Core Response 3 - Joyce Chun

"Stardom is an image of the way stars live," (Dyer 35). As a fan, audience member, or even a hater, the lives of these "stars" always seem so mesmerizing and interesting because of the expected, differing lifestyles we assume these celebrities live. Like Dyer said, these "generalized lifestyle is the assumed backdrop for the specific personality of the star and the details and events of her/his life," (35). The ordinary is replaced as the special and the separate, a type of lifestyle the "normal" us look as impossible to achieve. However, with conspicuous consumption and being idols of it, the gap between the lifestyle of the stars and people closed, as what the stars were wearing and doing seem possible for the common crowd.

The next part of the reading went on about women being spectacles, how fashion and notions of beauty were ways of showing a type of lifestyle, one that fans try to share with their stars. Women could easily follow a fashion trend that their star wears or follow a beauty trend that their star apply as a way of "idolizing" this type of consumerism, but what I thought was more interesting was the non fashion/beauty way of conspicuous consumption. Equally, activities, like sports, also display the same imagery of wealth. When one plays golf, for example, it shows one's leisure with time and money while one's athletic body also shows that he/she is very much into sports. This made me reevaluate things that are posted on social media, whether it be celebrities or friends, because I'm reminded, once again, of the alternate interntions of certain posts on social media. I also understand why brands are constantly trying to get celebrities to feature their products, because they know how much these stars have on consumptions.

It all makes sense as to why fans try to copy stars, because their way of life resembles a certain level of wealth and enjoyment of life. It resembles success and also "suggests that success is worth having - in the form of conspicuous consumption,"(42). Because of this, even in the market, the problem isn't if they can produce enough products that are bought, instead if they can sell the amount produced initially."