ABSTRACT

When actor and model Anna Nicole Smith died in 2007 she was known to the public through two central stereotypes: gold digger and white trash. Likewise, the news and entertainment media remembered Smith as ‘famous for being famous’, not for her ostensible talent or entrepreneurship. We critique the dominant understandings of Smith through a critical reading of cultural production by and about her. Analysis of Smith’s celebrity and its cultural antecedents allows for a better understanding of the production of celebrity and a greater appreciation of what it means to be ‘famous for being famous’. A careful consideration of Smith’s controversial life and work reveals an instance of celebrity where gender, race, and class-based stereotypes worked to delegitimize her celebrity labour. Specifically, interlocking stereotypes undermined Smith’s attempt at ‘fame-bridging’, cultural work she did to forge a link between Marilyn Monroe and her own claim to fame.

摘要

演员兼模特安娜·妮可·史密斯 (Anna Nicole Smith) 于 2007 年去世时，她通过两种核心刻板印象为公众所知：淘金者和白色垃圾。同样，新闻和娱乐媒体记得史密斯是“因出名而闻名”，而不是因为她表面上的才能或企业家精神。我们通过对史密斯的文化产品和关于她的文化产品的批判性阅读来批判对史密斯的主要理解。分析史密斯的名人及其文化前身可以更好地了解名人的产生，并更好地理解“因出名而出名”的含义。仔细考虑史密斯有争议的生活和工作，就会发现一个名人的例子，其中性别、种族和基于阶级的刻板印象使她的名人劳动合法化。具体来说，