Skip to content
1981
Politics and Pleasures of Fandom as Celebrity Counterpublics
  • ISSN: 2046-6692
  • E-ISSN: 2046-6706

Abstract

While the rise of new media has led to a blurring of stars’ public personae and private, intimate lives, the musician, in particular, has long been expected to share their private, authentic self through their music. This is certainly the case with superstar Beyoncé, whose 2016 solo album was widely received as a revealing portrait of her marriage to hip hop mogul Jay-Z. Yet Beyoncé has long been playing with the public–private divide as a key part of her star persona. Her decision to limit media interviews has allowed her to maintain unprecedented control of her star image; an image that is now corralled through the texts that she herself circulates via her music, videos and other media. One such notable, yet under-examined text is her 2013 autobiographical film . Both the narrative and the production of the film serve to teach audiences how to read the rest of Beyoncé’s cultural work; as work that is fully controlled by her and intended for women. This pedagogical film disrupts common readings of her image and performances as being in the service of a male gaze, thus opening up new pleasures and potentials for female fans more broadly and Black female fans more specifically. is thus a central, rather than a periphery text in Beyoncé’s star image, complementing and complicating the work she produces across other media formats.

© 2020 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/jfs_00022_1
2020-09-01
2026-04-12

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Bell, Emma. ( 2011;), ‘ The insanity plea: Female celebrities, reality media and the psychopathology of British pop-feminism. ’, in S. Holmes, and D. Negra. (eds), In the Limelight and Under the Microscope: Forms and Functions of Female Celebrity, New York:: Continuum;, pp. 199–223.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Berg, Amy. ( 2015), Janis: Little Girl Blue, USA:: Disarming Films;.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Berkshire, Geoff. ( 2013;), ‘ Beyonce’s Life is But a Dream review: A superficial look at superstardom. ’, Zap2it, 16 February, https://web.archive.org/web/20130219034907/http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2013/02/beyonces-life-is-but-a-dream-review-a-superficial-look-at-superstardom.html. Accessed 31 January 2018.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Brooks, Daphne A.. ( 2008;), ‘ “All That You Can’t Leave Behind”: Black female soul singing and the politics of surrogation in the age of catastrophe. ’, Meridians, 8:1, pp. 180–204.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Brooks, Kinitra D., and Martin, Kameelah L.. (eds) ( 2019), The Lemonade Reader: Beyoncé, Black Feminism and Spirituality, London and New York:: Routledge;.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Broomfield, Nick, and Dolezal, Rudi. ( 2017), Whitney: Can I Be Me, USA:: Lafayette Films;.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Chu, John M.. ( 2011), Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, USA:: Scooter Braun Films;.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Collins, Patricia Hill. ( 2000), Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment, , rev. 10th anniversary ed.., New York:: Routledge;.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Corner, John. ( 2008;), ‘ Documentary realism. ’, in G. Creeber. (ed.), The Television Genre Book, London:: BFI;, pp. 125–28.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Cutforth, Dan, and Lipsitz, Jane. ( 2012), Katy Perry: Part of Me, USA:: Insurge Pictures;.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Davis, Angela Y.. ( 1999), Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey, Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday, New York:: Vintage;.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Duan, Noel Siqi. ( 2016;), ‘ Policing Beyoncé’s body: “Whose Body Is This Anyway?”. ’, in A. Trier-Bieniek. (ed.), The Beyonce Effect: Essays on Sexuality, Race and Feminism, Jefferson, NC:: McFarland & Company;, pp. 55–74.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Durham, Aisha. ( 2012;), ‘ “Check on It”: Beyoncé, southern booty, and black femininities in music video. ’, Feminist Media Studies, 12:1, pp. 35–49.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Eberhardt, Maeve, and Vdoviak-Markow, Madeline. ( 2020;), ‘ “I Ain’t Sorry”: African American English as a strategic resource in Beyoncé’s performative persona. ’, Language & Communication, 72, pp. 68–78.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Edgar-Hunt, Robert,, Fairclough-Isaacs, Kirsty, and Halligan, Benjamin. ( 2013;), ‘ Introduction: Music seen: The formats and functions of the music documentary. ’, in R. Edgar-Hunt,, K. Fairclough-Isaacs, and B. Halligan. (eds), The Music Documentary: Acid Rock to Electropop, New York and London:: Routledge;, pp. 1–21.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Garbus, Liz. ( 2015), What Happened, Miss Simone?, USA:: Moxie Firecracker Films;.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Jordan, P. Kimberleigh. ( 2020;), ‘ Performing black subjectivity: Enfleshed feminism in homecoming and amazing grace. ’, Feminist Media Histories, 6:3, pp. 79–103.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Kapadia, Asif. ( 2015), Amy (now titled, Raw: The Amy Winehouse Story), UK:: Film4;.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Kehrer, Lauron. ( 2019;), ‘ Who slays? Queer resonances in Beyoncé’s Lemonade. ’, Popular Music and Society, 42:1, pp. 82–98.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Knowles, Beyonce, and Burke, Ed. ( 2019), Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé, USA:: PRG;.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Knowles, Beyonce,, Burke, Ed, and Benatar, Ilan Y.. ( 2013), Beyonce: Life Is But a Dream, USA:: Parkwood Entertainment;.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Lewis, Lisa A.. ( 1990), Gender Politics and MTV: Voicing the Difference, Philadelphia, PA:: Temple University;.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Lux Davis, Hannah. ( 2017), Simply Complicated, USA:: Philymack Productions;.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Macdonald, Kevin. ( 2018), Whitney, USA:: Lisa Erspamer Entertainment;.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Marshall, P. D.. ( 1997), Celebrity and Power: Fame in Contemporary Culture, Minneapolis, MN:: University of Minnesota Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Railton, Diane, and Watson, Paul. ( 2011), Music Video and the Politics of Representation, Edinburgh:: Edinburgh University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Reinhard, Michael. ( 2020;), ‘ Automating fandom: Social bots, music celebrity, and identity online. ’, Transformative Works and Cultures, 32, n.pag., https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/1853. Accessed 18 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Rooney, David. ( 2013;), ‘ Beyonce: Life Is But a Dream: TV review. ’, Hollywood Reporter, 4 February, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/beyonce-life-is-but-a-417486. Accessed 31 January 2018.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Royster, Francesca T.. ( 2019;), ‘ Who’s your daddy?: Beyoncé, the Dixie Chicks, and the art of outlaw protest. ’, in S. Fast, and C. Jennex. (eds), Popular Music and the Politics of Hope: Queer and Feminist Interventions, New York:: Routledge;, pp. 63–75.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Stanley, Alessandra. ( 2013;), ‘ Beyoncé’s documentary, Life Is But a Dream, on HBO. ’, New York Times, 14 February, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/arts/television/beyonces-documentary-life-is-but-a-dream-on-hbo.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=1&pagewanted=2&. Accessed 31 January 2018.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Tinsley, Omise’eke. ( 2018), Beyoncé in Formation: Remixing Black Feminism, Austin, TX:: University of Texas Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Trueman, Matt. ( 2011;), ‘ Beyoncé accused of “stealing” dance moves in new video. ’, The Guardian, 10 October, http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/oct/10/beyonce-dance-moves-new-video. Accessed 13 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Tyree, Tia C. M., and Williams, Melvin L.. ( 2016;), ‘ Flawless feminist or fallible freak? An analysis of feminism, empowerment and gender in Beyoncé’s lyrics. ’, in A. M. Trier-Bieniek. (ed.), The Beyoncé Effect: Essays on Sexuality, Race and Feminism, Jefferson, NC:: McFarland & Company;, pp. 124–42.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Vernallis, Carol. ( 2017;), ‘ Beyoncé’s overwhelming opus; or, the past and future of music video. ’, Film Criticism, 41:1, n.pag.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Ward, Jesmyn. ( 2016;), ‘ In Beyoncé’s “Formation”, a glorification of “Bama” blackness. ’, NPR, 10 February, http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/02/10/466178725/in-beyonc-s-formation-a-song-for-the-bama?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20161026&utm_campaign=npr_email_a_friend&utm_term=storyshare. Accessed 18 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Wilson, Lana. ( 2020), Taylor Swift: Miss Americana, USA:: Tremolo Productions;.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Yelin, Hannah. ( 2015;), ‘ “A Literary Phenomenon of the Non-Literate”: Classed cultural value, agency and techniques of self-representation in the ghostwritten reality TV star memoir. ’, Celebrity Studies, 7:3, pp. 1–19.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Yeoh, Francis. ( 2013;), ‘ The copyright implications of Beyoncé’s choreographic “borrowings”. ’, Choreographic Practices, 4:1, n.pag, https://doi.org/10.1386/chor.4.1.95_1. Accessed 18 August 2020.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Patrick, Stephanie. ( 2020;), ‘ Life Is But a Story: Female pleasure and agency in Beyoncé’s autobiographical film. ’, Journal of Fandom Studies, 8:3, pp. 251–63, https://doi.org/10.1386/jfs_00022_1
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1386/jfs_00022_1
Loading
  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): Beyoncé; Black female musicians; celebrity autobiography; female fans; Life Is But a Dream; music documentary

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test