The Drama of Celebrity

The Drama of Celebrity PDF Author: Sharon Marcus
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691210187
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Why do so many people care so much about celebrities? Who decides who gets to be a star? What are the privileges and pleasures of fandom? Do celebrities ever deserve the outsized attention they receive? In this fascinating and deeply researched book, Sharon Marcus challenges everything you thought you knew about our obsession with fame. Icons are not merely famous for being famous; the media alone cannot make or break stars; fans are not simply passive dupes. Instead, journalists, the public, and celebrities themselves all compete, passionately and expertly, to shape the stories we tell about celebrities and fans. The result: a high-stakes drama as endless as it is unpredictable. Drawing on scrapbooks, personal diaries, and vintage fan mail, Marcus traces celebrity culture back to its nineteenth-century roots, when people the world over found themselves captivated by celebrity chefs, bad-boy poets, and actors such as the "divine" Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923), as famous in her day as the Beatles in theirs. Known in her youth for sleeping in a coffin, hailed in maturity as a woman of genius, Bernhardt became a global superstar thanks to savvy engagement with her era's most innovative media and technologies: the popular press, commercial photography, and speedy new forms of travel. Whether you love celebrity culture or hate it, The Drama of Celebrity will change how you think about one of the most important phenomena of modern times.

The Drama of Celebrity

The Drama of Celebrity PDF Author: Sharon Marcus
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691210187
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Get Book

Book Description
Why do so many people care so much about celebrities? Who decides who gets to be a star? What are the privileges and pleasures of fandom? Do celebrities ever deserve the outsized attention they receive? In this fascinating and deeply researched book, Sharon Marcus challenges everything you thought you knew about our obsession with fame. Icons are not merely famous for being famous; the media alone cannot make or break stars; fans are not simply passive dupes. Instead, journalists, the public, and celebrities themselves all compete, passionately and expertly, to shape the stories we tell about celebrities and fans. The result: a high-stakes drama as endless as it is unpredictable. Drawing on scrapbooks, personal diaries, and vintage fan mail, Marcus traces celebrity culture back to its nineteenth-century roots, when people the world over found themselves captivated by celebrity chefs, bad-boy poets, and actors such as the "divine" Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923), as famous in her day as the Beatles in theirs. Known in her youth for sleeping in a coffin, hailed in maturity as a woman of genius, Bernhardt became a global superstar thanks to savvy engagement with her era's most innovative media and technologies: the popular press, commercial photography, and speedy new forms of travel. Whether you love celebrity culture or hate it, The Drama of Celebrity will change how you think about one of the most important phenomena of modern times.

Celebrity

Celebrity PDF Author: Andrea McDonnell
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1479862037
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
The historical and cultural context of fame in the twenty-first century Today, celebrity culture is an inescapable part of our media landscape and our everyday lives. This was not always the case. Over the past century, media technologies have increasingly expanded the production and proliferation of fame. Celebrity explores this revolution and its often under-estimated impact on American culture. Using numerous precedent-setting examples spanning more than one hundred years of media history, Douglas and McDonnell trace the dynamic relationship between celebrity and the technologies of mass communication that have shaped the nature of fame in the United States. Revealing how televised music fanned a worldwide phenomenon called “Beatlemania” and how Kim Kardashian broke the internet, Douglas and McDonnell also show how the media has shaped both the lives of the famous and the nature of the spotlight itself. Celebrity examines the production, circulation, and effects of celebrity culture to consider the impact of stars from Shirley Temple to Muhammad Ali to the homegrown star made possible by your Instagram feed. It maps ever-evolving media technologies as they adeptly interweave the lives of the rich and famous into ours: from newspapers and photography in the nineteenth century, to the twentieth century’s radio, cinema, and television, up to the revolutionary impact of the internet and social media. Today, mass media relies upon an ever-changing cast of celebrities to grab our attention and money, and new stars are conquering new platforms to build their adoring audiences and enhance their images. In the era of YouTube, Snapchat, and reality television, fame may be fleeting, but its impact on society is profound and lasting.

Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait

Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait PDF Author: Michael Grecco
Publisher: Amphoto Books
ISBN: 9780817442279
Category : Photography
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
The secrets of great portraits are shared with photographers at every level in this resource that includes sections on cameras, illumination, film and digital, lighting set-ups, creativity and conceptualization, connecting with the subject, and having a point of view. Original.

Name Drop

Name Drop PDF Author: Ross Mathews
Publisher: Atria Books
ISBN: 1982116498
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
From Ross Mathews, the nationally bestselling author of Man Up!, judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, and alum of Chelsea Lately, comes “a delightful mix of sweet and sour celebrity experiences” (Shelf Awareness) in this hilarious and irreverent collection of essays. Pretend it’s happy hour and you and I are sitting at the bar. I look amazing and, I agree with you, much thinner in person. You look good, too. Maybe it’s the candlelight, maybe it’s the booze. Either way, let’s just go with it. Keep this all between you and me, and do me a favor? Don’t judge me if I name drop just a little. Television personality Ross Mathews likes telling stories. He was always outrageous and hilariously honest, even when the biggest celebrity he knew was his favorite lunch lady in the school cafeteria. Now that he has Hollywood experience—from interning behind the scenes at The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to judging RuPaul’s Drag Race—he has a lot to talk about. In Name Drop, Ross dishes about being an unlikely insider in the alternate reality that is showbiz, like that time he was invited by Barbara Walters to host The View—only to learn his hero did not suffer fools; his Christmas with the Kardashians, which should be its own holiday special; and his news-making talk with Omarosa on Celebrity Big Brother, which, as it turns out, was just the tip of the iceberg. Holding nothing back, Ross shares the most treasured and surprising moments in his celebrity-filled career, and proves that while exposure may have made him a little bit famous, he is still as much a fanboy as ever. Filled with “charmingly told” (Booklist) tales ranging from the horrifying to the hilarious—and with just the right “Rossipes” and cocktails to go along with them—Name Drop is every pop culture lover’s dream come true.

Caesar the No Drama Llama

Caesar the No Drama Llama PDF Author: Bee Dugan
Publisher: FriesenPress
ISBN: 1039120148
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 30

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Book Description
Join Caesar, the real-life No Drama Llama, as he sets out to find a home with no drama! Caesar is sad that all of the animals around him have mean words to say, and so decides that he needs to find some peace and quiet. Caesar hasn’t yet found a place where he feels love, friendship, and community. After saying goodbye to his mama, he becomes very lonely on his long journey, missing the sounds of laughter and happiness. When he finally encounters a friendly man along the way, he witnesses acts of kindness that Caesar has never seen before. Has Caesar finally found a place to call home? A place where he belongs? Written with lilting rhythm and featuring beautiful illustrations, Caesar the No Drama Llama is sure to warm the hearts of readers young and old alike.

Natural Born Celebrities

Natural Born Celebrities PDF Author: David Schmid
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226738701
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Jeffrey Dahmer. Ted Bundy. John Wayne Gacy. Over the past thirty years, serial killers have become iconic figures in America, the subject of made-for-TV movies and mass-market paperbacks alike. But why do we find such luridly transgressive and horrific individuals so fascinating? What compels us to look more closely at these figures when we really want to look away? Natural Born Celebrities considers how serial killers have become lionized in American culture and explores the consequences of their fame. David Schmid provides a historical account of how serial killers became famous and how that fame has been used in popular media and the corridors of the FBI alike. Ranging from H. H. Holmes, whose killing spree during the 1893 Chicago World's Fair inspired The Devil in the White City, right up to Aileen Wuornos, the lesbian prostitute whose vicious murder of seven men would serve as the basis for the hit film Monster, Schmid unveils a new understanding of serial killers by emphasizing both the social dimensions of their crimes and their susceptibility to multiple interpretations and uses. He also explores why serial killers have become endemic in popular culture, from their depiction in The Silence of the Lambs and The X-Files to their becoming the stuff of trading cards and even Web sites where you can buy their hair and nail clippings. Bringing his fascinating history right up to the present, Schmid ultimately argues that America needs the perversely familiar figure of the serial killer now more than ever to manage the fear posed by Osama bin Laden since September 11. "This is a persuasively argued, meticulously researched, and compelling examination of the media phenomenon of the 'celebrity criminal' in American culture. It is highly readable as well."—Joyce Carol Oates

I Am Famous

I Am Famous PDF Author: Tara Luebbe
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
ISBN: 0807534455
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 35

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Book Description
Kiely is a celebrity and a diva, but can she nail her most important performance? Kiely knows she is famous! The paparazzi (her parents) follow her every move, documenting with cameras. It's exhausting being famous, but someone has to do it. She even gets to perform a big song at her grandfather's birthday. When she messes it up, she's worried she's lost her audience forever, but it turns out that no one is as loyal as her fans.

Where the Stars Still Shine

Where the Stars Still Shine PDF Author: Trish Doller
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1619632985
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
Happily-ever-after is never quite what you expect in this hot and gritty romance.

Art & Celebrity

Art & Celebrity PDF Author: Heather McPherson
Publisher: Penn State University Press
ISBN: 9780271074078
Category : Actresses
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Explores the vibrant visual and theatrical culture of eighteenth-century England. Focuses on the central role of images in the invention of modern celebrity culture.

How You Get Famous

How You Get Famous PDF Author: Nicole Pasulka
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1982115807
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
A “funny, poignant, dishy, and even enlightening” adventure through a tight-knit world of drag performers making art, mayhem, and dreaming of making it big, this book is “the story of America now” (Alexander Chee, The New York Times). In How You Get Famous, journalist Nicole Pasulka raucously documents the rebirth of the New York drag scene, following a group of iconoclastic performers with undeniable charisma, talent, and a hell of a lot to prove. In the past decade, drag has become a place where edgy, competitive showoffs can find security in a callous and over priced city, a shot at real money, and a level of recognition queer people rarely achieve. But can drag keep its edge as it travels from the backroom to the main stage? A “joyful and scrappy” (Esquire) portrait of the 21st-century search for celebrity and community, How You Get Famous is “dripping in plush detail and drama” (Mother Jones) and “stitched together with great respect and love” (The Guardian). It’s the story of an aimless coat check worker who sweet-talked his way into hosting a drag show at a Brooklyn dive bar, a pair of teenagers sneaking into clubs and pocketing tips to help support their families, and eclectic performers who have managed to land a spot on TV and millions of followers…all colliding in an unprecedented account of a subculture on the brink of becoming a cultural phenomenon. “If you like to have a good time, you want to read this book!”—BuzzFeed