DECODING IDEOLOGIES in LANA DEL REY's CELEBRITY STATUS and ARTISTRY a Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
DECODING IDEOLOGIES IN LANA DEL REY’S CELEBRITY STATUS AND ARTISTRY A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Communication, Culture and Technology By Joseph Romano Hammett, B.A. Washington, D.C. April 19, 2021 Copyright 2021 by Joseph Romano Hammett All Rights Reserved ii DECODING IDEOLOGIES IN LANA DEL REY’S CELEBRITY STATUS AND ARTISTRY Joseph Romano Hammett, B.A. Thesis Advisor: Matthew Tinkcom, Ph.D. ABSTRACT Lana Del Rey’s public image and musical artistry raise questions about the definitions of professional agency, music industry standards, and idolization of celebrities in American society. Stuart Hall’s encoding and decoding theoretical structure, specifically the dominant, negotiated, and oppositional forms of coding, provides an analytical basis for this study of Lana Del Rey’s career. In the dominant mode, she adheres to standards set by the music industry and dominant ideologies in American culture, such as when she portrays herself as an object of male desire. However, in the negotiated mode of coding the singer pushes back against criticism of her work and subverts expectations set for her surrounding gender identity. Ultimately, Lana Del Rey inhabits the active role of cultural critic in the oppositional mode, in order to rebel against her passive role as a celebrity and an object of media coverage. The discussion and analysis in this study has ideological implications as it pertains to feminism, nostalgia, the American Dream, and postmodernism. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to my parents, who have supported me every step of the way. Thank you to Dr. Tinkcom and Dr. Osborn, for all of your invaluable guidance and expertise in this process. Thank you to Dr. Howe, Dr. Johnson, and Dr. Waters, for establishing such a strong foundation for my interest in studying women writers. Thank you to Dr. Paul A. Crutcher, and to all the other researchers who have covered this topic before me. I truly could not have completed this work without the support, guidance, and intellectual curiosity of each and every one of these individuals listed above. And finally, thank you to Lana Del Rey, for inspiring me and for sharing your life and story with all of us. iv For Amy and for Whitney. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................ 2 Defining the American Artist .............................................................................................. 2 History of Pop Music Production ....................................................................................... 6 Interactions Between Fan and Celebrity ............................................................................. 6 Precedents Set by Previous Female Artists ......................................................................... 9 Lana Del Rey .................................................................................................................... 11 Nostalgia and Rebellion in Popular Culture ..................................................................... 13 The American Dream in Popular Culture .........................................................................16 Postmodernism in Art ....................................................................................................... 17 Encoding and Decoding .................................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 3. THE DOMINANT MODE .................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER 4. THE NEGOTIATED MODE ................................................................................ 33 CHAPTER 5. THE OPPOSITIONAL / RESISTANT MODE .................................................... 48 CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................... 65 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 66 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Diagram of the Encoding and Decoding Process .......................................................... 21 Figure 2. The Similarities Between Lana Del Rey and Marilyn Monroe’s Respective Renditions of “Happy Birthday Mr. President” .............................................................................................. 24 Figure 3. The First Frame of Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games” Music Video ............................... 36 Figure 4. Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die Album Cover, 2012 ......................................................... 38 Figure 5. Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence Album Cover, 2014 ...................................................... 39 Figure 6. Lana Del Rey’s Honeymoon Album Cover, 2015 ......................................................... 39 Figure 7. Lana Del Rey’s Lust for Life Album Cover, 2017 ........................................................ 40 Figure 8. One of the Final Frames of Lana Del Rey’s Music Video for “Born to Die” ............... 42 Figure 9. A Scene From Lana Del Rey’s Music Video for “Ride” .............................................. 42 Figure 10. Alternate Cover for Lana Del Rey’s Chemtrails Over the Country Club ................... 45 Figure 11. Page 1 of Lana Del Rey’s “Question for the Culture” Instagram Post ....................... 49 Figure 12. Page 2 of Lana Del Rey’s “Question for the Culture” Instagram Post ....................... 50 Figure 13. A Follow Up Instagram Post from Lana Del Rey, After Her “Question for the Culture” Post ................................................................................................................................. 50 Figure 14. A Scene From Lana Del Rey’s “High By the Beach” Music Video ........................... 54 Figure 15. Another Scene From Lana Del Rey’s “High By the Beach” Music Video ................. 55 Figure 16. Paparazzi Photos of Lana Del Rey Wearing a Mesh Face Mask ................................ 63 Figure 17. Lana Del Rey’s Album Cover for Chemtrails Over the Country Club ....................... 64 vii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Lana Del Rey’s career has raised questions regarding her authenticity and intentions since she debuted. Is she an industry plant? Does she have a hidden agenda? What role does she play in the formation of her public image? While celebrities, like Lana Del Rey, clearly have a great deal of influence in popular culture, there is still much speculation on the impact that critics, audiences, and music industry professionals have upon an artist’s creative trajectory. Lana Del Rey’s relationship with the media and her listeners gives us a clearer understanding of her unique authorial voice and critical perspective on American society. Using Stuart Hall’s encoding and decoding theoretical framework, we can assess the dominant, negotiated, and oppositional modes of encoding in relation to how Lana Del Rey responds to the cultural institutions and artifacts that she encounters as a female musical artist. 1 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Defining the American Artist “Art is the privileged outlet for desires not yet accepted by society” (Grande 2). For this reason, artists have the ability to use their work to make a real change in social attitudes and ideologies. Art is used as a form of expressing emotion and can have autobiographical qualities as well. However, with all of the influencing power, there is a dark side to success and celebrity status. Managers, record companies, critics, or even general listeners can influence an artist to change or dilute their message. An even more grave downside to being an artist is found in the tragic fate of American cultural icons, such as Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, who were “imprisoned” by a “sterile and unnatural existence” due to being the “victims of fame” and notoriety (Grande 201). With the case of Marilyn Monroe’s death, “Los Angeles police concluded that her death was ‘caused by a self-administered overdose of sedative drugs and that the mode of death is probable suicide’” (History.com Editors). Meanwhile, Elvis Presley “died of a heart attack, likely brought on by his addiction to prescription” drugs (History.com Editors). Whether it is a star’s tragic demise or the controversial nature of their message, “blame [is] hurled at [the artist] rather than on the much older music executives who [are] largely responsible for establishing [the] brand” of the artist (Massey 60). An unfair dynamic between management team, consumer, artist, and critics generally leaves an artist open to manipulation and exploitation. “Research has highlighted how the production of cultural artifacts is shaped by a complex apparatus of producers, distributors, media, and critics that are interposed between cultural creators and recipients” (Glynn and Lounsbury 1031). The “music press” is an integral part of the process artists must abide by “in order to gain exposure” (Brennan 1). Artists “cannot escape 2 from dealing with the press on a near-daily basis, nor the frustrations that can emerge from that relationship” (Brennan 2). For example, an artist can spend years working on an album, and all of that hard work can be derailed from one bad review. “Due to the ambiguity of quality