In what contexts, and to what effect, might a star fracture an audience’s readiness to accept the... more In what contexts, and to what effect, might a star fracture an audience’s readiness to accept their claims to ‘ordinariness’? This essay reflects on this question in relation to the recent small but telling revolt against Sarah Jessica Parker’s account of her life as a ‘working mom’. Following much anticipation and a decade after the book was published, 2011 finally saw the release of the film adaptation of Allison Pearson’s bestselling novel, I Don’t Know How She Does It (2011). The success of Pearson’s book had captured the postfeminist zeitgeist when it first appeared in 2002 (Pearson 2002). Centring on the harassed personal and professional life of Kate Reddy, a high flying London hedge-fund manager and mother-oftwo, it detailed the era’s preoccupation with the ‘real’ price paid by women who apparently ‘have it all’; namely, having to juggle it all, while guilt-stricken and sleep-deprived. When the story relocated to Boston for the big screen, Sarah Jessica Parker – ‘SJP’ – seemed the perfect choice to play Reddy. Recent celebrity culture has become increasingly invested in promoting idealised representations of motherhood and within this, Parker is a figure who has made the moniker of ‘working mother’ central to her star currency and claims to be ‘keeping it real’ (Jermyn 2008). To use Richard Dyer’s (1979) enduringly pertinent paradigm, Parker has achieved this through careful negotiation of her ‘ordinary/extraordinary’ status, in which she has maintained her role as a major fashion icon and high-profile actor alongside a persona as an ordinary working mom (her son was born in 2002), who struggles like everyone to find a work-life balance. This persona has been all the more keenly nurtured since 2009, when Parker and her husband announced the arrival of their twin daughters, born via a surrogate. In December that year, for example, the UK’s Grazia magazine ran an article detailing how Parker had recently given an ‘uncharacteristically candid interview’, where she confessed ‘she is struggling to cope with balancing the different components of her perceived “dream life”’, saying ‘I’m sure I am failing miserably’ (Anon 2009). It was an admission that Grazia saw as ‘[resonating] with millions of working mothers’, cutting across the differentiations between Parker and her audience, since ‘for an A-list star to talk about juggling busy work schedules with being a good parent is pretty rare’ (Anon 2009).1 The role of Kate Reddy thus seemed the perfect complement to the star image SJP has built. It was a part primed to appeal to the predominantly female, ‘middle youth’ audience she has solidly attracted since starring as Carrie Bradshaw in HBO’s Sex and the City
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Mar 1, 2013
This essay examines how crime dramas produced during, and since, the 1990s became marked by the q... more This essay examines how crime dramas produced during, and since, the 1990s became marked by the quest for 'forensic realism'. In particular, the essay traces a landmark shift in the development of forensic realism in the form of the ground-breaking British police drama Prime Suspect in 1991. It is argued that this television series not only represents a turning point in television history, but that it also constitutes a key text in the broader cultural turn towards forensic fascination. Prime Suspect vividly revealed and displayed corpses, crime scenes and post-mortem photos in an unprecedented fashion for television. This essay shows how in the process it established new standards and expectations regarding the aesthetics and thematic content of the perceived 'realism' of the crime genre. Through an analysis of the reception and impact of Prime Suspect the essay also demonstrates how crime drama's increasing fascination with forensic realism has driven debate over just what kinds of stories and images constitute acceptable or appropriate subject matter for popular entertainment, and for the medium of television itself.
... so that women appear to be either innocent or to blame for their victimisation (Meyers 1997:... more ... so that women appear to be either innocent or to blame for their victimisation (Meyers 1997: 9). Although the British news arguably did not construct her death as a sex crime, close textual analysis suggests that the coverage of Dando's death was similarly gender-inŊ ected ...
... The title of this book describes the work that follows as an 'investigation&... more ... The title of this book describes the work that follows as an 'investigation' of real crime TV ... supported by interviews with family or friends of the victims and with the investigating officer, as ... part this hazy territory, the place between reality and repre-sentation, that I investigate in what ...
In what contexts, and to what effect, might a star fracture an audience’s readiness to accept the... more In what contexts, and to what effect, might a star fracture an audience’s readiness to accept their claims to ‘ordinariness’? This essay reflects on this question in relation to the recent small but telling revolt against Sarah Jessica Parker’s account of her life as a ‘working mom’. Following much anticipation and a decade after the book was published, 2011 finally saw the release of the film adaptation of Allison Pearson’s bestselling novel, I Don’t Know How She Does It (2011). The success of Pearson’s book had captured the postfeminist zeitgeist when it first appeared in 2002 (Pearson 2002). Centring on the harassed personal and professional life of Kate Reddy, a high flying London hedge-fund manager and mother-oftwo, it detailed the era’s preoccupation with the ‘real’ price paid by women who apparently ‘have it all’; namely, having to juggle it all, while guilt-stricken and sleep-deprived. When the story relocated to Boston for the big screen, Sarah Jessica Parker – ‘SJP’ – seemed the perfect choice to play Reddy. Recent celebrity culture has become increasingly invested in promoting idealised representations of motherhood and within this, Parker is a figure who has made the moniker of ‘working mother’ central to her star currency and claims to be ‘keeping it real’ (Jermyn 2008). To use Richard Dyer’s (1979) enduringly pertinent paradigm, Parker has achieved this through careful negotiation of her ‘ordinary/extraordinary’ status, in which she has maintained her role as a major fashion icon and high-profile actor alongside a persona as an ordinary working mom (her son was born in 2002), who struggles like everyone to find a work-life balance. This persona has been all the more keenly nurtured since 2009, when Parker and her husband announced the arrival of their twin daughters, born via a surrogate. In December that year, for example, the UK’s Grazia magazine ran an article detailing how Parker had recently given an ‘uncharacteristically candid interview’, where she confessed ‘she is struggling to cope with balancing the different components of her perceived “dream life”’, saying ‘I’m sure I am failing miserably’ (Anon 2009). It was an admission that Grazia saw as ‘[resonating] with millions of working mothers’, cutting across the differentiations between Parker and her audience, since ‘for an A-list star to talk about juggling busy work schedules with being a good parent is pretty rare’ (Anon 2009).1 The role of Kate Reddy thus seemed the perfect complement to the star image SJP has built. It was a part primed to appeal to the predominantly female, ‘middle youth’ audience she has solidly attracted since starring as Carrie Bradshaw in HBO’s Sex and the City
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Mar 1, 2013
This essay examines how crime dramas produced during, and since, the 1990s became marked by the q... more This essay examines how crime dramas produced during, and since, the 1990s became marked by the quest for 'forensic realism'. In particular, the essay traces a landmark shift in the development of forensic realism in the form of the ground-breaking British police drama Prime Suspect in 1991. It is argued that this television series not only represents a turning point in television history, but that it also constitutes a key text in the broader cultural turn towards forensic fascination. Prime Suspect vividly revealed and displayed corpses, crime scenes and post-mortem photos in an unprecedented fashion for television. This essay shows how in the process it established new standards and expectations regarding the aesthetics and thematic content of the perceived 'realism' of the crime genre. Through an analysis of the reception and impact of Prime Suspect the essay also demonstrates how crime drama's increasing fascination with forensic realism has driven debate over just what kinds of stories and images constitute acceptable or appropriate subject matter for popular entertainment, and for the medium of television itself.
... so that women appear to be either innocent or to blame for their victimisation (Meyers 1997:... more ... so that women appear to be either innocent or to blame for their victimisation (Meyers 1997: 9). Although the British news arguably did not construct her death as a sex crime, close textual analysis suggests that the coverage of Dando's death was similarly gender-inŊ ected ...
... The title of this book describes the work that follows as an 'investigation&... more ... The title of this book describes the work that follows as an 'investigation' of real crime TV ... supported by interviews with family or friends of the victims and with the investigating officer, as ... part this hazy territory, the place between reality and repre-sentation, that I investigate in what ...
Winston Churchill famously described the political alliance between the US and UK as a ‘special relationship’, but throughout the cultural history of these two countries there have existed transatlantic ‘special relationships’ of another kind – affairs between British and American citizens who have fallen in love, with one another but often too with the idea(l) of that other place across the ocean. From romantic novelist Elinor Glyn in the 1920s to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle today, this collection examines some of the history, contemporary manifestations and enduring appeal of US-UK romance across popular culture. Looking at both historical and contemporary case-studies, drawn from across film, television, music, literature, news and politics, this is a timely intervention into the popular romantic discourse of US-UK relations, at a critical and transitional moment in the ongoing viability of the special relationship.
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Winston Churchill famously described the political alliance between the US and UK as a ‘special relationship’, but throughout the cultural history of these two countries there have existed transatlantic ‘special relationships’ of another kind – affairs between British and American citizens who have fallen in love, with one another but often too with the idea(l) of that other place across the ocean. From romantic novelist Elinor Glyn in the 1920s to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle today, this collection examines some of the history, contemporary manifestations and enduring appeal of US-UK romance across popular culture. Looking at both historical and contemporary case-studies, drawn from across film, television, music, literature, news and politics, this is a timely intervention into the popular romantic discourse of US-UK relations, at a critical and transitional moment in the ongoing viability of the special relationship.