Full Description
In this book the different manifestations, meanings, and processes of the star and celebrity confessional will be explored.
The confessional is taken to be any moment in which a star, celebrity, or fan engages in revelatory acts that are considered to be authentic, heart-felt, and honest. These confessional encounters can take place in an interview, through performance and presentation events, online, and in 'unscripted' encounters. A star may break down in tears, or reveal a previously unknown truth about their private life. However, this authenticity is often found to have been manufactured, or is timed to occur against a new release or product launch. Alternatively, the desire to confess may be seen to draw attention to the centrality of pseudo forms of emotion in contemporary culture and the obsessional behaviour it produces. In this book authors consider acts of confession by celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Michael Jackson, Jade Goody, Britney Spears, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tracey Emin, and Russell Crowe.
Contents
1. Introduction: the star and celebrity confessional Sean Redmond
2. Stardom, celebrity and the para-confession Barry King
3. Jade's confession: racism and the dialectics of celebrity Momin Rahman
4. Pieces of me: celebrity confessional carnality Sean Redmond
5. Still something else besides a mother? Negotiating celebrity motherhood in Sarah Jessica Parker's star story Deborah Jermyn
6. Living with fame: Geri and Living with Michael Jackson Ian Goode
7. The ethical violence of celebrity chat: Russell Crowe and David Gulpilil Felicity Collins
8. For the love of Jodie Foster: star demystification and national configuration Gabriel Wettach
9. Articulating authenticity through artifice: the contemporary relevance of Tracey Emin's confessional art Christine Fanthome
10. ''I feel your pain'': cosmopolitan charity and the public fashioning of the celebrity soul Jo Littler
11. Restricted confessions? Blogging, subcultural celebrity and the management of producer fan proximity Bertha Chin and Matt Hills
