Jennifer Lawrence and The
Contradictory Star Image
For many years, stars have learned how
to shape and maintain their image in relation to a specific culture’s
contradictions. There are various contradictions that are notable in relation
to a star, including: contradictions in culture, in a stars’ persona vs. who
they are in reality, in the media’s representation of a star, and in celebrity
as a discourse, commodity and spectacle. Richard Dyer, author of Stars, describes in-depth how star
images function on contradictions, and how stars either “manage” or “expose” several
cultural contradictions. Jennifer Lawrence is an example of a contemporary star
that has successfully either exposed cultural contradictions or embodied an
alternative position to the status quo. Yet, although Lawrence seemingly goes
against the status quo of Western culture, she simultaneously contradicts
herself along the way. In this essay, I will discuss Dyer’s position on
contradiction and the star image, and further illustrate his position through discussing
Jennifer Lawrence and her paradoxical image.
Today, people are encompassed with
celebrity more than ever before due to the mass media and the ways in which stars
teach society how to act, and ultimately, how they give people someone to
identify with. In Dyer’s book, he addresses the contradictoriness of a star’s
image, and explains that, “while [a star] might represent individualized social
types, they do so by actively reconciling competing principles- personal
identity with social identity, and individualism with conformity (Turner 25). As
a result, a stars’ image is largely made up of contradictions. Additionally,
whether stars manage or expose cultural contradictions plays a large part in forming
their persona. This means that stars have the ability to create and use their
image, as well as influence their audience, by either revealing the
instabilities, ambiguities and contradictions within a given culture, or by
maintaining the dominant ideology and encouraging others to behave in the
“correct” and “typical” way.
Dyer’s research on celebrity and
stardom revolves largely around the contradictoriness of it all. Through the
excess amount of media our culture is influenced by everyday, the media has the
power to use certain images and persuade individuals to think about something
in a certain way. For example, stardom is an image of the way in which stars
live, and through the mass media, people continuously make assumptions about the
personality of a certain star, as well as the details and aspects of their personal
and everyday life (Dyer 35). People believe these assumptions to be true as a result of the
mass media (magazines, news, social media, etc.) and the way in which the mass
media makes people feel connected with the celebrity on a personal level. As a
result, people have a generalized view of stardom and what that entails and
means, which, in turn, results in contradictions within the discourses that construct
celebrity. Dyer asserts that “the general image of stardom can be seen as a
version of the American Dream, organized around the themes of consumption,
success, and ordinariness” (Dyer 35). The media’s representations of these
themes that construct stardom are clearly contradictory. In regards to
consumption, there has always been a fascination and envy of the glamorous ways
in which stars live. Consumers in society not only look up to stars, but also aspire
to imitate various aspects of their life, such as their fashion, makeup,
hairstyle, etc. The contradiction in consumption is that stars spend much more
than the average person and are supposed to have the most exclusive items that
consumers can only dream of owning. Yet at the same time, they are marketed to
consumers as being people that can be imitated through the very things that are
supposed to show wealth and exclusivity. Additionally, the contradiction within
the consumption of a star is that on one hand the public sees them as “objects
of desire and emulation,” and on the other, they see stars as “provocations of
derision and contempt” (Turner 8). Dyer goes on to explain another
contradictory theme in regards to stardom- success. He discusses the “myth of
success,” which is the idea that people believe that anyone in American society
can get to the top, no matter who they are (Dyer 42). This myth is relevant to the star
system because, according to Dyer, “the success myth tries to orchestrate
several contradictory elements: that ordinariness is the hallmark of the star;
that the system rewards talent and ‘specialness;’ that luck, ‘breaks,’ which
may happen to anyone typify the career of the star; and that hard work and
professionalism are necessary for stardom” (Dyer 42). This reveals the contradictions
of the ideas surrounding success, and how celebrity and a stars’ success is seen
as deserved or completely by luck. Lastly, Dyer discusses the severe incongruity
of stars seen as ordinary people and stars seen as special figures. There is an
apparent paradox of the glamorous lifestyle and success of the stars and how
they are viewed as regular people, just like you and me. The media creates the
contradiction that stars are extraordinary or they are just like us. Dyer
explains this paradox by stating that people can view stars as either ordinary
people who have more wealth, but are not phased or affected by it or stardom;
or, people can view stars’ success and wealth as not negatively influencing certain
human qualities that they stand for (Dyer 43).
In addition to these contradictions in the discourse
of what makes a celebrity, Dyer touches on the contradictions within
celebrities themselves, as well as the contradictions in society that
celebrities choose to either smooth over or expose. As stated previously, a
star’s identity and what they represent are filled with various contradictions,
and these contradictions are often formed as a result of a specific culture’s
ambiguities and problems, and the ways in which a star decides to either
confront these issues or simply go along with the status quo.
Jennifer Lawrence is an example of a contemporary
star that reflects Dyer’s position about the various contradictions within a
star’s image, and how these contradictions shape a star’s persona. Through her
films and appearances through media, Jennifer Lawrence has created the image
for herself of “the cool girl,” “the guys girl,” and “the relatable and
down-to-earth girl.” Lawrence is not viewed as the typical female star, and her
image reflects how she not only exposes cultural contradictions and embodies an
alternative to the status quo, but also how she simultaneously contradicts
herself and what she seemingly stands for.
Simply through looking at Jennifer Lawrence’s
beginning, there are already contradictions involved in the discourse that
constructs her image. Lawrence had one of those “lucky breaks” and crazy
discovery stories that make her even more relatable to the audience. She
explains that when she was fourteen years old, she went on vacation with her mom
in New York, and while she was in Union Square, a talent scout approached her. She
then began getting contacted by various agencies, and ultimately went to
auditions and did cold readings just out of boredom (Sacks 1). Lawrence’s
discovery story creates a contradictory discourse surrounding her image because
people reference this story and say how lucky she is to have been discovered,
while on the other hand, people also reference how naturally talented she is,
which is proven through her Oscar win. This contradictory view of Lawrence ultimately
helps shape her image as someone relatable and with whom the audience can
identify, yet at the same time, is also extremely talented in what she does.
On the surface, Jennifer Lawrence’s image proves to
be that of someone who does not follow the status quo, but after analyzing her
identity further, she contradicts herself at times, and actually furthers certain
aspects of society’s dominant ideology. Today, females are constantly portrayed
in the media as a certain type of woman, and are portrayed in ways that further
stereotypical ideas of women and femininity. When thinking about qualities that
define women, the first things that come to mind are usually things like:
emotional, pretty, polite, gentle, sexy, passive, elegant, etc. People
typically do not describe women as being strong, independent, or intelligent. This
is where Jennifer Lawrence’s star image truly comes in and completely exposes
and contradicts Western culture’s image of how a female should act and look. When
Jennifer won the award for “Best Actress” at the Oscars, as made her way to the
stage for a press statement, she not only flipped off photographers, but also
admitted to have just done shots before coming on stage. The Oscars are highly
regarded and seen as an elegant event, and in no way has there ever been a
leading-lady has stood up on the press stage and flipped everyone off.
Stories
of Lawrence even eating a tuna sandwich before kissing scenes to mess with he
male co-star have also surfaced, which is the kind of behavior that does not
coincide with the status quo or as “normal behavior.” Additionally, on the red
carpet and at awards ceremonies, she constantly acts star-struck and has major
“fan-girl” moments. When Lawrence sees someone she is in awe of, she literally
freaks out- just like most “normal” people would. One typically does not see
stars acting crazy and excited over other celebrities, but Lawrence does.
Throughout
all of these moments, Lawrence defies society’s status quo of the ways in which
a woman should act. As a result, she also builds her image of the down-to-Earth
and relatable girl, who is not affected by her stardom. Although Lawrence’s image
exposes the status quo, it simultaneously embodies it. For example, Lawrence
plays into the “normal, cool girl” persona that women aspire to be, and that
men want to be with. She represents an image of a woman who furthers men’s
expectations for women to be the most wanted characteristics, such as: funny,
cool, intelligent, sexy, etc. She ends up representing an image of a woman that
is supposed to be relatable to women, but is almost impossible to achieve and
imitate.
Lawrence also constantly openly opposes Western
culture’s standard of a female body. She repeatedly talks about how much she
eats and goes against the idea of dieting and promotes one’s body acceptance
and the importance of self-loving. Even
on the red carpet, she has repeatedly talked about how starving she is, and has
even asked a reporter to bring her McDonalds.
Although she opposes culture’s
female body standards, her image in itself contradicts what she stands for. Lawrence
is someone who has an extremely fit body, many would consider perfect, and
additionally, in recent years, has definitely lost weight. This is another
aspect of her image that contradicts itself.
In regards to fashion, Lawrence constantly acts as
though she does not know anything about fashion and does not care about it,
which also adds to her persona that she is “just like you and me.” In a red carpet
interview at the 2013 Oscars, when asked what she wearing, she replied, “What
do you mean? This is the top [of the dress] and this is the bottom [of the
dress].”
This funny and clever response helps to further shape her image and indicates
to the audience that she does not take stardom too seriously and does not care
too much about what typical celebrities do. During the time of that interview,
Lawrence was wearing a dress designed by Dior, which makes sense because she is
the face of the company. Although Lawrence acts indifferent towards fashion, she
is the face of one of the most exclusive and expensive brands, which poses
another contradiction of her image.
Lastly, when analyzing Jennifer Lawrence’s role in The Hunger Games films, there are
various aspects of her character that strengthen her star image as different
from the status quo, but there are also aspects that contradict this image. In The Hunger Games, Jennifer Lawrence
plays Katniss, a strong and brave woman. Additionally, her character is not supposed
to live up to culture’s beauty standard, and is supposed to just be the average
and “normal” girl. These aspects of Katniss coincide with Lawrence’s real-life
image, but after further analysis of the film, there are many times when
Katniss embodies the status quo. Although she is shown as strong on one hand,
on the other, she is depicted as constantly relying on and needing a man in her
life. Also, it is much more apparent in the first film, but Katniss goes
through a complete makeover, with her hair done, body waxed, makeup done, and a
gorgeous gown on. This implicates the message that this is the standard for
beauty, and the common idea that women are objects to be looked at.
The various
contradictions that form a stars’ image, such as that of Jennifer Lawrence,
supports Dyer’s argument about the nature of celebrity and stardom. The various
contradictions of Western culture, as well as people’s prior notions of what
stardom is and who a star is on a personal level, not only shapes the image of
a celebrity, but also results in contradictions within a celebrity’s image. Jennifer
Lawrence is a good example of a contemporary star that defies the status quo,
but in doing so, contradicts various aspects of her image. Overall, it is clear
that stars have the ability to shape the way they want to be viewed by the
public, but as a result of the media and what is going on in a specific culture,
their image is built on contradictions.
Works Cited
Dyer, Richard, and Paul McDonald. Stars.
London: BFI Pub., 1998. Print.
Sacks,
Ethan. "'Hunger Games' Star Lawrence Discovered on City Street." NY
Daily News. N.p., 18 Mar. 2012. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.
Turner,
Graeme. Understanding Celebrity. London: SAGE, 2004. Print.
