1. What is the role of the celebrity in contemporary culture?
2.
· Role Models
· Myth
· Negative stereotypes
· Notoriety
· Chronic identity slippage
· Ideology of the common man
3. Subjectivism, Structuralism, Post-structuralism, Ideology, Mass culture
4. P. David Marshall, Dominic Strinati, R.Dyrer, J.Evans
5.
Strinati, D (2003). Introduction to theories of Popular Culture. 2nd ed. London: Routledge .
Marshall, P (1997). Celebrity and Power: Fame in Contemporary Culture. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press; illustrated edition edition .
Marshall, D.P (2006). The Celebrity Culture Reader . U.S: Routledge.
Biressi, A (2007). The Tabloid Culture Reader. U.K: Open University Press.
Rojeck, C (2001). Celebrity. U.K: Reaktion Books.
Thursday, 25 March 2010
TASK 2
Adorno's ideas on popular culture & music.
The role of popular music in society is questioned in many ways throughout this article. Adorno believed that classical music was a superior form of human expression and that popular music was standardized to the point that it is ‘predigested’ before you have even sampled it. Consumers have a standard reaction to popular music which can be seen as relaxing and familiar and is used as ‘audio wallpaper’ in shops, to sell clothing and products. It was thought by Adorno that people devoted no intellectual effort to listen to popular music and was not seen as ‘serious music’ unlike ‘serious’ composers like Mozart and Beethoven. Adorno also addresses Pseudo- Individualization which can be applied to the differences between reality and illusions of originality within culture today.
Popular music videos in today’s society include fairly standard costumes, ideas and concepts, artists which are able to fit into society’s materialistic, homogenized melting pot that corporations produce for the masses. The X Factor and Pop Idol are examples of this and shows of this ilk are often criticized for the unoriginality of the artists.
Lady Ga Ga is example of plugging. Her songs are pretty standard and familiar but with the use of styling and costume, she has invented a new look which is now being mimicked on the runway and in fashion shoots.
Another music video which shows standardization is taken from the film ‘Josie and The Pussycats’. It shows a girl band’s rise to fame and all the expectations that come along with it. They have to look a certain way, act a certain way and perform a certain way.
The role of popular music in society is questioned in many ways throughout this article. Adorno believed that classical music was a superior form of human expression and that popular music was standardized to the point that it is ‘predigested’ before you have even sampled it. Consumers have a standard reaction to popular music which can be seen as relaxing and familiar and is used as ‘audio wallpaper’ in shops, to sell clothing and products. It was thought by Adorno that people devoted no intellectual effort to listen to popular music and was not seen as ‘serious music’ unlike ‘serious’ composers like Mozart and Beethoven. Adorno also addresses Pseudo- Individualization which can be applied to the differences between reality and illusions of originality within culture today.
Popular music videos in today’s society include fairly standard costumes, ideas and concepts, artists which are able to fit into society’s materialistic, homogenized melting pot that corporations produce for the masses. The X Factor and Pop Idol are examples of this and shows of this ilk are often criticized for the unoriginality of the artists.
Lady Ga Ga is example of plugging. Her songs are pretty standard and familiar but with the use of styling and costume, she has invented a new look which is now being mimicked on the runway and in fashion shoots.
Another music video which shows standardization is taken from the film ‘Josie and The Pussycats’. It shows a girl band’s rise to fame and all the expectations that come along with it. They have to look a certain way, act a certain way and perform a certain way.
Friday, 20 November 2009
Panopticism. Task 1
CCTV surveillance is the most controversial panoptic presence in modern society. Statistics show there is one security camera for every 14 people in the UK today. Critics warn that the Orwellian nightmare has arrived, pointing out that only 3% of crimes were solved by CCTV in 2008 so using panoptic methods to ‘watch over’ us are failing. Support for CCTV surveillance comes from the police, who claim policing Britain today without it is impossible given the major increase in violent crime and political terrorism over the past 25 years. They affirm that ‘it automises and disindividualises power’.
Do the potential security and public safety gains outweigh the cost to privacy? Surely as surveillance grows, privacy shrinks. But the effect of heavy surveillance is ‘polyvalent in its applications’ and goes beyond privacy issues. Foucault said that panopticism’s ‘strength is that it never intervenes’ but it is already creating public insecurity by transforming society in other ways. For example, the trend of reluctance to aid people in distress. Why get involved when watching cameras can deal with other people’s problems? This ‘self-regulation’ creates ‘docile bodies’: being watched at all times, especially when doing nothing wrong, creates a feeling of not being free.
Do the potential security and public safety gains outweigh the cost to privacy? Surely as surveillance grows, privacy shrinks. But the effect of heavy surveillance is ‘polyvalent in its applications’ and goes beyond privacy issues. Foucault said that panopticism’s ‘strength is that it never intervenes’ but it is already creating public insecurity by transforming society in other ways. For example, the trend of reluctance to aid people in distress. Why get involved when watching cameras can deal with other people’s problems? This ‘self-regulation’ creates ‘docile bodies’: being watched at all times, especially when doing nothing wrong, creates a feeling of not being free.
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