The Name and the Product: Late Twentieth Century celebrity
The reading follows the developments in the entertainment industries over the 20th century, and the way they have affected the celebrities culture. There are several important components which have a very important impact on celebrities.
First one was the overall trend targeting the market such as product development, and advertisement that are seeking to attract. Second was the daily practices and interests of PR operatives and journalists that have come to depend on the practices of the entertainment industry, and celebrity in particular. Third, the technologies for providing a visual image that imitates the representation of an activity or an event, or person,rather than representing it directly have become highly developed. Finally in the beginning of the 1970s came the success of magazine and newspaper writing about 'people' and 'personality'. Publications such as People's and Newsweek were the most successful titles of that time.
Television's flow needed filling, so that created the most significant outlet new outlet for image creation.
Celebrity Making Revealed: Late twentieth Century Texts
The narratives and explanations of fame that were developed in the beginning of the century have remained dominant. Since the 1970s when TV Guide has become one of the top selling magazines, celebrity making has become a central theme as business. Fame has always been used as sales device. Stars have shared that 'I'm a piece of merchandise. And the more important I am, the more money I'm worth.' Terms began to change and celebrity was becoming 'merchandise', 'inventory', 'property', a 'product', 'a commodity'. Entertainment production began to be revealed and TV Guide published an article in 1967 offering instructions 'How to manufacture a celebrity'. Several years later a press agent has been quoted that his client could been 'sold...as anything'.
Once an agent's job was to discover celebrity. This has turned into an agent's job is to find a market and produce a celebrity for it.
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