In Manufacturing Celebrity Vanessa Diaz traces the complex power dynamics of the reporting and paparazzi work that fuel contemporary Hollywood and American celebrity culture. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, her experience reporting for People magazine, and dozens of interviews with photographers, journalists, publicists, magazine editors, and celebrities, Diaz examines the racialized and gendered labor involved in manufacturing and selling relatable celebrity personas. Celebrity reporters, most of whom are white women, are expected to leverage their sexuality to generate coverage, which makes them vulnerable to sexual exploitation and assault. Meanwhile, the predominantly male Latino paparazzi can face life-threatening situations and endure vilification that echoes anti-immigrant rhetoric. In pointing out the precarity of those who hustle to make a living by generating the bulk of celebrity media, Diaz highlights the profound inequities of the systems that provide consumers with 24/7 coverage of their favorite stars.

Book Information
ISBN 9781478009436
Author Vanessa Diaz
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint Duke University Press
Publisher Duke University Press