The drug-induced death of Elvis Presley 20 years ago made the industry surrounding the singing superstar even more lucrative than if he had lived to a ripe old age, according to visiting Australian author and academic David Marshall.
Dr Marshall's book Celebrity and Power:Fame in Contemporary Culture (University of Minnesota Press) examines the cultural reasons behind the public fascination with famous actors, television personalities and musicians.
Dying, even as an overweight middle-aged man addicted to a variety of prescription drugs, simply increased Elvis' audience appeal because it showed he still had the frailties of 'ordinary' humans, Dr Marshall said.
'We all saw his breakdown and that simply pointed to his vunerability, it showed that he came from us and when he fell it indicated that he was like us again,' he said.
'However, we should realise that celebrities are always constructed. We are never going to know something authentic or pure. Pricilla Presley's Elvis is as fabricated as the sweat towels sold by the hucksters outside Graceland.'
Canadian-born Dr Marshall is the Director of Media and Cultural Studies within the English Department of the University of Queensland in Australia.
He became something of a celebrity himself after the Australian release of his book in May, sending the airwaves buzzing and being sought for numerous newspapers and magazine interviews.
He is visiting America and Canada from August 12 to 25 to attend a conference on Cultural Studies and the Millenium at Peterborough near Toronto, where the North American launch of his book will take place.
Dr Marshall says celebrities provide a way for people to talk publicly about highly personal issues, such as divorce, motherhood and adultery, as well as wider social issues such as religion and race.
'They also represent shining examples of individual success, the very glue of our Western consumer, capitalist and democratic society. However, just as the public celebrates the rise of its stars, it seems to revel in their fall as this is evidence of their connection with us, their fallibility,' Dr Marshall says.
Dr Marshall said the public granted favoured celebrities wide scope to discuss not only their work but their opinions, feelings and philosophies, an opportunity not readily extended to other powerful individuals in society such as politicians or business leaders.
He said some stars, such as Sean Connery, Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn, were afforded even greater status, seemingly beyond criticism because of their ability and longevity.
'However, celebrity is also ridiculed and derided because it is seen as the centre of false value, attained sometimes without hard work or talent,' he said.
Celebrities created a different kind of relationship with the public depending on the medium, Dr Marshall said.
'Music stars succeed through presenting a solidarity with a particular age group. Youth is represented through popular music with the theme that anyone can become a star. In popular music, the level of talent is not always as important as the expression of popular emotion,' he said.
In his book, Dr Marshall also investigates the way politicians have adapted and adopted celebrity techniques in a bid to capture the same emotional attachment from the public as film, television and music stars.
For more information contact Dr Marshall in Australia on (telephone 0011 617 3365 2712); (email: d.marshall@mailbox.uq.edu.au)
