Pecking into Popular Culture

In his article, ‘Being yourself’: the pursuit of authentic celebrity, Andew Tolson defines the star persona as “the point at which private life becomes public, and where acting connects with the ‘real person.’” Stars create this image based on how they wish to be perceived. An example of where acting may connect with the real person is if an actor cries real tears when their on screen grandmother dies and the tears are real because they are remembering when their actual grandmother died. The audience searches for this real person behind the star.

In Dancing in the Distraction Factory by Andrew Goodwin, he states that, “star imagery builds on vulnerability and ordinariness to establish points of identification for the audience.” Stars need to be viewed as vulnerable and ordinary for the audience to be able to relate to them and for the viewers to find the stars authentic.

However, the star persona is extremely complex and paradoxical. Goodwin quotes John Ellis who states that star images “are composed, like narrative images, of elements which do not cohere, of contradictory tendencies.” Ellis elaborates that the star image is incoherent because it shows the celebrity as both an ordinary person and as an extraordinary person. The star needs to have both qualities in order to achieve the greatest fame. We need to find the star authentic and believable but at the same time they need to have something special and extraordinary about them for us to be interested in them.

 Our moms always tell us to just be ourselves, don’t try to be something you’re not because everyone will see right through it. It is said that individuals “posses an inner, irreducible essence, a ‘real self’ behind whatever public face, or mask, they might project.” But what does it mean for a celebrity to ‘just be themselves’?  

Andrew Tolson’s article, ‘Being yourself’: the pursuit of authentic celebrity, says that celebrities ‘being themselves’ should be understood as a type of public performance, however, it is crucial that they are not perceived as acting. Tolson argues that part of the public’s fascination with stars is the attempt to discover their true identities and private lives. Personal disclosure is key in talk show interviews; guests appear to be showing us their ‘true’ selves, and discussing their ‘feelings’ and reflect on their private lives with impunity. Tolson quotes Bell and Van Leeuwen (1994):

“What is revealed is not so much the ‘real’ or ‘deep’ personality behind the mask of celebrity. It is, rather, the fascination of the role of celebrity, both for the person who speaks about his/her own celebrity-induced experiences and for the slightly wide-eyed interviewer and audience”.

Celebrities present to their audience what is meant to be interpreted as their real and true selves; however, what they are really presenting is the version of their true selves and personal lives constructed in order to please their audience.