MEDIATED PERSONA

Mediated Persona



Mediated Persona

Introduction

Celebrity culture is merely a man-made realm of rebellion, subversion, the ruthless gaining and applauding of social status, and the wielding of influential power. This realm is the lovechild of screenwriters and musicians and has redefined the general perception of western sophistication; it has held its worldwide prominence ever since its humble beginnings in Hollywood. The majority of people, who are bereft of celebrity status, continue to have a fascination with this culture and tend to gravitate towards the aspirations associated with it. Of course, we know that upon closer observation, this realm is not real, but rather a mirage. it is a skillfully assembled montage of rich people's 'best bits' and most photogenic angles, dispersed through all forms of media and repeated to generation after generation. The process continues until we are programmed to believe and accept that this is the perfect world and that only people who look or act like these celebrities can dwell there. Even the controversial dramas these stars experiences are portrayed with the perfect dose of romance, triumph over evil, violence and drugs. Yet somehow, the threat of social suicide is always looming; a celebrity with one too many rehab visits loses credibility, is deemed 'unsalvageable' and is written off like an undriveable car (Presnell 2008, Pp. 112-283). The personal characters of the songwriters themselves have not always been above reproach, and many of them can with difficulty command respect either as artists or human beings.

The Mediated Persona

In order to understand the extent to which celebrity culture has affected our experience of popular music, we must first understand its roots in history. First, what is a 'mediated persona'? Evans (2005) writes of the term being coined to “emphasize that celebrity is dependent on the media for its existence.” In other words, mediated persona is just that: imagine the idea of a person having a mirror which makes their reflection look flawless; furthermore, imagine that this mirror does not relay a reflection to the one looking into it, but to the rest of the world. In this case, the 'mirror' is the predominantly visual media, that is, television. A mediated persona, it can be summarised, is the image that a celebrity wishes to be understood or perceived as (Casey 2008, Pp. 247-345).

Some may argue that the exact time is hard to pinpoint, but we will assert that the 'mediated persona' was formed around the emergence of Elvis Presley in the 1950s; it seemed to develop alongside his fame. This significant development coincided with the 'birth' of the teenager- a new and unprecedented segment in the hierarchy of society. This newfound population arose out of the need for distinct identity, (which would ironically, decades later, lead to a surge of mass clones from every walk of life, each one fitting into at least one genre). Following Elvis' controversial breakthrough, and his transcendence of colour amidst racial tensions, The Beatles transcended the transatlantic divide and thus created 'Beatlemania', an American hype which became obsessed ...