Childhood and celebrity / edited by Jane O'Connor and John Mercer.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

O'Connor, Jane, 1972- editor.

Mercer, John, 1966- editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Performing arts and children.

Children in mass media.

Child actors.

Fame--Social aspects.

Fame.

Genre:

Essays.

Physical Description:

xi, 201 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2017.

Summary:

The twenty-first century has seen an explosion in the ways and means in which children can become part of celebrity culture. With the rise in popularity of reality TV, child beauty pageants, talent shows, and social media platforms, as well as more established routes to fame through TV, cinema, theatre and music, the number of children establishing a presence in public life continues to proliferate. Childhood and Celebrity brings together leading international scholars from a range of disciplines including Childhood Studies, Celebrity Studies, Cultural Studies and Film Studies to explore the complex relationship between contemporary childhood and celebrity culture. This unique collection includes detailed case studies of specific child performers such as Macaulay Culkin and Miley Cyrus, histories of child stars in the 'Golden Age' of Hollywood, analyses of representations of children in film and discussions of children as media creators and producers. Key themes of transgression, gender, 'coming of age', childhood innocence and children's rights recur in the chapters and present a compelling argument for the emergence of the field of Childhood and Celebrity as an area of study in its own right. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Childhood and celebrity: mapping the terrain / Jane O'Connor O'Connor, Jane 5

Part I Childhood vs child celebrity 17

2 Child beauty pageants in the second gilded age / Henry A. Giroux Giroux, Henry A. 19

3 Born to be famous?: children of celebrities and their rights in the media / Ana Jorge Jorge, Ana, Lidia Marôpo Marôpo, Lidia 28

4 'Just a voice and youth": Shirley Temple, Deanna Durbin, Judy Garland and the rise of the musical child star in the 1930s / Ciara Barrett Barrett, Ciara 41

5 Bollywood's periphery: child stars and representations of childhood in Hindi films / Skakuntala Banaji Banaji, Skakuntala 53

Part II Post-childhood celebrity - the transition to adulthood 67

6 Blossoming beauty or unhinged teen?: media and audiences discussing celebrities coming of age / Annebeth Bels Bels, Annebeth, Hilde Van den Bulck Bulck, Hilde Van den, Nathalie Claessens Claessens, Nathalie 69

7 Miley Cyrus and the 'murder' of Hannah Montana: authenticity and young female celebrity / Melanie Kennedy Kennedy, Melanie 82

8 The Olsen Twins and internship: the career girl as 'eager serf / Vernon Shetley Shetley, Vernon, Lena McCauley McCauley, Lena 99

9 Macaulay Culkin and child stardom in the 1990s / Holly Chard Chard, Holly 110

10 The devil you don't know?: the rise and fall and rise of Linda Blair / Jason Lee Lee, Jason 122

11 Natalie Portman and transgressing boundaries between childhood and adulthood in Luc Besson's Léon / Stuart Hanson Hanson, Stuart 133

Part III Childhood, celebrity and the media 145

12 Created by children: conceptualising the child as media producer / Andrew Zolides Zolides, Andrew 147

13 The child star as celebrity: Shirley Temple, fandom and memory / Geoff Lealand Lealand, Geoff 159

14 Parchís as a multimedia franchise: consumption and fandom across the Hispanic world / Miguel Fernández Labayen Labayen, Miguel Fernández, Sonia García López López, Sonia García, Vicente Rodríguez Ortega Ortega, Vicente Rodríguez 170

15 Music/Image and the cusp-persona: the child/adult public persona of child celebrities / P. David Marshall Marshall, P. David 184.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781138855274

1138855278

9781138855298

1138855294

OCLC:

957243377