Culture and the celebrity have strong connections in the modern society because people could access many different kinds of media; therefore, the public and the private are not clearly separated in the contemporary society (Marshall 2012). Celebrities show the trend of the society and also create the trend.
The group is supported by a lot of people and filmed and shown by the media; therefore, the group is a social phenomenon in Japanese culture. The producer, who created the group started the movement and he created a new symbol of Japanese pop culture worldwide. Their website is multilingual and people can watch their videos with subtitles on Youtube anywhere around the world. This shows how the media and popularity of this group drives globalisation forward.
The group members are blogging, tweeting, and participating in events that give the audience the opportunity to meet the group; therefore, the audience has affinity with the group members.
In this case, the members of the group are not special talented girls; therefore many teenage girls could copy them easily. In other words, the reach of celebrity goes beyond entertainment (Marshall 2010) because the celebrity becomes role model for people.
The culture and the celebrity are both influenced by each other; therefore it is impossible to say which comes first.
The culture and the celebrity are both influenced by each other; therefore it is impossible to say which comes first.
Image source:
References:
AKB48 Official English Website 2012, retrieved 4 September 2012, <http://www.akb48.co.jp/english/members/index.html>
AKB48 Official Chinese website 2012, retrieved 4 September 2012,
<http://www.akb48.co.cn/>
AKB48 Official English Website 2012, retrieved 4 September 2012, <http://www.akb48.co.jp/english/members/index.html>
AKB48 Official Chinese website 2012, retrieved 4 September 2012,
<http://www.akb48.co.cn/>
Marshall, D 2012, ALC215 Lecture, Deakin University, retrieved 3 September 2012, <https://d2l.deakin.edu.au/d2l/lms/content/viewer/main_frame.d2l?ou=31220&tId=1637656 >
Marshal,
D 2010, The Specular Economy, Society, vol.47, no.2, pp.
47-52, retrieved 2 September 2012,<http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=06343fae-2275-40fc-b18e-61cda1dbde0a%40sessionmgr13&vid=1&hid=3&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=54618364>.
Hi Kanako
ReplyDeleteThis is a very original concept on the celebrity culture that we are exposed to in society. As you have stated, it is very hard to distinguish which aspect of 'celebrity' and 'culture' hold a higher influence. On one hand, a certain culture needs to be in place to cultivate what would be deemed a 'celebrity' in that society. However, celebrities can have an influence over a certain demographic that instigates a 'movement' or 'sub-culture' in that particular society. The culture vs. the celebrity and the influence they hold is a very interesting idea.
The example you use is well referenced and the post is well constructed. Congrats!
You have made a very interesting angel to talk about the celebrity culture. It is really hard to say either the celebrities create a trend or they are following the culture. I will say they form a cycle and the followers of celebrities are also playing an important role in the issue. No matter celebrities or cultures appear first, a celebrity culture will be difficult to form if there is no public follow or adopt the trend. Anyway, I appreciate that you raise this question and your AKB48 example is relevant and up-to-date.
ReplyDeleteI like in the first paragraph how you said celebrity is made by the audience, this is very true, they shape their persona into what they believe the general public will most appreciate. The other strong point you made is about celebrities not just being performers of such, but role models, with the constant social contact we have now with celebrities via social networking sites we do get a great affinity with them.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting read. I wasn’t aware of the Japanese pop group used an example to answer whether the celebrity or culture came first. Despite that, the example of AKB48 was engaging throughout the blog post as you reasoned how celebrities and the culture surrounding them feed off each other. It’s a good point you make that the celebrities of our culture are a reflection of our culture itself. The role of social media by AKB48 and its connection to their success was also interesting.
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