Pop Culture, Celebrity, and New Media
As Michael Serazio (2012) points out, thanks to the Internet, we now live in a "premediated" world, in which press releases prepare the public to stay tuned for further press releases, as an all-out ad-campaign is unfolded to promote the latest movie, music release, or show (p. 416). Everything is prepped ahead of time, from the celebrity appearances to the photographers, to the clothing the celebs will be wearing, to the timing of events so that buzz reaches its greatest height when the product hits the shelves. Two websites created to drum up interest in two feature films, the latest installment of The Hunger Games series and the latest installment in the James Bond franchise, illustrate exactly what Serazio sees. This paper will compare and contrast the two sites and show how, in terms of an academic perspective, they illustrate just how "premeditated" and "premediated" (Serazio, 2010, p. 416) both the films and the public have become.
In the Hunger Games website, a giant image of Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence) appears at the top of the page. She is wearing a body-hugging superhero suit and aiming a bow and arrow at a target off-screen. Behind her, fire flames out across the page. The image is on a rotator and is soon replaced by a link to the Hunger Games VR Experience, which is then replaced by a link to cast interviews, and so on. Clicking on the...
That appears to be the main objective of the page. A link to the trailer is available when you scroll down the page, along with another link to buy tickets, and a link to the official Hunger Games store.
In the 007 website, Daniel Craig is seen in tuxedo, posing with his arm around a female cast member in a white gown at the film's debut in China. Clicking on this link takes one to news story about "Bond 24" opening in Beijing. The link is on a rotator, similar to the Hunger Games website. The page is much fuller, however, with picture links to various news articles: there is one about director Sam Mendes receiving a Britannia Award for his work, one about Daniel Craig performing in Othello, one about the James Bond cars, an interview with the special effects director, and much more. The site is far more interactive and geared towards older audiences than is the Hunger Games site. Essentially, the site boasts an array of celebrity photos, interviews, articles and more, representing what Marwick and Boyd (2011) call the "increasingly significant part of mass media" -- the glamorous photos, the all-access links, the behind-the-scenes details; the "trivial, dangerous decadence of American culture" (p. 141). While Hunger Games represents an equal triviality, its website is less glamorous, robust and full of information. It presents a few…
