The "Shape" Of Celebrities' Image Under The Media Environment's Transformation

Celebrities asspecial group always draw the whole society's attention,or it can be said that they are special because of their being closely watched.Alberoni said they were such a group of people: "Institutional power are very limited,or even do not exist,but their behavior and way of life will cause considerable,and sometimes even extreme fun." The fame of celebrities is inseparable to the role of the media.For celebrities,both theircharacters in the screen and their own image in real life have to rely on the media.Celebritiesare defined by Alberoni as "no power elite",and they are the products of a certain ideological and economic environment.The "shape" and "change" of celebrities' image are subject to the environment.The emergence of new media changes the concept of communication and audience and the way how the celebrities shape their image,giving them more initiative.However,whether this initiative can help celebrities break the ideological and economic limitations is particularly unknown,which is the key to the discussion of the article.Chen Kun-a famous Chinese star,who is born in a traditional media context but relyon new media to achieve successful transformation,is the case discussed by the article.In order to find the same driving force(ideology and economy)behind celebrities' mixed masks,the article is to analyze the correlation between his characters on the screen and his own image in reality and the complex ambiguity respectively,plus the non-negligible role of the new media in shaping his image.In the end,we conclude that the complexity of the celebrities lies in their ambiguity,that is,their images are not only the result of the interaction between on and off the screen,but also the product of ideological and economic factors;Although the media environment has changed,the ideological and economic influence always run through the star's whole career.The star's social position in the mainstream societydetermines the rang of roles he or she can choose,in turn,the stars' role who has ideological function affects the social class in which the stars;Whether the the roles which the stars play are successful need to be tested by the market.Once the public image of the star is accepted by the market,the star's fame can be directly transformed into economic interests,and bring him or more resources and recognition.Of course,if the image is not recognized by the market,the star will quickly lose his publicity and even disappear in the public vision.The initiative which the new media give the celebrities can not make them break through the ideological and market limits,so we can also say that the celebritiesare the products of the times,and the product of the media,political,and economic environment.