The historical and cultural context of fame in the twenty-first
century
Today, celebrity culture is an inescapable part of our media landscape
and our everyday lives. This was not always the case. Over the past
century, media technologies have increasingly expanded the production
and proliferation of fame. Celebrity explores this revolution and its
often under-estimated impact on American culture. Using numerous
precedent-setting examples spanning more than one hundred years of media
history, Douglas and McDonnell trace the dynamic relationship between
celebrity and the technologies of mass communication that have shaped
the nature of fame in the United States.
Revealing how televised music fanned a worldwide phenomenon called
"Beatlemania" and how Kim Kardashian broke the internet, Douglas and
McDonnell also show how the media has shaped both the lives of the
famous and the nature of the spotlight itself. Celebrity examines the
production, circulation, and effects of celebrity culture to consider
the impact of stars from Shirley Temple to Muhammad Ali to the homegrown
star made possible by your Instagram feed. It maps ever-evolving media
technologies as they adeptly interweave the lives of the rich and famous
into ours: from newspapers and photography in the nineteenth century, to
the twentieth century's radio, cinema, and television, up to the
revolutionary impact of the internet and social media.
Today, mass media relies upon an ever-changing cast of celebrities to
grab our attention and money, and new stars are conquering new platforms
to build their adoring audiences and enhance their images. In the era of
YouTube, Snapchat, and reality television, fame may be fleeting, but its
impact on society is profound and lasting.
