At my internship last week, I ran into Benji and Joel Madden from Good Charlotte. After getting over my initial shock at seeing them and their face tattoos, I got the elevator for them and told them where to go. I thought Benji and Joel had dropped off the face of the earth, but apparently they have something in the works besides being married to famous women.
When I went back to my intern friends and told them who I saw, none of them knew who I was talking about. I thought everyone knew who Benji and Joel Madden were. They were huge for me in middle school, but I guess not everyone has the same middle school experiences. This experience reminds me how working in the entertainment industry, I have to get used to seeing famous people and treating them like normal people, if they want to be treated that way.
It is also interesting to think about how once stars create an image for themselves, it is extremely difficult to change that image. Joel Madden now has 2 children, but he will forever be known as a punk band rocker who wears black eyeliner and has tattoos. But will he still be thought of like that when he is 80? Changing one's star image has to be an extremely hard thing to do because Americans are not fond of change, but I guess that is why celebrities have so many agents and managers to help construct their image.
Supplemental Post #5: I think the topic of star images is interesting to discuss because I think a major factor in changing a star's image is determined by what kind of star they are. I think all stars change their image, at least most, it's just a part of evolving as an artist. Some stars just get more attention for it. Like your friends, I have no idea who Benji and Joel Madden are, but you do, and you have a certain image of them you grew up with. So naturally when you saw them you thought of that image you had of them when you were in middle school, and although I'm sure they have undergone change, that's always what you're going to remember them by. Then we have our childhood stars, stars that we've watched grow up on the T.V. or movie screen, the first thing that comes to mind is our Disney channel stars. These stars are basically not allowed to change their image because audiences remember them from one thing. They also become fairly household names and live in the spotlight, like Miley or Selena, so when they do begin to redefine their image, everybody notices and you're right, we are so not fond of change. Instead of embracing a star's new direction, we just like to complain about how they're not the same anymore. But change is natural, all stars, and all people in general, change and there's nothing anyone really can or should do to stop it.
ReplyDelete