04/28/15 Reading Core Response #5

I personally enjoyed reading the essay, "Feminine Fascinations" by Jackie Stacey. Although some aspects of how the information about the stars circulate has changed enormously, I think her analysis on why the audience reflect themselves upon stars' images is still the same. They are a role model in various areas, especially for women, since the representation of women are often disregarded. I think due to the growth of women's economic and social power, women have more viewing power or ticketing power that can lead to potential consumption that are additional. Thus, movies that are chick flicks particularly about fashion, such as Sex and the City, has sequels, regardless of the quality of the movie. From reading the essay, I could not help but wonder about the recent trend of stardom, how it would fit in Stacey's argument of assimilation to the star image. I personally think although there are still mystification of stars, they are often more truthful to the star's original self and demystified due to the development of social media. Especially looking upon Instagram, stars post their lives without hesitation. Yes, some stars may get sponsors to promote certain products. However, the purpose of Instagram or other social media, which is to share one's life with others, makes these promotions quite realistic (and some stars may indeed feel the urge to share a great product with their fans or followers). But since what social media is doing is showing the true life of the stars, would the fascinations of the audience be geared towards these behind-the-scene moments of stars rather than a constructed image? Also, does these candid lives of stars contradict the image of the stars and affect the fascination of the audience? One thing from Stacey's essay that has also changed is the audience too. Due to the development of technology, audiences can now access diverse information about stars, and there are websites dedicated only to what stars wear. The audiences share and create resources that catering to variety of fascinations. Also, audiences got smarter in a sense that they can now decipher what is the image and what is the real life of the star. The rapid sharing of the encounters with celebrities or sharing by celebrities' insiders (friends and families) place the audience in control of what to consume of the image or not.