On March 4^th, 2014 Iggy Azalea released her music video for the song ‘Fancy’ (Director X, 2014) inspired by the 1995 American film Clueless (Amy Heckerling, 1995). The trailer depicts Azalea as Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone), a Beverly Hills socialite, and features artist Charli XCX as her friend Tai Frasier (Brittany Murphy). After the release, the song went on to become Billboard’s ‘Song of Summer’ 2014 and the video has been viewed over 500 million times on YouTube. The re-enactment of Clueless within the video helps to promote the song into popular culture and forge the identity of Azalea.

Clueless has become a, “90’s cult classic” (Madden, S; 2014), therefore by choosing to re-create scenes from the film the song taps into an already established fandom that has made the film a part of their discourse. The recreation of key moments displays how culture is a, “process we participate in” (Takacs, S; 2015, p.3), as it rewards those who are able to make the connection to Clueless while educates those who don’t know its relevance. The clip uses nostalgia to gain interest and takes advantage of this vulnerability to fulfil it’s, “commercial agenda,” (Railton, D & Watson, P; 2011, p.2) for example, the electronic closet at the beginning of the video has ‘REVOLVE’ sprawled across the screen, the same name and font of an actual online store.

In the video Azalea uses the iconic character of Cher as a platform to build her own identity. Diane Railton and Paul Watson argue that our identity, “…is a product of our specific social, cultural and historical situation” (Railton, D & Watson, P; 2011, p.20); therefore by acting as Cher, Azalea situates the audience’s understanding of the character to develop herself. Through, “subtle changes,” such as the attitude she exudes in her body language when she struts down the corridor and the, “confiden[ce] and sex appeal,” she elicits when stretching at the tennis court, she establishes her existence as a rap music artist (Lyne, C; 2014). Therefore, this re-enactment is not just a, “wholehearted love letter to a titan of pop culture,” (Lyne, C; 2014) but a ploy that uses Clueless to gain worth and propel the product and artist into current popular culture.

References

Lyne, C 2014. ‘Clueless: the classic teen movie that continues to inspire,’ The Guardian (Film Section): http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/mar/07/clueless-classic-teen-movie-iggy-azalea, March 2015.

Madden, S. ‘Iggy Azalea’s ‘Fancy’ Video Is Basically An Exact Replica of ‘Clueless’,’ MTV, 2014: http://www.mtv.com/news/1723476/iggy-azalea-fancy-charlie-xcx-clueless/, March 2015.

Railton, D & Watson, P 2011. ‘Music Video and the Politics of Representation,’ Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, pp.1-40.

Takacs, S 2015. ‘What is Popular Culture?’ (Chapter One), Interrogating Popular Culture: Key Questions, Routledge, New York, pp.1-17.

Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone) is a Beverly Hills socialite who’s attractive, popular and wealthy – her character from the “90’s cult classic” (Madden, S; 2014), Clueless (Amy Heckerling, 1995) has become a symbol of popular culture after, “searing itself into the hearts, minds and elaborate vocabularies of a generation” (Lyne, C; 2014). Inspired by the American film Iggy Azalea released her music video for the song ‘Fancy’ (Director X, 2014) on March 4^th, 2014  with the trailer depicting Azalea as Cher and featuring artist Charli XCX as her friend Tai Frasier (Brittany Murphy). After the release, the song went on to become Billboard’s ‘Song of Summer’ 2014 and the video has been viewed over 500 million times on YouTube.

The ‘Fancy’ music video employs Clueless to make the product more appealing to viewers and create a platform for Azalea build her identity as an artist. Diane Railton and Paul Watson argue that, “our identity is not something that comes from within… it is a product of our specific social, cultural and historical situation” (Railton, D & Watson, P; 2011, p.20). Consequently, by paying homage to the film in her music video Azalea identifies herself as a follower of popular culture like the audience. And through acting as Cher, she identifies with the character traits to build the identity of a relatively unknown artist. Similarities to character are created through the use of iconic clothing, such the yellow plaid ensemble, and recreation of key scenes from film, like the highway driving lesson.

However, an identity can also relate to a person’s differences, which the video uses to separate Azalea from the character and forge her existence as a rap music artist. This can be seen in “subtle changes,” such as the attitude she exudes in her body language when she struts down the corridor and the, “confiden[ce] and sex appeal,” she elicits when stretching at the tennis court and in the tighter and more revealing clothes than the original character depicted (Madden, S; 2014). Therefore, this re-enactment is not just a, “wholehearted love letter to a titan of pop culture,” (Lyne, C; 2014) but a ploy that uses nostalgia to gain interest and takes advantage of this vulnerability to fulfil it’s, “commercial agenda” (Railton, D & Watson, P; 2011, p.2).

References

Lyne, C 2014. ‘Clueless: the classic teen movie that continues to inspire,’ The Guardian (Film Section): http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/mar/07/clueless-classic-teen-movie-iggy-azalea, March 2015.

Madden, S 2014. ‘Iggy Azalea’s ‘Fancy’ Video Is Basically An Exact Replica of ‘Clueless’,’ MTV: http://www.mtv.com/news/1723476/iggy-azalea-fancy-charlie-xcx-clueless/, March 2015.

Railton, D & Watson, P 2011. ‘Music Video and the Politics of Representation,’ Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, pp.1-40.

Fashion designer Jeremy Scott’s takeover of the Italian luxury fashion house Moschino in October 2013 as creative director saw the brand morph into a company inspired and well aware of popular culture. The Fall/Winter 2014/15 show used pop culture and fast food as inspiration, with tribute to, “everyone’s favourite all-American guilty pleasure,” McDonald’s, Budweiser, truck-stop snacks and SpongeBob Square Pants (Hyland, V; 2014). The capsule collection was made available immediately online and sold out within 24 hours, prompting a form of fast fashion where aside from celebrity praise in the form of Miley Cyrus, Rihanna and Katy Perry, the popularity of the collection can be linked to the iconic subjects it uses.

Fashion has the ability to turn, “…the body into a discourse, a sign, a thing,” allowing ourselves to be exposed, “to grotesque openings toward the world,” (Hancock, Joseph H, Johnson-Woods, T & Karaminas, V, 2013; p.xii) where the influence can be bought and worn. The saleability of the Moschino collection is somewhat self-generated by the convergence between two areas of popular culture: fashion and subject matter. This merging on one level displays popular culture through fashion, but on another it articulates an understanding of popular culture that is extended to the consumer who buys the product.

Fiske notes, “the mundane is the crucial site of cultural significance, for the mundane is the only terrain upon which popular culture can be made to matter” (Fiske, J; 1995, pp.330). The collection’s use of popular codes that have become ordinary within society, such as the McDonald’s ‘M’, re-purposes their existence in culture prompting an appreciation for them and in turn a deeper connection to the consumer. Each piece also encodes, “social meanings about gender, sexuality and identity,” (Hancock, Joseph H, Johnson-Woods, T & Karaminas, V, 2013; p.xi), in the manner they were designed. The Hershey’s dress, flows like melted chocolate but also embodies the idea of treating yourself as you would on a ball or night out and the McDonald’s bag is an everyday accessory for the everyday kind of food that comes in a bag. These items encode cultural meaning so they can, “serve the interests of the people” (Fiske, J; 1995, pp.322).

References

Fiske, J. ‘Popular Culture,’ in Lentrichchia, F & McLaughlin, T 1995. Critical Terms for Literary Study, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp.321-335.

Hancock, Joseph H, Johnson-Woods, T & Karaminas, V 2013. ‘Introduction’ in Fashion in Popular Culture: Literature, Media and Contemporary Studies, Intellect, UK, pp. xi-xvi.

Hyland, V 2014. ‘At Moschino, Jeremy Scott turns Pop Culture Trash into Sold-Out-In-Minutes Treasure,’ Elle Magazine: http://www.elle.com/fashion/a14689/jeremy-scott-for-moschino-profile/, March 2015.

Stacy Takacs notes that culture is the, “active process of generating and circulating meanings and pleasures within a social system” (Takacs, S. 2015, p.3), with the strand of Popular Culture identifying the, “ways that mass cultural texts, objects, and performances are created, circulated, and received by individuals in their everyday lives” (Takacs, S. 2015, p.8).

Having visited a health food store recently it was startling to see how many products made of coconut were available, the most prominent being the several choices of coconut oil. Coconut oil has turned into a health food trend with endorsements from nutritionists claiming it plays a positive role in preventing disease (Jacob, A. 2013), to celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow who gargles it in her mouth for fresh breathe and Channing Tatum rubbing it all over his wife’s pregnant stomach (Hou, K. 2014). These, “popular… people and their practices of creation, interpretation, and agency,” (Takacs, S. 2015, p.8) appropriate the commodities usefulness within society. Thus by sharing what they use the oil for they provide a, “culture… embodie[d]… in the things people do with the commodity,” and, “excorporate,” the artefact within society to make it popular (Takacs, S. 2015, p.6).

The concept of using coconut oil for wellbeing is not new within certain cultures as it’s been a, “staple in tropical regions of the world for thousands of years” (Jacob, A. 2013). What’s surprising is how it’s recent accent into popular culture through celebrity and health outlets has led to a response in the market to introduce more products, therefore, “transform[ing]… cultural traditions into commodities that can be bought and sold” (Takacs, S. 2015, p.2). The products health benefits also has the ability to overshadow its material value allowing consumers to get disillusioned in the craze and forget the intention for, “mass-production [of] commercial profit by centralized cultural industries” (Takacs, S. 2015, p.4-5).

References

Hou, K 2014. ‘25 Weird Things Celebrities Have Done With Coconut Oil,’ The Cut – New York Magazine: http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/10/25-things-celebrities-have-done-with-coconut-oil.html, March 2015.

Jacob, A 2013. ‘Coconut Oil – Learn More About This Superfood That Contains Healthful Saturated Fats,’ Today’s Dietitian, vol.15, no.10, p.56: http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/100713p56.shtml, March 2015.

Takacs, S 2015. ‘What is Popular Culture?’ (Chapter One), Interrogating Popular Culture: Key Questions, Routledge, New York, pp.1-17.