Hey class!
We learned about self-branding and life streaming from Alice Marwick
this week. We discussed how self-branding is necessary for someone to commodify themselves to employers. In fact,
being inactive online is seen as abnormal. The contradiction of self-branding
is that it requires a creation of authentic self and an image in which people
view you as real and open. The task of this branding is it requires
self-surveillance and emotional labour to edit and construct images of our
ideal selves online. For YouTube stars such as Jenna Marbles, her life is
around maintaining her brand and commodifying it. I have followed Jenna
Marbles since the beginning of her career and she started off making funny and
honest videos and has now transformed to making Video blogs, funny videos,
music videos and podcasts which are sponsored. What I admire is that she
usually discloses when she is being sponsored as well as her clothing on the
channel is nameless so she does not outwardly advertise to viewers unless she
discloses it. She does however sell her personal brand through the use of
plush toys and T-shirts. Jenna Marbles, as you can see in the link below,
is the first YouTube and social media star to have a wax figure made of her in Madame Tussauds wax museum.
This museum honours many musicians, artists, and movie characters for
our entertainment. As our overarching course theme, imaginaries and
materialities, Jenna Marbles the YouTube personality and persona (her real name
is Jenna Mourey) is an "imaginary" persona and is now a materiality which
audiences can relate to fuel their imaginaries. Since social media and
connecting with the "imaginary" of Jenna Marbles are highly sought
after and a form of entertainment to us, it was inevitable that Madame Tussauds wax figure museum would include Jenna Marbles. She now is literally a material commodity that can be bought and
sold through the use of admissions to see it and from the "selfies"
that you can buy with her.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/27/us-people-jenna-marbles-wax-idUSKCN0SL2MX20151027
Do you think that it is shocking she is now a wax figure?
What do you think is so special about the Jenna Marbles brand that she
has a wax figure?
Are social media celebrities taking precedent over the
"normative" types of celebrities e.g. musicians, artists etc.? And does this wax figure solidify that these are "real" celebrities?
I don't find it surprising that Jenna Marbles has been made into a wax figure. I think she is one of the most recognizable Youtube stars and is probably the first example people think about when it comes to people who have started their careers through Youtube. She created her own form of celebrity, and by using the platform of Youtube, she was able to be viewed nationally and recognized as a comedian.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel that social media celebrities are taking precedent over normative celebrities, however. Most actors and musicians have their professional means of getting their brand across, as well as social media. For instance, Selena Gomez has both professional movie roles and professional music production, as well as her personal social media brand.