Success in Post-Weinstein Era
Photo Credits: Jeremiah Hill | Interview by: Riddhi Ghosh If you read my latest interview on fashion and women, you may come out with a sense of success. After all, it is about using fashion (or any symbolic / aesthetic mode of communication, for that matter) that is right for success in a workplace setting. Success is not easy but we learn invaluable life lessons from hardships on our professional & personal paths. For the last decade of my academic life and media career, I have often received harassment and unsolicited messages that discriminate women on unethical grounds of sex,...
Read MoreCelebrity Studies Book Release & Keynotes
We are excited to announce the release of Film Stardom and the Ancient Past Idols, Artefacts and Epics by Michael Williams. Published by Palgrave MacMillan, the book offers the first major study of the use of the ancient past in the construction of Hollywood stardom after the silent era. This book offers the first comprehensive exploration of how the ancient past has shaped screen stardom in Hollywood since the silent era. It engages with debates on historical reception, gender and sexuality, nostalgia, authenticity and the uses of the past. Michael Williams gives fresh insights into...
Read MoreIn VICE + FREE Op-Ed Writing Webinar – September 23!
Pleased to share that my latest views are covered in VICE magazine: https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/7xxj7e/why-your-grief-over-a-celebritys-death-is-real. Thanks to journalist Luke Ottenhoff & Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS) member Jacque Lynn Foltyn for joining me on VICE. Read and share your views – we want to hear from you! Also, special thanks to Nafsika Antypas for sharing my article “Sexism and Speciesism in Not-So-Female Friendly Hollywood” with worldwide readers and viewers:...
Read MoreFame and the Cities
New York City is like a star. It is either hyped or criticized. My experience of NYC was nothing like I thought. It wasn’t the mediated version of Sex and the City which, by the way, I adore. I was fortunate to be in the Upper West Side in between Central Park and Riverside Park that was eclectic, charming, calm, and vibrant at the same time. And it was there that the exciting journey of my debut book Fame in Hollywood North started. After a pre-launch reading of the book at America’s first conference on celebrity culture, it is now being presented at exclusive media events in...
Read MoreIs there a Caitlyn Jenner in You and Me?
You know I talk about celebrity culture and the notion of popularity. The popular is not limited to celebrities. In fact celebrities are part of popular culture, and the signs of fame shed light on the successful functioning of many other popular representations. A recent example of popular representations is the way in which social media users displayed their affective response towards the US same-sex marriage laws. When a plethora of Facebook users applied a translucent rainbow flag on their profile pictures, I was inspired to support it. At the same time, I did not understand the hype....
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