Lecture Notes October 27 2015 Celebrities and Star Texts I What is a celebrity a Classically famous achievement scholars generals i George Washington b Notorious criminals disliked politicians i The Boston bomber ii Donald Trump c Glamorous actresses models etc i Tyra Banks ii Taylor Swift d Thronged Ability to draw a crowd i Interactions with the public e History i Film stardom ii Magazines started to provide gossip iii Private vs Public selves started to emerge def of celebrity f Today i Powerful desire to know what s going on ii Creates social cohesion but at a cost iii Commodity commercial value celebrities are financial assets iv Created by industries audiences and themselves 1 Industries work to shape celebrities ex entertainment publicity representation appearance communication 2 Audiences make meanings out of texts and sometimes even share our own texts with other people Feminist Ryan Gosling Anne Hathaway Hate 3 Celebrities can produce their own narratives respond to fans social media choosing roles interviews Chrissy Teigen pregnancy announcement II How can we understand though texts and as texts a Not just people that we like collection of images words sounds that stand in for a person i Paratexts celebrity created and consumer created ii Polysemic have multiple meanings and produced for that purpose iii Contradictory both ordinary and extraordinary represent major groups but are perfect versions that transcend that group b How do we analyze i Ex Daniel Craig 1 Newest James Bond film 2 Interviews stories behind the scenes magazines ii Star texts move 1 Consider changes in technology and media practices 2 YouTube Twitter iii Consider public private contradictions social and cultural effects