Category Archives: History
September 5, 2011 The American Dream at Hollywood & Highland
Can you find traces of the American Dream at a shopping mall? You don’t have to look to hard to find the American Dream at Hollywood and Highland, a mall situated in the middle of the tourist attractions on Hollywood Boulevard. The shopping center’s floor features quotes of anonymous showbiz success stories, highlighting their rise [...]
Tags: american dream, celebrities just like us, celebrity culture, hollywood and highland, hollywood walk of fame
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- Posted under Consumption, History
August 13, 2011 How Has Celebrity Coverage Changed?
When I first started doing research for Celebrity Culture and the American Dream, I wanted to trace the history of celebrity coverage to see how we got here today. Before I began reading old fan magazines (I ended up reading hundreds over the course of four years) it seemed to me that coverage is now [...]
Tags: celebrities just like us, celebrity coverage, celebrity culture, celebrity culture and the american dream, jeanne crain, kim novak
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- Posted under History
July 12, 2011 Celebrity and Infamy
Casey Anthony was recently acquitted of murdering her toddler daughter, who disappeared about three years ago. The case became a cable news staple, elevating Anthony to national infamy. Echoing the popularity of so-called reality television, crime dramas involving young women and girls as both victims and offenders capture public attention for many reasons. For one, [...]
Tags: casey anthony, celebrity, crime, evelyn nesbit, henry thaw, infamy, stanford white
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- Posted under History, Scandals
June 17, 2011 The Fallen Star as Morality Tale
Why do we love to watch the rise and fall of celebrities? What does this tell us about our society? From young pop stars to “celebutantes” to politicians, following people climb to achieve fame only to stumble down that magical staircase has been a national pastime since at least the days of the penny press [...]
Tags: anthony weiner, celebrity culture, horatio alger, morality, morality tale, scandals
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- Posted under History, Scandals
May 18, 2011 The Allure of Celebrity Break-ups
The news of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver’s split has been breaking news for the past few days. Why do celebrity break-ups get so much attention? As characters in an ongoing real-life soap opera, we feel we know them and their “story line.” There hadn’t been news of trouble in this relationship, despite his 2003 [...]
Tags: arnold schwarzenneger, break-ups, celebrity, celebrity relationships, divorce, karen sternheimer, maria shriver, marriage
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- Posted under History, Other, Scandals
May 4, 2011 Celebrity Gossip as News
It’s tempting to go to a news organization’s website, often loaded with celebrity gossip, and presume that they’re just giving the public what we want. Are they? While audiences bear some complicity in consuming celebrity gossip, there are a few other important reasons that news organizations regularly feature celebrity stories too. As I discuss in [...]
Tags: celebrity, celebrity culture and the american dream, gossip, journalism, karen sternheimer
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- Posted under Consumption, History
April 20, 2011 The First Reality Stars
Did you know that PBS was a pioneer in the reality television business? An American Family first aired in 1973, featuring a Santa Barbara family and their five children. In addition to offering an inside glimpse into family life, the family experienced major turmoil during the filming. Wife Pat tells her husband she wants a [...]
Tags: an american family, baudrillard, celebrity culture, cinema verite, karen sternheimer, postmodernity, reality stars
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- Posted under History, Television
March 24, 2011 Elizabeth Taylor and Shifting Celebrity Coverage
Elizabeth Taylor’s recent passing means that she is making headlines again, something she has done for over half a century. In my study of celebrity fan magazines I came across her name and image repeatedly, especially after she transitioned from being a child star to an acclaimed actress as an adult. Taylor’s life in fan [...]
Tags: 1950s, celebrity, elizabeth taylor, marriage and children, nicky hilton, photoplay
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- Posted under History, Scandals
