Jennifer Lawrence, Celebrity Interviews, and the Butt-Plugging of the Public Sphere

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session I
  In Interactive Paper Session: Popular Communication Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

Television talk show interviews with celebrities may be perceived as simple diversions, but in reality such phenomena exemplify the conflation both of the public and private spheres and of entertainment and journalistic media. As pedagogical instruments, the discourses proffered in celebrity interviews help reinforce and naturalize hegemonic views of consumerism and social behavior. This analysis of three televised talk show interviews with the actor Jennifer Lawrence sheds light on the “common sense” of the celebrity interview and challenges the dominant discourses of the genre. It is argued that film actors, who play a pedagogical role in the public sphere, should engage more directly with the often pointed social themes represented in their films.

Author

• Perry Parks, Michigan State University