My section of our beauty parlor presentation:
• SLIDE 1
• SLIDE 2
• We are all, to various degrees, fans of Britney. This presentation is not about criticizing Britney, though it also isn’t about defending her behavior. We simply want to critically examine one of the cultural discourses about Britney – specifically, about Britney and Cheetos.
SLIDE THREE
• Mostly a gossip blog phenomenon
• Clearly, she does like to eat Cheetos, but it’s become a phenomenon where many discussions of Britney on the internet have to mention Cheetos in some way. For example, as a possible name for her son.
• SLIDE FOUR
• Here’s one example, from a blog called The Gallery of the Absurd from January 2006.
• The text:
Look, I realize this is pandering to the lowest common denominator of cesspool gossip, but my mission is to illustrate gossip...and so I do what I must. My inspiration comes from the fact Britney Spears and Cheetos have become so synonymous that one term is rarely mentioned without the other. Just take a look at what the bloggers are saying. In addition, Star magazine has been monitoring Brit's weight gain over the past month and even ran a cover photo screaming "Brit Gains 20 lbs. MORE!" Our investigative team has just uncovered Frito-Lay's plans to expand their product line by offering Cheetos Britney, an even cheesier, greasier and more unnatural shade of orange crunchy snack.
• SLIDE FIVE
• Paraphrased from Julia
• Cultural anxiety about Britney’s body is symptomatic of cultural anxiety about bodies in general.
• SLIDE SIX
• Celebrity as image
• Someone opposed to Britney creating part of the image (literally)
• Britney as cyborg – her image is created by any number of people, similar to Obama Girl
• Britney as cyborg – monstrous compilation of images coming from her, her management, her label, her producers the paparazzi, bloggers, magazines and more (including us)
• Cyborgs adapting part of their body to space, celebrities fortifying their body to extreme environment of celebrity culture – Britney’s refusal to do so