A star can only have a positive representation, if the means of media wasn’t so influential on the many fans who glorify their art. Although the media seeks to destroy this ‘glorified’ image that many fans have set in their minds. For Whitney Houston the media representation, destroyed her somewhat angelic image. Most of her negative features were exposed through emotive, figurative and colloquial language in Mark Seal’s article for Vanity Fair, “The Devils in Diva” written in 2012.
Drug addiction, false love and a gospel conscience were three parts of Whitney Houston. Seal seemed to think Whitney’s voice was almost angelic when he says, “the glory of Whitney Houston’s voice was evidence of the power of God.” Seal uses strong emotive language to represent innocence - Whitney Houston - ‘gospel singer’ with an angelic voice.
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Seal seems to think Whitney was all about the drugs, when he states, “Whitney Houston was a walking advertisement for the evils of drug abuse.” This metaphor not only enforces her as being a disjointed drug abuser, but also as an influence on many women who looked up to her. Even to Seal she was “stick skinny” and “unhealthy” during the depth of her drug addiction, which to women might be viewed as a good side effect of drugs, as many women are striving for the body of their celebrity idols. “Disjointed”, was the only word Larry Shane, writing for the Washington Post under “Whitney Houston Gets Bad Press,” could find to describe Houston’s erratic and unruly behaviour during the prime of her singing career. The use of verbs and adjectives in Shane’s article help to enforce how ridiculous Houston was behaving. As well as his use of rhetorical questions, jargon and slang. Which he uses to his advantage to position the reader into thinking of Houston negatively. Even Shane thought she was going through a dark patch, when he labels it as “Whitney’s troubled times.” Shane labelled it right as it perfectly describes her behaviour - using alliteration which gives a greater impact on readers. Even though Seal portrayed Houston as “the voice of our time”, where he uses pathos, to create a feeling of nostalgia among readers. By creating this emotion, it makes readers remanence the glory days of Houston, by remembering her as the glorified singer she was, and what she had become. Although Houston seemed to disagree with this ideology. Shane agrees with Houston by saying, “she blamed a sore throat for voice problems.” Although, it was more than just a general sore throat. Through evaluative language it positions people into a distant thought of how Houston really valued singing. Daily Telegraph agreed with the fact that Houston was not appreciating her talent in singing, when they label her voice as “savaging’. The use of language features in the article, such as emotive language, is to make the readers feel ashamed of what Houston was prioritising. The media portrayed Houston as a drug hungry addict.
On the flip side, no one really understood the reasoning for the loss of voice and heart. “Singing about her life”, The Daily Telegraph uses emotive and figurative language to draw on the heartstrings of her many fans, to make them feel as though she has reasons for her actions.
You would imagine a singer to be doing vocal warm-ups or maybe having a little social before a performance. Though it seems Houston defies all this when Daily Telegraph captures the picture shown, in their article titled “Whitney Houston looks exhausted prior to Hunter Valley’s Concert” in February of 2010. Houston was doing the bare minimum, even the photo could illustrate the lack of effort.
We can see through the visual features represented that she is overly exhausted. Houston’s stance shows her having little to no energy. Her hair is less then just wavy, it is dishevelled. The facial expression expressed portrays her as frazzled. The way she was dressed is not what could be considered Valentino, yet alone Kmart, it was … no words can really describe it but scruffy. “Puffy Houston “as Telegraph describes
it. Houston’s show wasn’t any better than her scruffy shirt. Her performance failed to regale the audience, but instead derailed them. Even The Telegraph agreed, “her acoustic set of old favourites unfortunately could not hide the obvious problems with her voice, the strains and coughs”. Telegraph uses strong modality and emotive language to position the reader into a negative ideology of her as a singer. “It’s terrible “, “Houston rallied the final three songs”, the use of strong modality and colloquial language used by The Telegraph to tug on the disappointed heartstrings further. Houston was becoming the singer no one thought she would become. A singer with potential and inspirational qualities, brought down by drugs and an abusive relationship is how the media wants us to remember Whitney Houston. Through strong media perception, she will be remembered as a strong and powerful singer who just ended up skidding, ironically - just remember not everything the media portrays is as true as you may think.
told that she looks like a new mother, then she relaxes and smiles, which shows an
...lomon, 2008). Warner Bros (the firm that invested in Madonna’s career) benefited from Madonna’s power to capture the market. Madonna’s unique persona helped her establish high customer loyalty. Warner Bros received an unexpected sale increase during Madonna’s first tour when the initially planned small concert has to add new seats and move to a larger arena because her concert tickets were sold-out within the first hour (Cengage, 2003). The success in selling Madonna’s books and albums are resulted from people’s perceived quality of racy and erotic contents in her work. Madonna puts both her career and personal life on the spotlight to create maximum customer awareness. Although there are some negative associations with her name, Madonna’s ability to reinvent herself to fit the public’s desire has kept her one of the most influential American icons in the world.
spirit was watching over him and how she had come to visit him before going on stage. He barely made it through the song. Despite
This proximity to celebrities, according to Elliott, shifts focus from celebrities to celebrity body parts. This new focus increases the use of cosmetic surgery and other tools to mimic what is perceived as attractive (Elliott 2010). Furthermore, Elliott in his work goes on to discuss the notion that, in traditional societies, priests and saints were uplifted based on their personality and ability whereas in today’s Hollywood era, the celebrity is celebrated on account of physical features (Elliott 2010). On the other hand, I do not believe this concept fully applied to African American traditional slave society. This is because, ...
The late Michael Joseph Jackson was a 20th-century African-American singer and songwriter who transformed the face of pop music and popular culture throughout his lifetime (Michael Joseph Jackson ). Debuted in the professional music world in 1968 at the age of 10 as a member of The Jackson 5, Jackson’s rise to fame had been largely influenced by his invaluable contributions to the music, dance and fashion industries (Michael Joseph Jackson). Hailed as the ‘King of Pop’, his solo album “Thriller” remains “the best-selling album of all time”, with global sales of “over 51 million copies to date since 1982” (Guinness World Records ). Michael Jackson’s one-of-a-kind songs have also earned him over 700 awards, including 13 Grammy Awards as well as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (Michael Jackson; Grammy). However, his music recognition goes beyond what his cupboard-full of awards could ever represent. In this paper, I propose that Michael Jackson’s songs have touched and changed many lives through his constant fight for racial fairness. In particular, I argue that Michael Jackson used his music career as an outlet to break down racial barriers in the American music industry, to express his disappointment towards racial discrimination, to demonstrate his support for racial equality, to advocate that the color of our skin does not differ us from one another, as well as to show and guide others that change has to begin within oneself before impacting the world . Although certain parties would point out that Jackson used derogatory r...
Stints as a child model and commercial actress brought Lohan into the spotlight at the age of three. As she transitioned from childhood to adulthood, it was becoming much more difficult to make such an appearance in the media that she had as a child. “The mass-media sets the public agenda; they are the ones who, as a result of their social event selection and focusing system, assign the priority of the discussion topics on the agenda” (Pachef, 2010). Thus, everything she had done in her personal life the media had documented, making sure the public masses were aware of Lohan. From her drug abuse to her nightlife stories, the media had it. When she even knew she had enough, the media couldn’t let go because they had absorbed so much popularity and power from the public masses from all the stories behind Lohan. Instead of focusing on her recovery, she wanted to feed the media through her actions because it was her only choice to steal the spotlight. The media as well had distorted the image of Lohan on and off the screen, whether it was shooting a new film to having lunch with her parents, by making her look like this “Scarlet A” individual whom society dislikes. The mass media establishes the topics that are worth being acknowledged, and the public is interested in the topics that circulate in the mass media.
Demi Lovato is a famous singer, songwriter, and actor born in 1992 in New Mexico. Although she was on “Barney & Friends” as a child, most people know her from her years as an actress and an occasional singer on disney channel. She co-starred in the famous movie series “Camp Rock” and also in the television series “Sonny with a Chance.” After these acting positions, Lovato began a career in singing. She has released many albums and has had many hit songs such as “Heart Attack” and “Cool for the Summer.” In 2012 and 2013, Lovato was a judge on “The X Factor” (Wikipedia). Singing is a huge part of Lovato’s life, and she pours her heart and should into her lyrics.
Through songs like “Pumping Up the Party,” she also taught listeners that life is always better when shared with friends and family. Her performances were often accompanied with lots of smiling, laughing, and story-telling.
The star text of a celebrity can help to decipher their image and transitions they may undergo. In order to better understand these transitions, one must know the definition of a star text. A star text is the sum of everything we affiliate with celebrities, which includes their body of work, promotion, publicity, and audience participation (Jackson, 08/09/16). One must note that “celebrity doesn 't happen because someone has extraordinary qualities – it is discursively constructed by the way in which the person is publicised and meanings about them circulate” (O 'Shaughnessy and Stadler 424). Destiny Hope Cyrus, “an American singer and actress, became a sensation in the television series
Whitney Houston is considered one of the greatest singers of our generation. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, she holds the record of being the most rewarded female artist of all time. I chose her as my topic, because she represents resiliency and tenacity, despite her troubled experiences with drugs and her personal life. Whitney Houston comes from a family with an amazing, musical pedigree; her mother, Cissy Houston, was a successful back-up singer for Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley. Dionne Warwick is her first cousin, and Aretha Franklin is her godmother.
of conveying the fragility of life that somehow really nailed it. When he sang sad
In today’s world, celebrities are often misunderstood, especially singer/songwriter Robin Rihanna Fenty, referred to as Rihanna. Rihanna’s sexual behaviors in her videos have been talked about in negative ways for some time now, but what [eople do not understand is that it is all for fame. Celebrities will do anything to keep their career going strong. If one really took the time out to take a deep look at Rihanna, they will notice how humble she really is. After going through the abusive relationship with Chris Brown, Rihanna has struggled with gaining that strong confidence with who she is. Her critics believe that she is still trying to discover herself and figure out who she really is as a person. Rihanna is often given two choices, to do what she is being asked to do, or throw her career out the window. She either gives the crowd the sexual acts they want or let her career die down. In the song “S&M,” Rihanna was really exposing herself to the crowd, as well as “Good Girl, Gone Bad.” She is basically telling the crowd that this is the person she is, but is it really? For my original piece I will be creating a journal, expressing the feelings Rihanna felt as she overcomes her struggles. Rihanna’s sexual behaviors in her videos are really all for fame and therefore, are easily misunderstood.
Women have consistently been perceived as second-class citizens. Even now, in times when a social conscience is present in most individuals, in an era where an atmosphere of gender equality 'supposedly' exists, it is blatantly apparent that the objectification and marginalization of women is still a major social issue. In reality, progression in terms of reducing female exploitation has been stagnant at best. Not only is the degradation of women a major problem that to date has not been eradicated, but it is actually being endorsed by some music celebrities. There are a growing number of people who purchase rap albums that support the fallacy that women are mere objects and should be treated as such. As the popularity of rap continues to climb at unprecedented rates, so too does its influence on the perception of women. In the vast majority of hip-hop songs, the depiction of women as sexual objects, the extreme violence directed towards them and the overall negative influence these lyrics have on the average adolescent's perception of women make rap the absolute epitome of female exploitation.
much, but still lives to tell about it and share all of her life experiences through her songs.
Miley Cyrus is a cultural icon. Since the time she was fourteen the media has been scrutinizing every move she makes. From whom she is dating, to what roles she chooses and what she says. But nothing is scrutinized more than her performances; most specifically Miley’s performance at the MTV VMA’s. Miley preformed her song We Can’t Stop and along with Robin Thicke preformed his song Blurred Lines. This performance led to a huge backlash in the media. Every major new station covered it. CTV even brought in psychiatrists and experts on the media to analyze her performance. The next morning Miley’s news story had even beaten out the Syrian war crimes. The experts all came to the same conclusion that she was out of control, and a slut. Miley was most heavily criticized on her attire, and her interactions with Robin Thicke. Everyone was claiming that she was setting a bad example for young girls; CNN even went so far as to claim her “performance sets girls and women back” (Wallace 2013)