Some stories are usually made up about celebrities just to make the magazine more entertaining for the reader. An example of a celebrity magazine is OK, heat, look! Etc… Celebrity magazines are sold weekly usually for very cheap. Readers can find them in nearly every shop in the UK, this is done to promote the magazines more and also so the readers do not miss an issue as it can put the magazine in danger of losing profit.
Representation is the way in which the media represents certain things or certain people to the public, for example there is positive representation and negative representation e.g. some celebrities are represented in a positive way, e.g. David Beckham, and some are represented in a negative way, e.g. Amy Winehouse.
David Beckham is represented to the public as a man who cares about his career and family, and is also a popular celebrity icon for young aspiring footballers, usually young children. This is a very positive representation of the sport star as only good things are revealed about him through the media, whereas Amy Winehouse is represented in a very negative way as she is usually on front covers of newspapers not because of the success of her career but to show her associating with drugs and violence. These different representations of the two celeb give the public twp very different opinions of each celeb, as people are left thinking David beckham is a positive icon for young children and is successful with his career and Amy Winehouse is a very negative example of a singer as she is associated with drugs and violence, this representation may hurt her career, therefore representations of celebrities through the media are very important.
The celebrity magazine I will be analysing is called ‘Heat’ It is a typical celebrity magazine that focuses on gossip and the personal lives of popular celebrities. Heat is one of the many celebrity magazines that love using the celebs who are having problems as their main stories, a typical front cover of heat would be someone like Britney spears who’s having problems in her lfie and next to the image would be a quote or a question saying ‘Britney shaves hair, has she lost it?’ implying that Britney spears the globally known celebrity has gone insane. There would also be a series of miniature photos oh Britney taken by the paparazzi; these photos would be ones showing Britney at her worst. These sorts of comments are made on the front cover to attract readers as they would usually be in bold and in a contrasting colour to the background making it eye catching which then gives it more of a chance for the reader to spot the magazine and then want to buy it.
The magazine also has other stories about other celebs, for example if two celebs such as, e.g. Paris Hilton and Cameron Diaz where to wear the same dress, there would be a debate article in the magazine questioning who wore it better. There may also be some ‘true life’ stories featured in the magazine; these are stories usually of traumatic incidents that happened to either a regular person or a celebrity or both. Heat magazine is again one of the many celebrity magazines that represent certain celebrities in certain ways although favouring negative representations of celebrities as it is considered ‘juicy’ for example, Amy Winehouse would be represented in a negative way due to associations with drugs and violence, she would be shown at her worst and the magazine will not focus on anything positive about the singer as it is not entertaining for the reader. In contrast a celebrity like David beckham or Christina Aguilera will be represented in a very positive light as both have successful careers have no problems that the media knows of and are considered as icons, as for example Christina Aguilera has a new born child, she is respectable, talented and is not associated with any form of drugs or violence but children and love where as Amy Winehouse is the opposite.
Although Amy Winehouse is shows to only be associated with negative things she is a very talented woman, this part of her life is not focused on but rather yet ignored, therefore making the representation of her very typical and stereotypes as she is living the ‘rock star life’ with a ‘rock star boyfriend’ the media and the public assume she is related to drugs, sex, money and violence, whereas Christina Aguilera is a pop star therefore the stereotype of her is very typical also as she is considered as innocent and icon like for young children.
I think that celebrity magazines represent celebrities the way they do to keep the readers entertained as the people who buy the magazines want to see popular celebrities at their worst, breaking celebrities down is seen as entertaining and fun for the public therefore the magazines have to do so to maintain profit and keep their audiences entertained.
