Post by Kelbi Koch on Aug 5, 2014 21:54:34 GMT
I can honestly say that this class was one of the most interesting classes that I have taken so far in my college career. The topic of celebrity and fame had a lot to do with that. I’ve always been interested in celebrities’ lives and thought about what it would be like to be famous myself one day. I have a far-fetched dream to become a professional singer one day. After this class, I am more aware of what comes with that fame. I also have become more aware of celebrity and fame from a different perspective, not just a fan perspective.
My first take away from the class was learning about parasocial relationships. Before reading the article by David Giles, I would have never even known what a parasocial relationship was. According to wordnik.com, “Parasocial describes a one-sided relationship”. For example, a relationship between a celebrity and a fan would constitute as a parasocial relationship. Over the years, I have had many parasocial relationships with celebrities. I would have never realized that that’s what I was doing, if I had not taken this class. When I was about fourteen years old, Jordin Sparks had won American Idol. I fell in love with her voice and the person that I grew to learn about. I watched interviews of her non-stop. In fact, I’ve done that many times with other celebrities too. As I learned more about her, I grew more and more attached to her. I was cleaning out some things in my room a couple days ago and found a letter that I had written to Jordin and just never got it sent in the mail. I read it and thought to myself, “Oh my goodness, I am so glad I did not send this”. I mentioned things like “I wish you could be my sister”, “I love you”, and it also included my personal information; phone number, email address, home address, etc. I look back on that and my free time revolved around getting to know her more. It is completely a parasocial relationship. I was learning all of these facts about her and getting attached to her, and she had no idea who I even was.
Through learning about parasocial relationships, I have come to the conclusion that it’s a waste of time to invest myself in celebrities’ lives. I still enjoy reading magazines, following them on social media, etc., but I’ve distanced myself from getting attached to them. I have discovered that building a parasocial relationship with celebrities is unattractive. Like I said before, it’s a waste of time. This was one of the biggest take-a-ways from the class that I definitely needed to hear about! Celebrity influences our culture in many ways. I think that it allows us to step out of our own worlds and try to put ourselves in their worlds for a change. We wish that we could live a lavish lifestyle like they do, so it gives us false hope. In all honesty, I believe that celebrity or fame deteriorates our current culture. Everybody is always looking for the next big thing. Nobody takes the time to live in the moment and they take for granted their own lives, wanting the glamorous life of a celebrity.
The next topic that really stuck out to me from this class was identification. We talked about the difference between liking a character and identifying with a character. When you like a character, it's more of a surface thing. You don't connect with them on a personal level. Cohen states that "identification is a mechanism through which audience members experience reception and interpretation of the text from the inside, as if the events were happening to them" (p. 245). Identification is a deeper level feeling, whereas liking is something that is more surface level. An example that Michaela Geiser used in her reflection of identification, was the example of the TV show Grey’s Anatomy. I am a huge fan of this show, so I was able to relate to her post. She said that she likes the show and the cast of Grey’s Anatomy, but she does not identify with them. She is not necessarily interested in the medical field. The problems that happen on the show are not problems that she deals with in her everyday life. For me, I can identify with one character on the show, just because her personality is a lot like mine. Everything else, like the medical talk and their doctor lives, I cannot identify with because I don’t have any experience in that area.
Finally, the last take away I had from this class was authenticity. Erin Myers, author of “Can You Handle My Truth?” states, “Generally, although not exclusively, emerging from the sports or entertainment industries, celebrities are highly visible throughout the media, thus making them easily accessible symbols. More importantly, however, is the fact that celebrity images are not confined to their professional appearances, for example, acting in a film or singing at a concert” (p. 890). It is the interviews that we watch and the behind the scenes looks that we get at a celebrity’s life that we determine whether or not they are authentic or not. The celebrity that I mentioned was Miranda Lambert. There were many of my peers that agreed with me. Kelli Larson commented that she watched Miranda perform and that “she loves to hunt and is not afraid to say it, but loves animals”. Miranda does a lot to help animals that are in shelters and she is sweet and genuine in all of the interviews I have watched of her. She is just a down-to-earth, country gal.
Parasocial relationships, identification, and authenticity were all subjects that were brought up time and time again, as the class went on. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about each topic as the weeks went on this summer and I learned more about myself than I ever thought I would.
My first take away from the class was learning about parasocial relationships. Before reading the article by David Giles, I would have never even known what a parasocial relationship was. According to wordnik.com, “Parasocial describes a one-sided relationship”. For example, a relationship between a celebrity and a fan would constitute as a parasocial relationship. Over the years, I have had many parasocial relationships with celebrities. I would have never realized that that’s what I was doing, if I had not taken this class. When I was about fourteen years old, Jordin Sparks had won American Idol. I fell in love with her voice and the person that I grew to learn about. I watched interviews of her non-stop. In fact, I’ve done that many times with other celebrities too. As I learned more about her, I grew more and more attached to her. I was cleaning out some things in my room a couple days ago and found a letter that I had written to Jordin and just never got it sent in the mail. I read it and thought to myself, “Oh my goodness, I am so glad I did not send this”. I mentioned things like “I wish you could be my sister”, “I love you”, and it also included my personal information; phone number, email address, home address, etc. I look back on that and my free time revolved around getting to know her more. It is completely a parasocial relationship. I was learning all of these facts about her and getting attached to her, and she had no idea who I even was.
Through learning about parasocial relationships, I have come to the conclusion that it’s a waste of time to invest myself in celebrities’ lives. I still enjoy reading magazines, following them on social media, etc., but I’ve distanced myself from getting attached to them. I have discovered that building a parasocial relationship with celebrities is unattractive. Like I said before, it’s a waste of time. This was one of the biggest take-a-ways from the class that I definitely needed to hear about! Celebrity influences our culture in many ways. I think that it allows us to step out of our own worlds and try to put ourselves in their worlds for a change. We wish that we could live a lavish lifestyle like they do, so it gives us false hope. In all honesty, I believe that celebrity or fame deteriorates our current culture. Everybody is always looking for the next big thing. Nobody takes the time to live in the moment and they take for granted their own lives, wanting the glamorous life of a celebrity.
The next topic that really stuck out to me from this class was identification. We talked about the difference between liking a character and identifying with a character. When you like a character, it's more of a surface thing. You don't connect with them on a personal level. Cohen states that "identification is a mechanism through which audience members experience reception and interpretation of the text from the inside, as if the events were happening to them" (p. 245). Identification is a deeper level feeling, whereas liking is something that is more surface level. An example that Michaela Geiser used in her reflection of identification, was the example of the TV show Grey’s Anatomy. I am a huge fan of this show, so I was able to relate to her post. She said that she likes the show and the cast of Grey’s Anatomy, but she does not identify with them. She is not necessarily interested in the medical field. The problems that happen on the show are not problems that she deals with in her everyday life. For me, I can identify with one character on the show, just because her personality is a lot like mine. Everything else, like the medical talk and their doctor lives, I cannot identify with because I don’t have any experience in that area.
Finally, the last take away I had from this class was authenticity. Erin Myers, author of “Can You Handle My Truth?” states, “Generally, although not exclusively, emerging from the sports or entertainment industries, celebrities are highly visible throughout the media, thus making them easily accessible symbols. More importantly, however, is the fact that celebrity images are not confined to their professional appearances, for example, acting in a film or singing at a concert” (p. 890). It is the interviews that we watch and the behind the scenes looks that we get at a celebrity’s life that we determine whether or not they are authentic or not. The celebrity that I mentioned was Miranda Lambert. There were many of my peers that agreed with me. Kelli Larson commented that she watched Miranda perform and that “she loves to hunt and is not afraid to say it, but loves animals”. Miranda does a lot to help animals that are in shelters and she is sweet and genuine in all of the interviews I have watched of her. She is just a down-to-earth, country gal.
Parasocial relationships, identification, and authenticity were all subjects that were brought up time and time again, as the class went on. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about each topic as the weeks went on this summer and I learned more about myself than I ever thought I would.
