What I have learned

Through creating this blog about Ashley Olsen I have learned various things about our society and celebrities. First of all it has made me more of a cynic. When searching for information about Ms. Olsen it got me thinking about all the different elements of the machine that has helped her sell herself as a commodity. I read into each of her actions as part of selling a product, both herself and her clothing line, books, and movies. Blogging has also taught me how pathetic our society is, when there are so many important issues we can care about, but how much time and energy is spent on celebrity gossip. Overall, this process has been beneficial, it has made me more aware of the problem of celebrity gossip and hopefully I (as well as others) have educated ourselves and others about what being a celebrity really means and all the factors that go into making one.

Media Culture

The culture of our media has changed drastically in the past ten years. With the internet at our finger tips and the amount of time we spend online, there is no information we can't find or provide. Blogs have become a current way of gaining information and other points of view that do not come from conventional media sources. I think with the advent of blogging, celebrity gossip has become even more popular. With sites like Perez Hilton people can constantly get up to date information about the celebrity of their choice. Although blogging might be beneficial in the realm of politics and having the ability to see other people's opinions on issues... it has been detrimental in feeding into and creating more of an obscene fascination with celebrities and gossip.

Don't get me wrong

In my last post I described how my view of Ashley Olsen is now somewhat tainted by my knowledge of the machinery that goes into making her a celebrity. But don't get me wrong, I still am a fan. I never was a die hard fan, but that's just not in my personality, but I still buy the magazines when I see she is in them. I wonder if this says something about our culture. Even though I know there is a lot of calculation and planning that goes behind Ashley and what she does, wears, appears... I mean as much as she is a style icon, she probably has her own stylist... I still fall into the trap of wanting to see pictures of her. Are we that deprived of substantial entertainment to stoop to the low level of celebrity entertainment? Maybe instead of caring what Ashley Olsen is wearing or on a grander scale, what celebrities are doing, we should focus on being proactive and achieving something for ourselves... instead of vicariously living through what celebrities have accomplished or done.

What else to say...

Even though Ashley Olsen is one pretty cool girl, I am running out of things to talk about in relation to her. I'm actually running out of things to talk about celebrities in general. As much as it is fun to gossip about celebrities, my deeper understanding of the machine and everything that goes on behind the making and continuation of a celebrity takes some of simple pleasure out of picking up a tabloid magazine. My once naive adoration of Ashley Olsen is now tainted by the fact that everything I know about her and all her actions are strategically planned and possibly fake.

Ashley for President

It often seems that celebrities (actors, singers, personalities) feel the need to cross over into the political realm. Arnold Schwarzenegger is governor of California, and Jesse Ventura, pro wrestler, also turned governor. We had an actor running in this presidential campaign as well. What is happening to politics in the US? It seems that politics is becoming more celebrity focused. As Croteau and Hoynes wrote about in Media Society, image has become the most important factor in political candidates. Maybe Ashley Olsen should run for president...she has a pretty good image.

A good role model?

As I was thinking about my last post of the nice normal image Ashley Olsen portrays and the lack of gossip about her in tabloids, it got me to thinking about celebrities as role models. People harp on young women celebrities (example Mylie Cyrus) about being good role models for young girls, but is it really their job to be our role models? Who really is Ashley Olsen? We don't know her, her values, what she really does in her spare time, but young girls look up to her. She owns a multi million dollar company, has her own fashion line, wrote a book, and she is only 21 years old. But should these celebrities really feel they need to keep a clean slate so they can be a good role model for a bunch of tweens? Now that Ashley's target audience isn't 12 year old girls, but perhaps a more mature crowd, do you think she will keep her good girl image?

Where's Ashley?

As I am a fan of Ashley Olsen and her style sense, I do enjoy seeing her pop up in celebrity news. However, as I was searching for updates on her where-abouts or any new gossip, I could not find anything brand new. Is Ashley Olsen balancing her real life and celebrity life too well? How am I supposed to get my Ashley fix when she is keeping her personal life to her self and not flaunting herself in front of the camera? Even though I personally want to see more photographs of what she wears when going food shopping, I do have new found respect for her. She is a celebrity with her head on her shoulders. She isn't craving the attention of the tabloids like some stars (example Paris Hilton). But this could all be part of the machine, part of the image she wants... a nice, normal, young lady trying to lead a balance life.