Supplementary Post #7

For my final supplementary post, I would like to discuss an artist who can also be in the category of celebrity. Although definition of celebrity has changed throughout history, fine artists also had enormous spotlights on them by not only the people in the art world and art industry, but also the public. One of the biggest example of an artist who is known for his stardom is Andy Warhol. His famous quote,

"                                                                                                                                                        "

is a sensational quote during the time, being very true in modern society. The development of social media has heightened the the possibility of normal people to achieve attention.

Andy Warhol is an interesting artist since he has led the movement called Pop Art, which shattered the barrier of what was considered high art (oil painting and sculpture) by integrating pop culture (e.g. Campbell soup cans, cartoons, Coca-Cola, etc.). He was notorious for having a persona of innocence and light-headedness, even though some of his artworks have critical interpretations to them. The public, thus, had a hard time deciphering him from his persona or image and his true self. 

His background as an illustrator for fashion advertisements might have affected him to realize the impact of stars or name values to the culture and society. He would not only create works of art dedicated to celebrities and major figures of his times but also hang out with stars of the 60s to the early 80s. Furthermore, he played a role of finding new stars in the art scene. Warhol was a great friend and mentor for the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Although Basquiat was a terrific artist who was emerging in the art scene of New York even before he met Warhol, their friendship had an effect of furthering his star-artist status. 

I think in modern society, artists are not exactly considered as celebrities or stars like the actors and actresses of Hollywood--but in the art world, rookies do emerge. Nowadays for artists, it is hard to be popular throughout the general public because they may be considered as a sell-out. Visual art is often has harsh requirements to be considered as pure or fine art. For instance, one should not be creating commercial art, and paintings should not be for decorating a living room. I think this heightened standard pressure for artists to be "true artists" distances them from being loved across different audiences. Warhol was successful at managing the commercial but the fine art side. Additionally, his persona of "seeming-clueless-but-actually-not-so-much" helped him to draw people's attentions, which is quite similar to modern day stars and celebrities.

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.

Supplementary Post #6

In the course of the semester, we have dealt with numerous actresses, female stars and celebrities of different race and ethnicity. However, we have not discussed the Asian female stars and celebrities, especially how they embodies their individual image but also the image of Asian culture. In this post, I would like to discuss some successful Asian female stars and celebrities.

One of the characteristics of these stars is that they have facial features that are prominent of "Asianess." The no-double eyelid-ness is one of the biggest similarities between the Asian actresses who are successful in Hollywood. Also, another characteristics of some of the Asian stars who are
quite Americanized. Actresses can speak fluent English and also some are second-generation Korean or Chinese. This assimilated Asians are not particularly the full depiction of all Asians.

Examples of stars who has prominent Asian features

Examples of stars who are born and raised as Asian American

The success of female Asian stars and celebrities or any non-white female stars and celebrities of race and ethnicity seems like it speaks to the fetishization of these women as a whole. Like the term "Asian fever", these representation of Asian woman or even the recent discussion of Jennifer Lopez and her embodiment of a hispanic/South American body all seems to serve the male fetish.


Furthermore, unfortunately, there is still a scarcity of depiction of Asian culture in Hollywood. Although most recently, due to the growth of international market in China, South Korea, and Japan, there are a lot of Hollywood movies that goes on location to these countries. However, there are rare movies that deals with Asian culture or has a protagonist who is Asian. In TV, there is Fresh Off the Boat, but one can say there is still lack of representation of Asians and Asian culture.

Supplementary Post #5

Today, I would like to discuss some successful stars who has contributed hommage to the preceding stars. In other words, I think in imitating the predecessors, these particular stars capture the image and the visual the best.

First example is Princess Diana and the actress Naomi Watts. Although Princess Diana was not a star from the entertainment business, and aside of her royalty, I think Princess Diana can be in equal level as a celebrity. She had great influence to the people in political, social, and fashion ways. In the movie Diana, which discusses the life of Princess Diana, Naomi Watts enacts Princess Di. The fashion and the makeup she does particularly is in match with what Princess Diana actually wore. She also has Princess Diana's signature blonde hair and black eyeliner. Naomi Watts was I think an actress who is fluid enough to not shadow the character of Princess Diana. In other words, her name or her as an actress is not primary or not her signature.

Another actress who I admire is Audrey Hepburn. There are a lot of stars and celebrities who has in the past and even till now, tried to imitate Hepburn. I think this particular photoshoot with Lily Collins match the aesthetic of Hepburn the best. Aside from the styling that the fashion shoot has, Collins seems to have cheerfulness or bubbly-ness of Hepburn.  

04/14/15 Reading Core Response #4

The bell hooks essay was also interesting since it explores the blonde ambition to be black. I think this comes from a highly Orientalist root, meaning that the seemingly "different" and "exotic" culture would somehow be the exit to white's internal struggle to find oneself and better oneself. Tolerating other culture is a one thing, but I also can understand hooks's point of how African American culture is too much related to white supremacy and racism can offend Madonna's attempt to be race-neutral. In reading Cvetkovich's essay, I had concerns with applying some of the ideas of the essay (e.g. Madonna could afford to be a female spectacle because she is in a white mainstream culture) to my own situation, being an underrepresented Asian woman. Seriously, there is rare depiction of an Asian woman in Hollywood movies or even in the music industry. In contrast to underrepresented or marginalized race women, I think Madonna could be successful in being a subject, rather than an object of the gaze because there was enough representation of white women throughout culture in the first place--the starting point is different. I highly enjoyed Cvetkovich's essay since it has a different perspective on how Madonna represents herself. When watching the movie Truth or Dare, although Madonna is choosing to represent herself masturbating or gender-bending, I still thought in the point of view of different people, her method of representation or the visuals still is in the realm of jeopardizing herself into the male gaze or the to-be-looked-at-ness. In other words, was her wearing a highly sexualized or even fetish-like woman's undergarment with a man's suit pants really the visual of an empowered woman? Also, I enjoyed the notion of Madonna still being in the capital world, being consumed or commodified even though she tries to reveal everything about herself. In a sense, her backstage shots are showing how she is preparing herself to be exploited to the fans, to the concert production team, to the media, and to the society. I do think Cvetkovich respects Madonna as an artist or respects her professionalism and I do too. But I think when creating a documentary film about someone, since the genre of documentary is highly tied with revealing the truth, there should have been more caution or more intention before creating the documentary. It is in a sense, be seen truthful to how stars are all about their constructed images and how all the points that Cvetkovich and bell hooks make, but for a person who expects to see "the real Madonna", I think the movie is quite unsuccessful in portraying the humanized Madonna.

Supplementary Post #4

As a fan of both Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield, them taking a break in their relationship is making me nervous.

The couple's portrayal of their relationship is extremely sweet. Moreover, they have this vibe of being in a romantic relationship but also being best friends. They goof around in their interviews, showing intimacy.

I think one of the reasons that this particular couple is loved is due to their professionalism. They are extremely supportive of each other's acting careers (Emma attending to see Andrew Garfield's Broadway play, while Andrew Garfield attending award ceremonies for Emma). They often choose not to talk about each other, but rather talk more about their movies. 

Also, their paparazzi shots that is intended to create social awareness creates positive image for the couple.

Although it is none of my business to say about private relationship of stars, but I am hoping that this couple do not break up. They are a good role model together and their visuals, too, add to how great they are together. 

Supplementary Response #3

As a student whose background is from Korea, I am not only familiar about the Hollywood stars and the entertainment system but also Korean entertainment. Recently, I have been comparing the two different countries and cultures' fan culture.

I will be dividing my observations of the two different fan cultures into three sections:

a. Gift-giving
b. Home master
c. Community (a.k.a. fan club)

Today I am going to discuss the fan community of Korea and the U.S. (c. Community (a.k.a. fan club)). 

In Korea, there are official fan clubs for actors/actresses, singers, and other entertainers. Some are called official since the entertainment agencies approve of them or even create them themselves for a better communication between the fans and the managements. 








The fan clubs have different colors that symbolize their stars too. 

different colors of idol fandom in Korea

Fans can engage in meeting the stars through fan meetings, which happens in the star's birthday, or whenever the entertainment agencies create an occasion. They usually have numerous times to get autographs of the star. 

Example of fan meeting where celebrities sign autographs

Example of a fan meeting where celebrities and fans communicate

In the U.S. and U.K., I heard there are some fan clubs, such as the "Cumberbitches". Furthermore, the fan club does not stay in the realm of only the stars but also for individual shows and movies, such as the Star Wars and Star Trek fandom. 

Now, the fan activities are now highly based on tumblr and other social media where people can not only share photos and information about the stars, but also look up the stars and see how they are doing in real life. 

Examples of fandom of shows and stars

Example of fandom-created memes

Example of fans and non-fans' follower number in social media platform 

Like the class's "star watch" section before class, it is always a pleasure for the fans and even non-fans to meet stars and celebrities in both Korea and the U.S..

03/24/15 Reading Core Response #3

Honestly, I could not relate to how Elvis was a big hit. Even though I was born and raised in Korea for half of my youth, I was still exposed to the Beatles or Celine Dion's famous Titanic theme song. The first time I encountered Elvis is actually from the movie Lilo and Stitch. Thus, the readings were quite interesting for me in a sense that I am learning part of American culture that I was unaware of. In Doss's essay on Elvis, he especially describe the fan culture of Elvis, which was quite amusing. I think the fan culture like Elvis cannot happen anymore. Even though we have Justin Bieber or other male celebrities and idols who are popular, I think they are emanating Elvis or highly selling the sexuality of their body image rather than their image as a whole. Also, current Elvis-like figures are not welcomed by men whereas Elvis was liked by both men and women fans. Another important difference in the contemporary society's male celebrities or idols not reaching the status of Elvis might be because of Elvis's representation of the American Dream and patriotism. Since fans know how Elvis has started from the bottom and reached the top but still remained humble and faithful to his loved ones, they might associate him with traditional American values (such as working hard leads to success, loving one's family and friends, and protecting the country). Further mention of Gutai and the culture of the 50s and 60s that made Elvis possible were interesting too. Especially when the rock and roll culture defined rebellion against popular, mainstream culture, Elvis is in the center of the mainstream culture--sustaining his image while still being mainstream and popular is indeed one of the contradictions that Elvis embody. One thing I noticed about Elvis is how fans have sympathy towards him. They do not blame the star himself for leading to drug addiction or overweight but hand responsibilities to his situation as a celebrity. The fans' blind or one sided love towards certain images of Elvis, not the others, is interesting in a sense that his loved images are extremely overpowering.

Supplementary Response #2

As a student whose background is from Korea, I am not only familiar about the Hollywood stars and the entertainment system but also Korean entertainment. Recently, I have been comparing the two different countries and cultures' fan culture.

I will be dividing my observations of the two different fan cultures into three sections:

a. Gift-giving
b. Home master
c. Community (a.k.a. fan club)

Today, I will be talking about b. Home master.

Firstly, compare these photographs:

1.Photograph taken by a Korean journalist

2.Photographs taken by a Korean fan (home master)

3.Photograph taken by a paparazzi in Hollywood (or Britain)

4., 5. More Photographs taken by a Korean fan (home master)

These photographs are images of the same actor, Tom Hiddleston. His visit to Korea has left him some photographs that his fan took and edited with love. These fans, who almost professionally follow their stars and take photographs are called "home masters". They are called home masters since they all have a homepage that exhibits their stars' photographs (Indicated on the logo of the photographs).

Example of home master's photograph skill

Example of a fan home page of a star

Some home masters not only follow their stars' official schedules but also follow them to the airport. With the photographs that they take, home masters also create photo books and sell them, so that they can make money to buy gifts or jo gongs for the stars. Some home masters present the stars the photo books too.

Example of photograph that home master shoot: star at a photo wall

Example of photograph that home master shoot: on star's way to rehearsal

Example of photograph that home master shoot: star on stage 

Home masters are not limited to idol group members but also to actors.

Cameras used by home masters are extremely expensive and has great zooms. Some home masters rent the cameras out while others do use their own cameras (they would buy the cameras after they decided to be a fan of a star).






The downside of great photographs that home masters take is that there is an issue of privacy and stalking.

Airports flooded with fans and home masters often create inconvenience for the passengers.

03/03/15 Reading Core Response #2

In Harris's essay on SID, one can still find some similarities in today's image-making of stars. Although nowadays, the trend is that stars show their candid sides more, the stars' images stay with the stars for a long time. Grace Kelly is still considered as an elegant actress who has become a queen of a monarchy, compared to her private life of several affairs. It is interesting to see the comparison between Monroe and Kelly in Harris's essay since they might be considered as women in opposite ends of the spectrum of what is "feminine." While Kelly can be seen as more conservative in showing her femininity, Monroe can be considered as a woman who is liberating her own body. If considering Mulvey's text though, Monroe's image can be seen problematic since she is actively objectifying her own body. In Dyer's discussion on Monroe and her sexuality,  Monroe is an example of Hollywood and the society's interest in sex (note that it is still a heteronormal society where woman's sexuality was designed for male viewers, whereas man's sexuality like Valentino--although he is an actor prominent from the 20s--was designed for female viewers). I personally think Monroe has certainly made an impact in American culture, especially in creating her image as a "blonde bombshell". Compared to other blonde characters from the past, such as Hitchcock's infamous female characters, her image is powerful. As a fine arts student, I could not help but think of Warhol's Monroe paintings while reading both texts. Actually, Warhol's Monroe paintings can be interpreted as a comment on image. By laying out the famous image of Monroe's portrait repetitiously, he purposefully dulls down her image as the blonde bombshell since repetition of a visual are considered as redundant. Finally, on the Hepburn essay by Brown, it was interesting to see how her rise to stardom became successful since usually, I would just admire her rather than think of the cultural and societal background of Hepburn's time. I love how the essay mentions Givenchy and Hepburn's relationship. One can see this play between stars as muse for fashion designers still existing today. Her ambiguous but unique image has benefited her to gain various roles in movies.

Supplementary Response #1

As a student whose background is from Korea, I am not only familiar about the Hollywood stars and the entertainment system but also Korean entertainment. Recently, I have been comparing the two different countries and cultures' fan culture.

I will be dividing my observations of the two different fan cultures into three sections:

a. Gift-giving
b. Home master
c. Community (a.k.a. fan club)

Today, I will be talking about a. Gift-giving.
In Korea, there is a tradition that has developed called "조공" (Jo Gong).
Its root goes back to when Korea was seen as a sub-country of China.
In order to maintain good relationship with the bigger country, Korea would send various goods to the Chinese emperor.
Nowadays, the word is also being used to describe the act of Korean fans supporting their stars by presenting them with various goods. There are two big occasions where the fans give the stars Jo Gong: birthdays and sets.
Before their stars' birthdays, the fans, usually in groups of community (either in fan clubs or in supporting websites), comply money to buy presents. The presents range from artworks done by fans to even an IMac computer. Some fans would post advertisements throughout Seoul, such as on buses, subway stations, and newspapers, to celebrate the occasion.

Jo Gongs gifted to a star by a certain fan club which includes comic books, cosmetics, tea, humidifier, wine, and snacks

Jo Gongs gifted to a star by a certain fan club which includes stereo, TV, Macbook Pro, perfumes, sunglasses, wines, vitamins, snacks, and jewelries 

Ad created to celebrate a star's coming of age day at a subway station

Birthday advertisement for a star by a fan union

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO?

1. One fan of an idol group found out that her star loves English Premier League, especially the player Fernando Torres. Even though she does not speak English, she sent a letter to Torres to explain her star's upcoming birthday. Torres, after reading the letter, sent an autographed ball and shirt to the fan, which she gave it to the idol group member in his birthday. In a way, the fan linked the star (member of the idol group) to his star (Torres)!

2-a. Some stars are known to not receive physical presents for their birthdays. Rather, they encourage the fans to do good in the world. Still, some fans do Jo Gong by philanthropy, such as donate money in their stars' name. 

2-b. Example of Jo Gong that has philanthropic meaning (creating forest in Seoul in the star's name)

Fans also support their stars when they are shooting a new drama or movie (for singers and Idol groups, for their new album). To wherever their stars are, in different stations or sets in the countryside, the fans would usually prepare food for not only their stars, other stars in the case of drama and movie shoots, but also for the whole staffs. They do this in order to not only feed their loving stars but also to entrust their stars come out well on screen by the happy, non-hungry staffs. The act of Jo Gong to these numerous staffs ultimately benefits the stars, giving them good image and the good quality of their performances.

Jo Gong prepared for staffs, co-stars, and the star to eat during a drama shooting

Jo Gong (gift box filled with hand creams and other goods) for the staffs being prepared

Stars, or the entertainment company, would then post the stars with the Jo Gongs, which certifies that they have received the fans' presents.

Idol group member taking selfies to show that she received the Jo Gong

Star taking a selfie in the moment of enjoying the Jo Gong

I think this is an unique fan culture of Korea. So far, I have not seen any U.S. fandom who would organize such support to its stars. There is a case of stars doing the vice versa. It is called "역조공" (Yuk Jo Gong--yuk meaning reverse), where stars would prepare gifts to their fans. Although they cannot give presents to all their fans, they would prepare food or small gift to share with the ever-supportive fans. Some stars in the U.S. also Yuk Jo Gonged to their fans. Recently, Taylor Swift gave random fans Christmas presents, which included a 2014 London Victoria's Secret Fashion Show duffle bag stuffed with exclusive merchandise, a Fujifilm Instax Mini 90 Polaroid camera with four packs of film and picture frames, bath and beauty products from Australia, Brandy Melville apparel, a large stuffed animal fox, blankets, throw pillows, candles, $200's worth of gift cards, and a Christmas sweater (Wang, Billboard). It seems universal for stars in both countries to show their appreciation to their fans by giving them presents. The joy of the fans who receive these would also be universal to the U.S. and Korean fans.

Members of an Idol group hand-wrapping the Yuk Jo Gong gifts

Same Idol group presenting the fans who are waiting to watch their performance food

Some fans who have received the Yuk Jo Gong from their stars would post the gift on their fan club community or even on their SNS

Capture of Taylor Swift wrapping gift boxes for fans