"Glee Goes GaGa"

From the articles read for last class, Jackie Stacey discusses a few ways spectators try to identify with/as the stars; for instance the desire to be, the pleasure in feminine power, and escapism. Lately Glee has embraced the concept of the power of women, featuring two female celebrity themes in the last couple episodes, Madonna and Lady Gaga, both very iconic, unique, and powerful women. Scenes from the show represent just how powerful feminine celebrities can truly be. My wiki last week summed up the Madonna episode, and this week it's Lada Gaga. In the show, the cast tries to be her through the desire to be as well as escapism. The Glee crew are all portrayed as the one and only, dressing and acting just like her. The power of Lady Gaga has influenced the show to air an episode featuring everything Gaga. I sort of think the Glee episodes help to fade away the distance between celebrity and spectator. This is what Stacey would call escapism. By dressing up, acting out a video, or simply watching a music video, the spectator can escape for that moment and let go of their own reality, falling into the celebrity's shoes for an instant, in this case, Lada Gaga's. Fans do this usually when they become so star struck and consumed with a celebrity icon, that they loose track of reality at times, getting lost in the idea they they ARE the star, and this is just what Glee has done, each episode allowing its cast to get lost for the moment in a different stars life, only showing the world the true power of stardom and fandom.

Stardom.

Celebrities - people idolize them, they want to be them. The power of stardom is always in constant motion, increasing more and more each day. The stars have the power to influence us for many reasons, whether it be simply by their physical beauty, their strong, powerful personality, their music, or just the desire to get lost in the movies they play out. Fortunately for those crazed fans out there, sites such as You Tube, Twitter, as well as fan sites are out there to "keep in touch" with the big guys. Twitter for instance is a social networking site that allows spectators to feel even closer to their favorite celebrities. The site allows people to "follow" celebrities who have a Twitter account, which keeps them updated 24/7 on what their favorite celeb is doing day by day (minute by minute for some celebrities - Ashton Kutcher). On my Twitter I follow some of the stars on my favorite soap General Hospital, as well as my favorite singers and actors. While the distance still remains, checking my phone every once in awhile and receiving those updates really puts up a "bridge" in a way to get closer. There is also sites out there such as You Tube where spectators can create their own fanvids, and post them for the world to see. Fanvids can be specific images or clips of movies and shows put together with background music. They can also be "how to" videos, such as a guide to learning favorite celebrity music video dances. Not ashamed to admit it, this is something that suckered me in. Whether it be my sister and I creating space in the living room and setting the laptop on the coffee table to learn one of Britney's popular dances, or my college roommates at University of Iowa and I setting up in our apartment's kitchen to learn Souljaboy's "Crank That" routine, I've fallen victim to it. And I've got to say, something as simple as that really does make a spectator feel almost "cool," because they are that much closer to their favorite celeb.