Taking fame to market
Subtitle: on the pre-history and post-history of Hollywood stardom
By: Barry King, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; Springer
Published: 2015
Place of publication: Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York, NY
Language: eng
Number of pages: 256
ISBN-13: 9781137344274
Copyright date: 2014
Subjects: Motion picture industry; Motion picture actors and actresses; Fame; Branding (Marketing); PERFORMING ARTS / Film & Video / History & Criticism; PERFORMING ARTS / Television / History & Criticism; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Media Studies
Description: "The study of stars and celebrities is awash with enticing terms that compound the magic and mystery of their luminous subjects. Taking Fame to Market is the first critical exploration of the relationship between stardom as a form of popular heroism and as a commodity produced by capitalist enterprise. Beginning with an examination of the first star, David Garrick, King charts the representation of stars through a line of development that ends with the 'pure' celebrity of contemporary times, as exemplified by Lady Gaga. His case studies, which discuss the relationships of stars and celebrities with their fans, are placed in their social context and raise pertinent questions about the likely effects on audience perception of fame. King applies a new grammar of stardom to explore the differences between the stars of yesteryear and today's 'superstars', who are famous more from what they appear to be than for what they do. This phenomenon has been noted before, but the aim of this book is to explain it"--
Notes: INcludes bibliographical references (pages 231-253) and index.