What are the components of star identity?
In media studies we understand ‘stars’ through the semiotics approach. In this approach stars should be studied as clusters of signs, as systems of signifiers or texts that communicate meaning to a spectator. These ‘star texts’ are obviously grounded in the lives of real human beings. Then the more complex process of ‘star construction’ takes over.
The construction of the star text
Geoff Dyer in his book ‘Stars’ argues that star identities are constructed in a process that typically involves four modalities. Let’s use this approach to investigate the construction of 50 Cent’s star identity.
First of all a star is a real person. In star study we are interested in the transformation of the ordinary and the presence in our lives of the extraordinary. The cult of the star depends on the simultaneous sense of the star’s exceptional qualities and the fact that at some level of everyday living they have experiences just like we do (or we can relate to) and can be communicated with as people we ‘know’.
Curtis Jackson was born in 1976. He grew up in South Jamaica, Queens, a largely African-American poor neighbourhood in New York. The child of a dysfunctional family he began low level drug dealing at the age of twelve during the 1980s expansion of crack use. After leaving drug...
