Origins of Fame

As we try to find the roots of why the Kardashians are famous it leads us to find that they have many facets to it. I feel the family got there notoriety from their father who was a lawyer know for the OJ Simpson trial. But many other believe it was her sex tape. Without her father’s career and her stepfather’s notoriety no one would have cared about the sex tape. From all of this she got her show, which lead to the representation of her actual talent and possible model and fashion career. Although what was the key event that defined her celebrity? This got me thinking as to at what point in someone’s media career do they transfer from nobody to somebody? When is it that you can truly identify the point that a person becomes famous?

Why are They Famous Again?

I have truly wondered why it is exactly that people such as Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian are famous?After discussing the lectures, I have realized that they are people who have been ascribed their fame. Kim and Paris both come from very wealthy families that have social networks and connections to wealthy people and celebrities. Their family wealth made it possible for them to attain celebrity status. Neither of these women have attributed anything to society that would lead to fame. They do not have a particular skill or talent either that have made them acquire celebrity status, such as Derrick Rose. These ascribed celebrities tend to be the ones who annoy me because they are always show on television and magazines in some ridiculous situations spending millions of dollars. Seems like a waste of wealth and fame if you ask me.

Reinforcing the Gender Binary

In this Tide commercial, a mother discloses how upsetting it is for her that her daughter prefers clothing that is marketed towards boys. She also shows distaste for her daughter's favorite games which involve playing outside in the mud and playing with trucks. I was initially so appalled by the commercial that I had to ask myself "Well, this isn't so abnormal, why is it bothering me so much?" What occurred to me that while hitting the personal spot reserved especially for the societal pressure to be a girly, pink loving, cuddly, quiet, clean, and careful, the commercial also managed to reinforce the belief that gender-non-conformity is distasteful, disgusting, and something parents should try their hardest to prevent. In the past I would have seen this commercial and thought to myself "Well, the gender roles for women are out of date, rigid, and oppressive- this commercial is bad because it is supporting them!," but upon seeing it now it occurred to me as much more relevant as a Trans* issue.
While the restriction of a girl's gender expression is oppressive and hegemonic, that is only the surface of the content. What is really being displayed in this commercial, is how upset her gender-non-conformity makes her mother. The emphasis is on the mother's feelings about he daughter's preferences and dismissal of the daughter (specifically at the end with "Another car garage honey? That's beautiful.") makes this much more applicable to the pressures and oppression that trans* people deal with. The interesting thing is that I doubt the ad makers knew at all that it was addressing anything more than gender roles. This commercial serves as erasure for trans* people's experience with the gender binary by diffusing the gender issues to a be a (cis)woman's struggle.
In conclusion, I think that the reason this commercial seemed convoluted and jam packed with offensive material is because whenever gender-conformity and expectations of a gender mentioned, they not only affect cis people of that gender, they affect trans* people even more intensely, and from both that masculine and feminine sides.

Encounters with Celebrities

I haven't had too many. However, being a radio DJ (with future plans to stay a radio DJ, hopefully move to FM sometime in the future), one of my responsibilities is to interview (famous) musicians. Recently, I interviewed one of my all-time favorite musicians ever, Bob Nanna of the local (yet extremely influential) emotional post-hardcore band Braid. Local to Chicago, Braid made a huge impact on the music scene that sprouted here, and the band has been around since the early 90's. I was super excited to interview Bob, seeing that I've been listening to Braid since high school, before I even knew I was moving to Chicago. Don't get me wrong, I definitely freaked out. But because of the fact that I actually have experience with knowing famous people (I used to date someone who was somewhat famous), I used what I had learned from that experience to better my "fandom" towards Bob and his music. In the experience of dating a famous musician, I learned through him as well as his friends who were also famous musicians, that just because someone IS a 'celebrity,' doesn't mean that they're any different from those of us who aren't famous. Sure, they might have super cool jobs - going on tour, playing music for a living, making albums that reach the ears of thousands of people; however (from what I experienced and what I know), these people are the same as everyone else. Famous people also go have insecurities, family issues, and everything else that us 'normal' people struggle with. They expose their imperfections to the public eye, which is a very difficult struggle that fans and audiences alike don't think about when they think about their favorite bands. Therefore, knowing all of this and knowing that famous musicians strive to be treated as humanly possible as normal human beings, I went into my interview less starstruck than I probably would have if I hadn't had this experience. I also feel that I'm prepared for future interviews, knowing that just because someone is famous - doesn't make them any less of a REAL person.

For those of you who are reading this and know of/like Braid, maybe you'd like to hear my interview. You can check that out under the archive section on my website, http://rockethype.net

Students Oblivious to Danger

Today I came across an article/video about how student's at IU are still partying hard and walking home alone at night - even after the disappearance of a fellow classmate; Lauren Sperier, 5 months ago.  The video/news story spoke about how they had an under cover cop roam the streets at night during the weekend after a huge football game at Indiana University.  The under cover cop was 6'5, masculine and African-American.  Whenever he spoke to students one on one (mostly were intoxicated), the students were oblivious to the fact that there was a camera crew in front of them, and they still acted belligerently drunk. The under cover cop spoke about how students were not even intimated or questionable about him, even though he appeared suspicious. It seemed as though students assumed he was part of the "in crowd" because he had a beer in his hand. Why is it that schools need to show how hard they can party, even though there is still a missing person case that is not solved?  Are the students that oblivious and unintelligent to know how badly they are portraying their school? Not only did they students on camera make fools of themselves, but they made it easy for the publicly to understand how Lauren Sperier was abducted so easily on June 3rd after a night of partying. Students clearly assume that just because they are in a safe town, they are invincible to danger.

Sports fans

I was reading articles about fans, and sports fans are the most vicious types of fans ever! I was reading one article and it was just saying how many fans get injured by other fans all the time. I think its ridiculous its a game! Is this normal for fans to get so into the games, basically as much as the players do. I think think violence over a sport needs to end because that is no reason to fight. It would be more acceptable if it was the people actually playing the game because they have a reason to fight maybe. Do people feel the same? or do you think that this is normal and okay for people to fight over a game?

Just Another Blog Post about the Kardashians

In a recent class we discussed why the kardashians have reached the level of fame that they have, and why we care about them. It is evident that we watch "Keeping up With The Kardashians" because we want a peek into what living an extravagant life would entail, what living in the eye of the media entails, living a lavish lifestyle. Kim's success is the most confusing thing for me. Kim Kardashians life revolves around product placement, she is a walking ad. Whether its on her television show, or walking down the street she is truly selling her self out in the name of advertising and greed. Lets not even get started on the wedding.

So why are we not just paying attention to celebrities, but these celebrities whom we know aren't really famous for anything, but as a walking advertisement? Not only is Kim a walking advertisement, but really a reality TV Icon, and with an icon, comes a huge fan base. When it comes to Kims acquiring of celebrity, she can really fall into multiple forms. Her ascribed celebrity results from a famous father who was a lawyer and achieved celebrity through a court case. Her celebrity can be achieved due to her work as a stylist on Paris Hilton and other celebrities, therefore receiving her own show after getting "noticed." Therefore, also he celebrity can also be attributed. Over all Kim is a celeator. She is a character who has become an institution fixture of popular culture, and reality TV. Her face is all over our culture whether we like it or not.

One things for sure, while Kim may be getting a lot of bad press lately, it is very unlikely her and her family are going anywhere anytime soon, especially not off the air.