CTCS 412
March 5, 2018
Core Response 3
This week's readings focus on the star image of Elvis Presley. It was interesting reading articles on a star known for his music in comparison to the stars in films that we read about previously (although Elvis was also in his fair share of films as well).
I especially found the article written by Erika Doss interesting, titled Images of Elvis. Throughout the article, Doss explains Elvis' star qualities and what made him such a hot commodity to his audiences. Women wanted to be with him and men wanted to be him. There was an intimacy felt between the audience and Elvis that set him apart from other performers.
His image was very interesting in that there was a contradictory between his image, his personality, and his behavior. Elvis was seen as an everyday, blue collar kind of guy. His Southern values from childhood carried into his adulthood, making audiences feel that they could relate to him. Doss mentions that there was in innocence about him, which is interesting considering that he was also highly sexualized. This reminds me of our past look at Marilyn Monroe who also embodied this child-like figure that was sexualized at the same time. The gaze was now upon Elvis and the onlookers were mostly teenage girls. Similar to John Wayne, Elvis' manager saw his potential initially in his looks and knew that they could take him to stardom.
Another element that I found interesting in this article is Doss' description of the relationship that Elvis had with his audience. As mentioned earlier, this relationship was very intimate - so intimate that audience members felt that he was singing directly to them individually. Doss explains that there was an "emotional and physical participation from the audience." This reminds me a lot of today's interaction between celebrity and fan. However with technology now involved, I believe social media is the star's way of doing this. Doss whole idea of "reaction and response" has been even more accessible due to social media and the star's ability to connect almost instantly with their fans.
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