Publicising private lives : celebrities, image control and the reconfiguration of public space

Kim McNamara

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

    17 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The nature of contemporary celebrity demands the negotiation of publicness and privacy. Given the increasingly intrusive presence of the paparazzi, entertainment media, and fans (from obsessed 'stalkers' to well-wishers), celebrities need to regulate but also publicise their 'front stage' public persona. While this is usually achieved with a degree of comfort, at certain times their space is threatened. Through a case study of the 2003 court case concerning unsolicited photographs of the wedding of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas, published in Hello! magazine, this paper examines the policing, staging and legislative defence of celebrity privacy. It is suggested that celebrities' role in public is compromised by their extreme recognisability.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)9-23
    Number of pages15
    JournalSocial and Cultural Geography
    Volume10
    Issue number1
    Publication statusPublished - 2009

    Keywords

    • Douglas, Michael, 1944-
    • Zeta-Jones, Catherine, 1969-
    • celebrities
    • celebrity weddings
    • mass media and publicity
    • paparazzi
    • privacy
    • privacy, right of
    • publicity

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