MEST 4: XMAS TASK 1

Xmas TASK 1: "Extreme Skinny Celebrities"





TV programme: "Extreme skinny celebrities" is broadcasted on LivingTV, who also broadcast shows such as "Britain's Next Top Model" and "America's Next Top Model" and are owned by Virgin Media. Through the exemplary shows we can tell that LivingTV is focused on entertaining their audiences through factual entertain and reality shows. "Extreme skinny celebrities" is one of the primary texts that I have been studying for my case study as the show illustrates how the notion of being skinny pressurises teenage girls, proven by the Bliss magazine health survey. Throughtout the programme we see clips and images of celebrities and the transition from one shot to the next is quite quick. We can also hear non-diegetic sound in the mise-en-scene which has been added in each transition that sounds like a camera flash. The sound of the camera flash as well as the fast transitions create a high profile atmosphere such as a Red carpet event. Even more, the camera flashes could connote paparazzi taking photographs of the celebrities, which recreates the atmosphere as we, the audience, indulge ourselves in the event and admire the celebrities. Later in the programme we see a down upwards pan shot of famous 1950s sex bomb, Marilyn Monroe. The shot puts emphasis on her figure as being healthy and curvacous, moreover, the high-key lighting highlights her facial expression that suggest she is quite content and confident. However, the image of Twiggy, fashion icon of the 1960s, uses a pan shot from up downwards to her waistline with low-key lighting which puts emphasis on her emaciated figure. Evenmore, we cannot clearly see her face in the shot which essentially draws our attention straight to the body of the star and could connote lack of confidence or hapiness the star is feeling. This stress on both celebrities' figures is an example of how the representation of celebrities could influence teenage girls.
The programme later also brings to light statistical evidence that teenage girls are being influenced by celebrities. For example the programme states: "65% of you have been on atleast 5 diets", "92% of you are unhappy with your body" and "celebrities being a source of pressure." This is an example of the 'Hypodermic syringe model' as the dominating values of being thin in the celebrity culture are being absorbed by the teenage girls and as a result they are striving to achieve or atleast match up to the celebrities. Furthermore, the programme consists of various different newspaper headlines such as: "eat or you will die" and "Emaciated Lindsy Lohan collapes." Such headlines create what Cohen defines as a moral panic as they generate hype about eating disorders amongst celebrities and the effect it will have on teenage girls who see them as role models, ultimately leading to a moral panic in soceity. Towards the end of the clip there is continuous prominience given to Mary-Kate Olsen and her eating disorder. There are several shots taken where the focus is on her anorexic body, for example, in one shot the camera zooms into the photograph and enforces attention on her skeletal figure. In addition to this, the shot of the headline: "Olsen Anorexic" creates a moral panic as it threatens the health of teenage girls in our society.