel an illusory intimacy with not only a star but with their character too. The characters of shows such as friends become incredibly familiar because they are with us all the time. Jennifer Aniston said that when friends was a prime time show, people on the streets would approach he and yell at her for something disagreeable her character Rachel did. (ideologies and values, institutions, ML,S,E,P,H)

Conclusion: Summary of my main points linking them to my independent studies and theories.

Media is present everywhere we go and in everything we do , we can’t escape the media and we can’t live without it. Celebrities tend to be the most influential people in the media. Due to the institutions involved and the image created of them through the audience and institutions.

The way in which the media portrays text to us automatically becomes our reality. When texts are released to us by the media on a daily basis it becomes our norm.(M,A,R,S)