iii. Global Celebrity: is celebrity a global phenomenon?
Give an account of a global non-Western celebrity (that isn't Psy!), with
regards to materials from the reading this week. Alternatively focus on a
single celebrity from a culture or nationality other than your own (music,
film, television sport, politics, etc) and provide a brief case study with
regards to the concepts examined in the Specular Economy.
Beyonce, who topped the Forbes list of top earning celebrity couples last year with husband Jay-Z, projects a public and private image that is globally recognisable. I will be using Beyonce's various social media accounts to look at her complex online presentation as well as a case study with regards to David Marshall's (2010) concept of the "Specular Economy" of Beyonce's 'Beyhive Blog' which is produced apparently according by Queen Bey herself as:
"MY WAY OF SHOWING ALL THE INSPIRING THINGS
I COME ACROSS EVERY SINGLE DAY.
THIS IS THROUGH MY EYES."
The reaction to Beyonce getting a shorter haircut earlier in the year prompted a staggering response. Shocked fans on social media expressed themselves venomously across all platforms after the innocuous Instagram snap was posted from her official account and intrigued media outlets ran the 'story' multiple times across the breadth of the expected gossip rags and fashion media all the way to mainstream news coverage.
Interviews with stylists, celebrities, hairdressers, fans and her personal friends contributed to the thousands of words of opinions spread across users of social media on the new look. Close analysis of her presentation over the following days built a singer's new hairdo into a media wildfire that seemingly couldn't be sated. A 23 page analysis of every different hairstyle she had over the last 10 years and 32 of International Business Times favourite do's perhaps going the furthest to explore the follicle folly.
This democratic interactivity of new and old media scrambling to exchange opinions on the presentation of a celebrity through the seemingly personal window of the original image is a demonstration of Marshall's Specular Economy as "An entire new industry—an economy of circulating images, information, text, conversation and interpersonal exchanges—has been built to service the now more pervasive and oddly democratic construction of public identities." (2010, pg. 502) She has built up her public value and grown a "networked culture" based on her public persona through her Beyhive Blog, a more than likely closely managed front page for her Tumblr and Instagram accounts as well as various other links of her 'inspirations', trending fashions and images and videos of collective fan appreciation.
The Beyhive is buzzing with the work of her fans or 'Beys' busily "becoming part of the media ebb and flow" as Marshall describes (2010, pg. 500). Her very own realm of personal presentation produces a seemingly private and intimate discourse with all content stamped with her genuine approval. Fashion brands, restaurants, car customisation companies, upcoming tours of hers as well as other artists she chooses to promote as well as various other more subtle promotions such as maintaining the edge of her iphone 5 in focus within the above viral shot, all link the promotional with a personal touch.
Beyonce within the Beyhive has become a public personality system that is seemingly private and intimate opening the discourse for her worker Beys to consume and contribute to her success like a real queen bee in its hive cared for by it's drones and workers.
Marshal, P.D 2010, ‘The Specular Economy’, Society, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 498-502
"MY WAY OF SHOWING ALL THE INSPIRING THINGS
I COME ACROSS EVERY SINGLE DAY.
THIS IS THROUGH MY EYES."
The reaction to Beyonce getting a shorter haircut earlier in the year prompted a staggering response. Shocked fans on social media expressed themselves venomously across all platforms after the innocuous Instagram snap was posted from her official account and intrigued media outlets ran the 'story' multiple times across the breadth of the expected gossip rags and fashion media all the way to mainstream news coverage.
 |
| Photo: Beyonce's Instagram |
Interviews with stylists, celebrities, hairdressers, fans and her personal friends contributed to the thousands of words of opinions spread across users of social media on the new look. Close analysis of her presentation over the following days built a singer's new hairdo into a media wildfire that seemingly couldn't be sated. A 23 page analysis of every different hairstyle she had over the last 10 years and 32 of International Business Times favourite do's perhaps going the furthest to explore the follicle folly.
This democratic interactivity of new and old media scrambling to exchange opinions on the presentation of a celebrity through the seemingly personal window of the original image is a demonstration of Marshall's Specular Economy as "An entire new industry—an economy of circulating images, information, text, conversation and interpersonal exchanges—has been built to service the now more pervasive and oddly democratic construction of public identities." (2010, pg. 502) She has built up her public value and grown a "networked culture" based on her public persona through her Beyhive Blog, a more than likely closely managed front page for her Tumblr and Instagram accounts as well as various other links of her 'inspirations', trending fashions and images and videos of collective fan appreciation.
The Beyhive is buzzing with the work of her fans or 'Beys' busily "becoming part of the media ebb and flow" as Marshall describes (2010, pg. 500). Her very own realm of personal presentation produces a seemingly private and intimate discourse with all content stamped with her genuine approval. Fashion brands, restaurants, car customisation companies, upcoming tours of hers as well as other artists she chooses to promote as well as various other more subtle promotions such as maintaining the edge of her iphone 5 in focus within the above viral shot, all link the promotional with a personal touch.
Beyonce within the Beyhive has become a public personality system that is seemingly private and intimate opening the discourse for her worker Beys to consume and contribute to her success like a real queen bee in its hive cared for by it's drones and workers.
Marshal, P.D 2010, ‘The Specular Economy’, Society, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 498-502
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