Jennifer Lawrence - Celebrity Representation

Text 1

The context in which the Vanity Fair front cover is in reference to is the hacking event which occurred last year, in which herself, and several other celebrities, had explicit photographs, or 'selfies', of themselves leaked out into the public eye.

Now, it is clear from the choice of clothing (or lack thereof) within the main photograph that Jennifer Lawrence is far from being ashamed of her body, and so through that alone, it conveys that she is representing herself as being proud and conceited within herself. The lustful facial expressions represent her as having a healthy or strong libido, and as someone who is idolised as a sex icon rather than just an actress, which is what the entire premise of this front cover is based off of. The consumer is forced to look at the photograph voyeuristically, but it further supports the idea that she is not ashamed to show herself in the public eye, just as long as she controls it.

Furthermore, the lone fact that she fills the front cover of this fairly successful magazine speaks a lot about her status; she is represented by the encoders as being of great significance to the world of celebrity, and serves of importance to the progression of feminism, which this cover seems to be ideologically involved with.

In regards to how she is represented as a celebrity, her name is in rather small font on the page, which represents her face as being so well known that having her name in large text would be redundant. Additionally, the words 'stolen nude photos' represent Lawrence as being the victim of, not only a hacking crime, but a sex crime - she is represented as being violated. In contrast to all of this, the sentence at the top of the page "It's my body and it should be my choice" shows that the encoders are trying to anchor this pre-conceived idea of being unashamed, which fits in with her mediated persona.

The consumers would be expected to take the preferred reading in that Jennifer Lawrence is not willing to stand back idle and act like a victim, but instead is willing to stand up and redeem her name that was potentially soiled by the hackers/criminals.

Text 2

This screenshot has been taken from a website that promotes the charity work that Jennifer Lawrence has done in the past. Jennifer evidently has a large history of doing charitable work for an arrangement of charities, ranging from Bellewood to the Make A Wish foundation, which is inferred from the page.

In this page alone, Jennifer is being represented as being a very selfless person, dedicating her celebrity status to the better of society by treating it like a domain to give to people who are less fortunate than herself. The website shows four of the charities that Jennifer has aided, all of which are fairly well known in terms of charities. It can therefore be assumed that she has given aid to several other foundations, but these are the most profound. This selection in itself promotes her acknowledgement of those in dire need, and the encoders are signifying this through the logos that are more profound among charities.

The encoders are also maintaining the representation of her as a celebrity. This is conveyed in several ways; personally, I believe the fact that she is referred to by her first name only is the most significant of the assets that support this. The fact that she is referred to by her fist name presents her as being casual and connected with the community of fans that she has built up, which is further supported by her active presence on social media sites such as Twitter. A portfolio of her work has also been compiled at the side of the text, which generally represents her as being prominent in her celebrity status.

An opposed reading to this, however, would be that, through Jennifer promoting herself as having charitable attributes, she is somehow vain or narcissistic for sharing such.

Text 3

This extract was taken from The Guardian Online, in an article about Jennifer Lawrence's opinion on gender-specific pay in the film industry. In synopsis form, it is evident that she feels very strongly about the topic, potentially about feminism as a whole, to that end.

In this citation, Jennifer is representing herself as being strong-willed and passionate about cultural issues - often being active within communities such as feminism portrays someone as having intellect or, at the very least, being level-headed. She discusses the idea that she feels pressured into not speaking out about unequal pay, saying she would be shunned and called 'spoiled.' Although some would see this as a flair of vulnerability and uncertainty in her decisions, it could be argued that she has stated her fear of speaking up whilst speaking up to show a lack of care for her reputation in that regard, once again, representing herself as being independent and even determined to reach a common goal.

Overall, I would say that The Guardian are representing her unfairly as having beliefs that would have a positive effect, but presenting them harshly. The fact that the excerpt is segmented into different sections shows that the author of the article made the active decision to include and exclude certain parts of her essay in order to fit it into one article. The author has used verbs like "demand" more money, and words like "self-deprecating" when describing her language. It could be argued that the author has potentially taken an oppositional reading to what Lawrence was saying in her 'essay'.

The author seems to be representing Lawrence as being demanding (literally), which has connotations of expecting something that potentially isn't deserved(?) or needed. Although Lawrence is evidently trying to come across as having a harsh tone or being blunt, it would seem from the author's linguistic choices that they are trying to emphasize this in a way that makes her seem sour, or fit in with the trending satire of the 'internet social justice warrior.'

Text 4

This source was taken from Vogue; a popular fashion magazine. Naturally, the content of these magazines contains fashion tips, but also celebrity culture and other common indulgences within the media. 

First and foremost, the encoders and Jennifer Lawrence herself have represented her as being physically attractive, hence her appearance in a fashion magazine. To that end, what she is wearing has obviously been specifically selected to fit the purpose of the magazine, which is to promote the idea of high fashion to appeal to the demographic that Vogue regularly aim for.

Jennifer is also, once again, being represented as being an active feminist, and someone who is standing up for their rights as a woman. The anchorage copy 'bold choices' shows that the encoders are representing her as being courageous and almost revolutionary in the celebrity world of third-wave feminism. The word 'bold' represents this sort of action in a positive light, although the decoders could take an oppositional reading and claim that such comments are needless.

Additionally, such oppositional readings could further sprout to the 'narcissistic' nature of fashion magazines, claiming that they are unnecessarily vain, and promote unhealthy ideologies that are already prominent within society, such as the notion that physical appearance is important and should be maintained. 

Some may also say that the anchorage copy and the image serve as an oxymoron - either one of these could be a false mediated persona. For example, the idea of modelling for the sake of looking good rather than having an image more appropriate to the context of the copy may seem superficial and contrived to decoders who choose to take an oppositional reading.