Celebrities in life, icons in death
Subtitle: tragedy and fame in America's tabloid culture
By: John David Ebert.
Publisher: Praeger
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Santa Barbara, Calif
Language: eng
Number of pages: 230
ISBN-13: 9780313377648; 9780313377655
Subjects: Celebrities -- United States -- Death; Popular culture -- United States -- History -- 20th century; Popular culture -- United States -- History -- 21st century; Tragedy -- Social aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century; Tragedy -- Social aspects -- United States -- History -- 21st century; Fame -- Social aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century; Fame -- Social aspects -- United States -- History -- 21st century; Tabloid newspapers -- Social aspects -- United States -- History; United States -- Civilization -- 1945-; United States -- Civilization -- 1918-1945
Description: The book covers the epoch of the celebrity beginning in the 1930s with Howard Hughes and Walt Disney and continues to the present day with the life and death of Michael Jackson. Dead Celebrities, Living Icons documents the philosophical importance and significance of the contemporary cult of the celebrity and analyzes the tragic consequences of a human life lived in the glare of the media spotlight. --from publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: Saints in the age of electronic stained glass; title: pt. 1. Birth and rise (the 1930s); title: Howard Hughes, the world's first serial crash artist; title: Walt Disney builds the cosmos electric; title: pt. 2. Classics (the 1950s); title: The weird and fantastic tale of the pixellation and disintegration of Elvis Presley; title: James Dean's death by car crash : an autopsy; title: The strange tale of the wondrous life and curious death of Marilyn Monroe; title: pt. 3. Tribes (the 1960s); title: The assassination of J.F.K. considered as a case of media warfare; title: Andy Warhol's cult of the dead celebrity; title: The Beatles, their muse, a car crash, five bullets, and some flowers from the dead; title: Jim Morrison awoke one morning to find himself transformed; title: pt. 4. Sunset (the 1980s); title: Ronald Reagan : the celluloid man who nearly died; title: The passion of Gianni Versace; title: Princess Diana's media metamorphoses; title: pt. 5. The myth today (2008); title: The multiple selves of Heath Ledger; title: Michael Jackson's macrosphere : genesis, evolution, disintegration; title: Afterword: On the otherworldly nature of electronic culture.