A Lecture Week 5b Britney Spears & Marxism

8/12/2019 A Lecture Week 5b Britney Spears & Marxism

1/9

Neo-Marxism: Personality, Control & Culture.

Central Reprographics Unit

Please complete and sign this form and attach to work

Name Craig Hammond Staff IDHAMC11 Rm No H614

Ext 2362 Centre ELIHE Cost cntr Soc Sci

Number of copies required (A) 25

Number of originas (B) 8

!o"a number of copies (A + B) 200

Copy partic!ars (in"icate as appropriate)

#ac$ on %&i"e

'u Coour (Laser cop)*

X

As +rigina

X

Singe Sided

#ac$ "o #ac$ #

Specia! Re$est%

Finishing

Coa"e

+ne S"ape

X

!%o S"apes

Comb #inding

Hea" #inding

Lamina"ion

Hoe ,unc&ing

'od

-uio"ining

Any ot&er specia! re$irements%

I ACCEPT LIABILITY FOR ANY INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT

Si'ne"% C ammon" Date Smitte" 28t&*e 200

Date Re$ire" 5t&,ar 200

East Lancs Institute of Higer E!ucation. 1


2/9


The very idea of studying Britney Spears inrelation to Marxism, may seem a little strange

!ut, "e could argue that analy#ing a $opular iconsuch as Britney Spears can tell us a great deal

a!out the "ider culture in "hich "e live%

&lthough a good deal of people may actually loathe the sound of her music

'and her manufactured appearance( the fact remains that "e are

constantly !om!arded "ith her image)sound across*

&ir"aves+ maga#ines+ ne"spapers+ retail outlets+ music stores+ etc%


BritneySpears

-ar! ,arx

Si'mn" *re"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sigmund_Freud-loc.jpghttp://popupphoto%28%27files/britney-photo-3.jpg','440','500','Britney%20Spears')


3/9


n addition to this, millions of people !uy the sounds and products that

Britney Spears is associated "ith%

There has to !e a reason 'or a set of reasons( for "hy this occurs in

this short lesson, "e are going to have a !rief loo- at ho" the neo.Marxisttheory of the /ran-furt School, might attempt to explain "hy

this ta-es place%

The /ran-furt school consisted of a group of theorists "ho amalgamated

Marxist theory "ith the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund /reud%

/irstly !efore "e explore some of their arguments, "e need to re.cap

on the !asic principles of traditional Marxist Theory, and explore the

!asic frame"or- of Sigmund /reuds psychological theory of thepersonality*

Principles of Marxism:

Freuds psychological theory of the personality:



4/9


But first, let us explore "hy you thin- she is so popular*

In your opinion(s), why is ritney !pears so successful"

0nto the Marxist analysis*

#ops$$$% &he 'apitalists id it gain"

&ccording to this vie", MT1, T1 net"or-s, the recording industry,

distri!ution la!els, and sponsors)advertisers 'the ruling class( act

together to shape the cultural tastes of us * the masses$

n effect, the capitalists '+ourgeoisie)ruling class( create thedesire and falseneed of Britney Spears products in millions of

consumers across the planet%

&ccording to the Marxist vie", "e are largely una"are of !eing

conned !y this process in fact, the masses tend to !elieve that

Britney Spears is popular !ecause she is 2good2*

&n ama#ing and fantastic Star,

& modern con for the females, and

& sexy seductress for the males%

&nd so, "e !uy uncritically, into anything to do "ith her%

This is "hat the Marxists "ould term* False 'onsciousness



5/9


$$This Marxist analysis isnt only restricted to Britney Spears it can

!e applied to any popular cultural influence* i%e% Soap 0peras, $op)Roc-

music, Cinema, Maga#ines etc%

/or the Marxists, Britney Spears is nothing more than a profita!le

commodity%

She may appear to !e original to her fans, !ut in reality . she is a

standard product, carefully crafted, staged, and mar-eted* "ith the

sole purpose of increasing the profits for the culture industry%

& Christina &guilera, a Sha-ira, or a 3ennifer 4ope# are actually

other standardi#ed products !ut the manipulation of ourconsciousness, !y the culture industry remains the same%

o you agree with the Marxist point of -iew * is Pop music

only there to manipulate and control" &hink a+out your own

tastes in music * why do you .like it"

To Theodore &dorno pop songs are all ali-e% There may !e slight

frills differentiating one hit from the next !ut they are in reality

standardi#ed products among "hich the untrained ear cannot

discriminate%

5oo-s, 'or the most fre6uently cited verses(, the chorus lines, or

the catchiest passages of pop songs ta-e a"ay anything that is

authentic from artistic expressions*

East Lancs Institute of Higer E!ucation. .


6/9


70oh Ba!y, !a!y 89 is a perfect example% &nother trivia 6uestion*

"hat "as Britney "earing in the video: &ppearance assumes a

central importance as videos shift the emphasis from sound

contemplation into image ga#ing%

This eye.candy is carefully constructed to loo- !eautiful or

appealing !y careful crafting% Britney Spears !ecomes a product .

losing any strand of individuality to appeal to consumers%

5er music ceases to !e important, confused in the chaos of !y.

products* including her !ody and face, her !oo-s and maga#ines, her

clothing, cosmetics, posters, lunch !oxes, perfume line, her doll and

aspects of her lifestyle%

Such mental regression for &dorno is dangerous, !ecause it

distracts the masses . entertainment provides personal escapism

from the economic constraints of capitalism%

&s "e !uy pop music C;s, concert tic-ets, paraphernalia, and

fantasi#e over the glamorous lifestyle of travel, and the physical

!eauty of our pop stars* "e lose sight of ourselves and the materialconditions of our existence%

Britney Spears nc% then functions as social cement, allo"ing

consumers to !ecome o!livious to in??>* @>@.@>A(%



7/9


=e, 'the masses( are largely una"are of !eing duped, and !elieve

that Britney Spears is popular !ecause she is 2good2, and "e !uy

uncritically into anything to do "ith her% &s &dorno suggests*

&hus, although the culture industry undenia+lyspeculates on the conscious and unconscious state

of the millions towards which it is directed, the

masses are not primary +ut secondary, they are

an o+1ect of calculation, an appendage of the

machinery$ &he customer is not king, as the

culture industry would ha-e us +elie-e, nor its

su+1ect +ut its o+1ect$'&dorno, >??>* (%

Britney is also a seductress, and represents a myth of our

contemporary society, D it is important to understand her practices

of seduction%

Britney represents a 4olita in our pornographic culture, our

o!scene culture "hich fetishi#es image* !ut she is the simulation

of a "oman . produced !y men+ she is also the girl version of "oman,

the ageless, the toned, the temptress 8

Even no", as her image is changing drastically to one of !eing

fallen, and out of control%

Britney is an example of distorted and false fulfillment* Capitalism

sells people the idea of eroticism, "ealth, escape and !eauty* and

also loss, illness preying on peoples voyeuristic pleasures%Controlling and shaping peoples personalities into meaningless and

empty directions%

/or the /ran-furt school, the d is the part of the personality

"here true creativity and passion comes from the source of

personal revolution%

The personal revolution of many results in true external or socialrevolution%

East Lancs Institute of Higer E!ucation. /


8/9


But the d or the 4i!ido 'passion, lust, sexual and spiritual

freedom( is channeled !y the capitalist mass media into things li-e

pop stars, sport, holiday programmes, and roc- !ands+ the

excitement and false danger of the theme par- to control the d%

Capitalism can pac-age a!solutely anything and sell it !ac- to us

for example* thin- a!out "hy people !uy maga#ines)stories etc%

a!out Britneys immanent do"nfall:

2sing .dorno, can we explain the pu+lic addiction and3or

fascination with the darker aspects of cele+rity"

Popular culture, .sex 4 control: a Foucauldian -iew:

n the .5istory of !exualityMichel /oucault '>?F( discusses the

idea that =estern culture has long !een fixated on sexuality%

/oucault argues that the need to investigate sex scientifically and

control it 'through categories D norms( has resulted in ma-ing

sexuality visi!le every"here%

/oucault "rites of people2s urge to confess anything that has to do

"ith sexuality, "hat he calls confession% Confession is not only

referred to in the sense of a Christian expurgation of sin, !ut also

more generally as the urge to find the meaning and 2truth2 a!out

sexuality%



9/9


0ur society as a "hole suffers from a compulsion to confess and

tal- a!out anything that is sexual% =e do it on ne"spapers columns,

tal- sho"s, music videos, movies% 'E%g% thin- of* 3erry Springer,

3eremy Gyle, 0prah etc%(

/oucault argues that this compulsion 'at least historically( comes in

part from the Christian need to purify one2s soul !y ac-no"ledging

temptation and sin%

So "hen sexuality is seen as treacherous, attempts are made to

contain it and saniti#e it !y ma-ing pu!lic spectacles of the

transgressors* and this process ta-es place so that it can !e

controlled%

n contemporary popular culture, Sexuality 'and sexual expression(

has no" exploded, it governs many of our goals and actions, and

certainly it governs the logic of ma-ing film D $op stars% To

understand sexuality "e must, ho"ever, first understand po"er%

/or /oucault, $o"er is al"ays manifested in discourse . the "ays

that communications ta-e place !et"een and among people* i%e% ineveryday speech, and in "hat "e -no"%

Media.displayed stars provide categories of normal and a!normal

!ehaviours for us to follo" or express concern or disgust a!out%

=hen "e have shaped our opinions "e then use our perception to

influence the other people around us%

6ist a few examples of cele+rities3stars that are seen aseither .wholesome or dangerously re+ellious:

East Lancs Institute of Higer E!ucation.

A Lecture Week 5b Britney Spears & Marxism

Documents

Transcript of A Lecture Week 5b Britney Spears & Marxism