OSP: Zendaya CSP - Language and Representations

 Introduction and background reading 

Read this Vox article on what makes Zendaya a great celebrity. Answer the following questions:

1) What was the 2015 Oscar controversy involving Zendaya?

 

The controversy was about a news caster who insulted Zendayas dreadlocks and made "racist" comments.

2) How did Zendaya control the narrative of that controversy?

 

She created the narrative about how her hair carries important links to history and about african american hair.

3) What examples are provided of Zendaya using her celebrity to raise issues of race and social justice?

 

 One example is that she uses it for race and social justice.

4) Zendaya insisted on a black family in Disney’s KC Undercover show. How can we link this to the ideas of Paul Gilroy? 

 

Paul Gilroy suggests that black identity is not able to be expressed properly and his ideas about race such as otherness and diaspora link to Zendaya.

5) Who is Zendaya’s stylist and how did Zendaya use fashion and appearance to develop her celebrity persona? 

Her stylish is Law Roach and they have had a close work relationship since she was 14, her clothing helps to create attitude and a sense of character.

6) How has Zendaya influenced the representation of characters she has played? 

 

She wanted to have a black family in K.C undercover.

7) How did LL Cool J describe Zendaya? 

 

LL Cool J stated that she is unique as she is cool and you can't replicate/manufacture that.

8) Do you agree with his assessment? Is Zendaya authentically cool or just another manufactured celebrity? 

 

I believe that she is not directly controlled by a team and is in charge of making her own decisions making her seem more authentic.

Zendaya textual analysis

Work through the following tasks to complete your textual analysis of Zendaya's social media. 

Social media analysis

1) Visit Zendaya's Twitter feed. Analyse her use of tweets - are they promoting her film/TV work, linked to fashion or sponsorship work or more socially or politically oriented? 

 

She often promotes her up and coming works such as trailers to movies she is working on and there is also a lot of conversations with her fans, co-stars ect.

 

2) Look at Zendaya's Instagram account. She has said this is the one account that is always 100% created by her - can you find any evidence of that in the way posts or images are constructed? 

 

Her posts include personal photos such as selfies with her families and there are also some behind the scenes links meaning that she wants to seem more relatable to audiences as they can see how everything is made.

 

3) Watch Zendaya's 73 questions Vogue interview. How is this constructed to create a particular representation of Zendaya? 

 

She is presented as relatable and casual as she is in her home and she takes the lead for the interviews.

4) Research Zendaya across any other social media accounts - e.g. Facebook. Do you notice any differences in how she represents herself on different platforms? Comment on text, images or tone/content.  

 

On twitter she oftens presents a more political and outspoken side but on her facebook she focuses more on charities to help people.

Representations

Go to our Media Magazine archive and read the article on Zendaya, social media, feminism and celebrity (MM81 - page 12). Answer the following questions:

1) What the concerns around social media discussed at the start of the article?

 

Young people are gullible into comparing themselves to celebrities and this could be damaging to their mental health.

2) What example is provided of Zendaya’s authenticity – or possible lack of authenticity? 

 

In 2017 when she reacted to her first youtube videos she stated that she felt as if she had to create/perform a fake persona that matched the show.

3) What is the one social media app that Zendaya manages entirely herself?

 

Instagram

4) What are the issues highlighted by Billie Eilish regarding self-representation and feminism? 

 

She reveals that she no longer reads comments on her social media platforms due to the violent language which is used which is often degrading.

 

5) How authentic do YOU feel Zendaya’s media representation is? Is it the real Zendaya or a media construction designed to look authentic? 

 

I believe that Zendaya compared to other celebrities is pretty down to earth/grounded due to her relatability which can be seen on instagram, she also does not pursue a lot of woke activities in order to grab attention but does more humble things such as charity work.