Research On The Relationship Of Power In The Construction Of Star Personality

In contemporary China,the rapid development of cultural and entertainment industry is promoting the rise of consumer society.In this context,stars are dedicated to shaping sound image in front of the public.However,uncivil phenomena are common in fandom and the image of stars can not always stand the test of the public,which are also the factors that lead to people's increasing interest in talking about the image of stars.Star persona is the image presented by the stars.In consumer society,shaping star persona is the main way of profiting.At the same time,it means that star persona derives from the interaction between different subjects like capital,stars and fans in specific social context.When different parties interactively construct star person,they are watching and being watched by one another,which is a process that involves the operation of power relationship.In the pre-Internet era,Foucault put forward the theory of panopticon.From his point of view,modern society is a surveillance society,with numerous power relationships laying behind the seemingly openness.In the modern network society,the emergence of Internet technology has strengthened the monitoring relationship between different subjects but meanwhile it changes the traditional single viewing path by breaking the spatial barrier between the watcher and the people being watched.During this process,the subjects of the co-watching are blurred when a relatively equal manyto-many watching relationship is formed.This phenomenon is especially evident in the shaping and maintenance of star persona.Taking the viewing patterns as the starting point and combining the knowledge in political economy of communication,this study analyzes the role of watching and being watched between three pairs of relations:commercial capital and stars,commercial capital and fans,stars and fans.Through text analysis,participatory observation and in-depth interview,this study intends to find out whether there is a new power relationship hidden behind.The findings of this study are as following.Through the empowerment of technology,stars and fans both have the power to refuse being watched by the commercial capital.Meanwhile,the relationship between the stars and fans is watching and resisting to be watched.However,the resistance of being watched indeed conceals the fact that commercial capital,as the subject of watching,has always played the role of power regulation to fans and stars.For commercial capital,star persona is in essence a kind of manipulation code in the operation of capital and during this process,the role of symbolic carrier and representation can be changed at will.While fans are exploited as the free emotional labors to create profit for the commercial capital.In addition,for the people outside the fandom,they may be gazed and analyzed by the commercial capital when they spill the tea,then the information concerning their lifestyles and financial resources will be obtained.Through commercial operation,their information is transformed into capital and accumulated to create more economic interest.