Choose a favorite celebrity. What about them do you find authentic? What revelant fantasy or symbolic resources do they provide you?

Post 1

I don't keep up with pop culture and the lives of celebrities much these days, and I don't consume media in the same way that I did when I was younger. However, when I think back a couple of years, one celebrity is brought to mind, and that is Lorde. Lorde is an incredibly popular indie-pop singer/songwriter who rose to fame in 2013/2014 with the release of her album Pure Heroine, which discusses life as a teenager in today's day and age. Her unique perspective on growing up allowed massive amounts of people to relate to her lyrics, including myself. I find her entire personality, story, and character to be authentic, and it's because of that that I was able to form such a connection and appreciation for not only her work but her herself. I got to see her in 2014 at the Greek Theatre for her debut tour, and she seemed genuinely interested and appreciative of her audience and the city of Berkeley. This made my appreciation for her grow deeper and stronger, almost as if I knew her on a personal level.

Lorde provided me and many other people with a means of escape, a way of finding comfort and appreciation in and for your current situation, while simultaneously striving for something new and better. "Images of celebrities can be ‘used by audiences as sources for their own meaning-making processes, offering sites of identification or dis-identification with the values embodied by celebrities’ (Meyers 2015, p. 74)." (Sobande pg. 403) I related to Lorde and the struggles she discussed in her lyrics, and this made me appreciate her. To this day I still enjoy listening to her discography, as it brings me back in time and conjures up a state of nostalgia.

Post2 According to the article written by Sobande, “Images of celebrities can be ‘used by audiences as sources for their own meaning-making processes, offering sites of identification or dis- identification with the values embodied by celebrities(Meyers

2015, p. 74)”(403). One of my favorite celebrities is Emma Chamberlain, who is an American Youtuber reaching over 9 million subscribers. Even though she is only 19 years old, she is not only a Youtuber but also running her own company as well. She has made so much money from Youtube and other businesses, but she still shows us being one of the ordinary teenagers. One of the reasons why she has a huge number of subscribers is that her videos make us feel like having a chit chat with a best friend. Relevant fantasy can be clearly seen on her Youtube videos. Although many popular YouTubers create videos for the ideal type of lifestyle such as morning routine, Emma only exposes her daily life and nothing seems special. But her natural appearance attracts many teenagers because they feel close to herself and her lifestyle. While many people enjoy watching the naturalness, some viewers are critical of her appearance.