Dissertations by Elizabeth Castaldo Lundén, Ph.D.
Jaws (Universal Studios, 1975) set a new standard for Hollywood film production by introducing th... more Jaws (Universal Studios, 1975) set a new standard for Hollywood film production by introducing the concept of “summer blockbuster,” for a film that changed the way in which people thought about sharks. 37 years after the release of the movie, the idea of sharks as ferocious man-hunters still looms large in public opinion. This conceptualization of sharks as ruthless killers is mythical rather than factual, and this research tracks the mechanisms that propelled the idea deep into popular culture.
The dissertation addresses the problematics of media constructions through a case study of the movie Jaws departing from its production process, and by applying Barbara Klinger’s interpretation of “epiphenomena.” The thesis studies how cinema travels into popular culture, by following the traces of the movie into other media, and its dialogue with the surrounding texts generated by PR, marketing and merchandising; simultaneously, the thesis seek to demonstrate the connection between the movie as mythmaker and the stigmatized portrayal of sharks.
This study investigates the red-carpet phenomenon from a historical perspective, seeking to under... more This study investigates the red-carpet phenomenon from a historical perspective, seeking to understand how the Academy Awards’ red-carpet became the most prominent fashion show in media culture. The connections between Hollywood and the fashion industry predate the inception of the ceremony, and so does the role of Hollywood actresses as trendsetters. However, this pseudo-event epitomizes precisely this liaison. This research focuses on several historical constellations to account for the influence of media shifts, the public relations dynamics of the event, the changes in the fashion and film industries, and the role of key players in the dissemination of fashion discourses in relation to Hollywood. By delving into archival sources, and tracing discourses of fashion, stardom, and celebrity surrounding Hollywood and the Oscars, this dissertation shows how the red-carpet gained such status, functioning today as a marquee for celebrity endorsement of high-end fashion brands.
Chapter 1 provides a historical overview of the event, identifying key moments in the configuration of the Oscars and its red-carpet event. Chapter 2 discusses the role of gatekeepers as mediators of cultural capital. This contextualizes the connections between Hollywood and fashion journalism, and the emergence and development of the best- and worst- dressed lists in the U.S. Chapter 3 analyzes the role of advertising and endorsement practices in the circulation of ideas that set Hollywood personalities as influencers. In addition, the legal aspects of testimonials, the notion of “red-carpet treatment” in association with the emergence of lifestyle advertising, and the coronation of “Oscar” as a celebrity in its own right are discussed. Chapter 4 focuses on the career of Edith Head, looking into her popular appeal as Hollywood’s foremost “fashion expert.” Chapter 5 explores the dynamics of fashion at the Academy Awards, Head’s crucial role as the Academy Awards’ Fashion Consultant, and what may be considered the first Academy Awards’ fashion pre-show. Chapter 6 is pivoted on the role of television networks and sponsors in the inception of the Oscarcast, and the public relations dynamics that set fashion at the forefront by branding this media event as an international fashion show free-for-all. The dissertation closes with a case study of the film The Oscar (Embassy Films, 1966), which amalgamates the kaleidoscope of ideas explored in the previous six chapters.
This transdisciplinary study concludes that WWII marked a turning point in the history of the Academy Awards. The postwar culture was characterized by the power-shift towards television, the emergence of celebrity culture, the expansion of consumer culture, the reactivation of transatlantic trade, the growth of fashion journalism, and an increasing circulation of national and international designer names in the media. In this context, promotional practices that put Hollywood designers and stars at the forefront turned into an optimal platform for the proliferation of fashion discourses around the Oscars. This has been momentous for the conceptualization of the Oscarcast as a fashion show since its inception in 1953.
Papers by Elizabeth Castaldo Lundén, Ph.D.
Cinemateket: Om Film, Stockholm, Sverige, 2016, 2016
Society for Cinema and Media Studies annual conference, Montreal, Canada, March 25–29, 2015, 2015
Popular Communication, 2020
ABSTRACT This introductory essay calls for a new fashion media history informed by truly interdis... more ABSTRACT This introductory essay calls for a new fashion media history informed by truly interdisciplinary scholarship, nuanced in both fashion and media studies. It reflects upon the ways in which the study of fashion as communication and fashion journalism have been addressed, arguing that fashion studies has laid out a western backbone of this history that invites and deserves to be confirmed and contested. It encourages future authors to find those fashion media discourses, voices, and practices that brought attention to fashion and dress moving past the so-called ‘fashion bibles’ to unravel discourses reaching popular audiences, underrepresented minorities, unlisted geographies, and subcultures.
Film Fashion and Consumption, 2014
Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA Postgraduate Network, Nov 3, 2014
In 1966 the popular interest in the Academy Awards propelled Paramount Pictures to produce The Os... more In 1966 the popular interest in the Academy Awards propelled Paramount Pictures to produce The Oscar (Embassy Pictures-Paramount Pictures, 1966), a film based on the homonymous novel by Richard Sale. The Oscar tells the story of an unscrupulous actor willing to do anything in his power to obtain the golden statuette, regardless of whom he has to take down along the way. Building up on fantasies of social mobility, we see the protagonist (Frankie) display his vanity, arrogance and greed to create a less than likeable character whose only hope to put his career back on track lies in obtaining the precious statuette. The movie intends to be a sneak peek behind the scenes of the biggest award ceremony, but also behind the lifestyle of the Hollywood elites, their glory and their misery as part of the Hollywood disposal machinery. Despite not being financed or officially supported by the Academy, the film intertwines elements of fiction and reality by using real footage of the event, and featuring several contemporary representatives of the movie industry such as Edith Head, Hedda Hopper, Frank and Nancy Sinatra, playing cameo roles, adding up to the intertextual capacities of the story. Head's participation was particularly exploited for the promotion of the film, taking advantage of her position at Paramount, her status as a multiple winner, and her role as a fashion consultant for the Academy Awards. This paper is an analytical account of the film's production process. Through a close look to its publicity, it will unravel how the studios relied on the awards, and all possible inter-textual capacities to promote the film, despite the Academy's distancing from the project.
Jaws (Universal Studios, 1975) set a new standard for Hollywood film production by introducing th... more Jaws (Universal Studios, 1975) set a new standard for Hollywood film production by introducing the concept of “summer blockbuster,” for a film that changed the way in which people thought about sharks. 37 years after the release of the movie, the idea of sharks as ferocious man-hunters still looms large in public opinion. This conceptualization of sharks as ruthless killers is mythical rather than factual, and this research tracks the mechanisms that propelled the idea deep into popular culture. The dissertation addresses the problematics of media constructions through a case study of the movie Jaws departing from its production process, and by applying Barbara Klinger’s interpretation of “epiphenomena.” The thesis studies how cinema travels into popular culture, by following the traces of the movie into other media, and its dialogue with the surrounding texts generated by PR, marketing and merchandising; simultaneously, the thesis seek to demonstrate the connection between the movi...
Film, Fashion & Consumption
Roger Vadim’s Barbarella (1968) looms large in popular culture. Disguised under its sartorial spl... more Roger Vadim’s Barbarella (1968) looms large in popular culture. Disguised under its sartorial splendour, the film’s narrative clearly negotiates social anxieties of the late 1960s. Similarly, the production design of the film incorporates contemporary elements from art, architecture and fashion. Arguably, these elements of style have played a key role in catapulting the film to its cult status. Franco-Spanish designer Paco Rabanne is frequently, albeit erroneously, credited for the creation of Jane Fonda’s on-screen parade of highly stylized costumes in the film. In fact, the man responsible for creating fashion in the diegetic year 40,000 was French costume designer Jacques Fonteray. Rabanne’s involvement in the film was limited to the creation of one costume. Based on archival research conducted in France and the United States of America, this article explores the role of Jacques Fonteray in the creation of the film’s costumes while simultaneously debunking the popular misconception regarding Paco Rabanne’s influence on the film’s overall aesthetics.
Film, Fashion & Consumption
Popular Communication
The editors of Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture invite submi... more The editors of Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture invite submissions for a special issue on the topics of Fashion Journalism and Fashion as Communication. With the consolidation of fashion studies as an academic field, the study of fashion, dress, and costume has become a fertile ground for interdisciplinary research for scholars from communication and media studies. Media studies scholars have considered fashion, dress, and costume in relation to film and other visual media formats. Fashion journalism remains a less explored territory under media studies as an umbrella discipline. This special issue offers a unique opportunity to look at the role of journalism as a profession and as an industry key player in the context of fashion, popular communication, and consumer culture.
Popular Communication The International Journal of Media and Culture, 2020
This introductory essay calls for a new fashion media history informed by truly interdisciplinary... more This introductory essay calls for a new fashion media history informed by truly interdisciplinary scholarship, nuanced in both fashion and media studies. It reflects upon the ways in which the study of fashion as communication and fashion journalism have been addressed, arguing that fashion studies has laid out a western backbone of this history that invites and deserves to be confirmed and contested. It encourages future authors to find those fashion media discourses, voices, and practices that brought attention to fashion and dress moving past the so-called ‘fashion bibles’ to unravel discourses reach- ing popular audiences, underrepresented minorities, unlisted geogra- phies, and subcultures.
Popular Communication The International Journal of Media and Culture, 2020
This introductory essay calls for a new fashion media history informed by truly interdisciplinary... more This introductory essay calls for a new fashion media history informed by truly interdisciplinary scholarship, nuanced in both fashion and media studies. It reflects upon the ways in which the study of fashion as communication and fashion journalism have been addressed, arguing that fashion studies has laid out a western backbone of this history that invites and deserves to be confirmed and contested. It encourages future authors to find those fashion media discourses, voices, and practices that brought attention to fashion and dress moving past the so-called ‘fashion bibles’ to unravel discourses reach- ing popular audiences, underrepresented minorities, unlisted geogra- phies, and subcultures.
Popular Communication The International Journal of Media and Culture , 2020
This introductory essay calls for a new fashion media history informed by truly interdisciplinary... more This introductory essay calls for a new fashion media history informed by truly interdisciplinary scholarship, nuanced in both fashion and media studies. It reflects upon the ways in which the study of fashion as communication and fashion journalism have been addressed, arguing that fashion studies has laid out a western backbone of this history that invites and deserves to be confirmed and contested. It encourages future authors to find those fashion media discourses, voices, and practices that brought attention to fashion and dress moving past the so-called ‘fashion bibles’ to unravel discourses reach- ing popular audiences, underrepresented minorities, unlisted geogra- phies, and subcultures.
Fashion Theory The Journal of Dress, Body and Culture, 2019
Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture, 2020
Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture Special Issue: Exploring Fa... more Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture Special Issue: Exploring Fashion as Communication Guest Editor: Elizabeth Castaldo Lunden, Ph.D. The editors of Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture invite submissions for a special issue on the topics of Fashion Journalism and Fashion as Communication. With the consolidation of fashion studies as an academic field, the study of fashion, dress, and costume has become a fertile ground for interdisciplinary research for scholars from communication and media studies. Media studies scholars have considered fashion, dress, and costume in relation to film and other visual media formats. Fashion journalism remains a less-explored territory under media studies as an umbrella discipline. This special issue offers a unique opportunity to look at the role of journalism as a profession and as an industry key player in the context of fashion, popular communication, and consumer culture. The function of fashion and dress as language and communication has been observed for over a century (Veblen 1899; Barthes 2006; Barnard 2013). Fashion journalism as a cultural mediator for encoding and decoding, however, has generally been neglected. Historical studies of the development of fashion journalism have predominantly focused on the United States press or have rested uncritically on dated secondary sources. The global circulation of fashion discourses, as well as the cultural specificities of local practices that trigger the dialectic nature of globalization, remain neglected. With the increasing digital access to primary sources, broader up-to-date analyses of the cultural construction of fashion " language " become possible. The combination of aesthetic and commercial elements of fashion provide a broad set of contexts in which to analyze its presence in mediated spaces. The global fascination with celebrity culture has enabled fashion to transgress the boundaries of niche publications to become part of popular communication, permeating many other journalistic genres and challenging hegemonic discourses of expertise in the process. We welcome critical approaches to fashion journalism, ranging from new media, television, cultural studies, media and communication studies, fashion studies, and allied fields. We seek manuscripts that examine the history, politics, practices, and aesthetics of fashion journalism, engaging critically with questions of the role of fashion journalists, their function in communication and consumer culture. Topics of interest include (but are not limited to): • Historical approaches to the development of fashion journalism • Audiences and fashion media • Fashion media in relation to class, race, and/or gender perspectives • Fashion photography • Fashion journalism and editorial storytelling • Fashion and cable television as a practice of audience segmentation • The politics of global and local fashion discourses
In 1966 the popular interest in the Academy Awards propelled Paramount Pictures to produce The Os... more In 1966 the popular interest in the Academy Awards propelled Paramount Pictures to produce The Oscar (Embassy Pictures-Paramount Pictures, 1966), a film based on the homonymous novel by Richard Sale. The Oscar tells the story of an unscrupulous actor willing to do anything in his power to obtain the golden statuette, regardless of whom he has to take down along the way. Building up on fantasies of social mobility, we see the protagonist (Frankie) display his vanity, arrogance and greed to create a less than likeable character whose only hope to put his career back on track lies in obtaining the precious statuette. The movie intends to be a sneak peek behind the scenes of the biggest award ceremony, but also behind the lifestyle of the Hollywood elites, their glory and their misery as part of the Hollywood disposal machinery. Despite not being financed or officially supported by the Academy, the film intertwines elements of fiction and reality by using real footage of the event, and featuring several contemporary representatives of the movie industry such as Edith Head, Hedda Hopper, Frank and Nancy Sinatra, playing cameo roles, adding up to the inter-textual capacities of the story. Head's participation was particularly exploited for the promotion of the film, taking advantage of her position at Paramount, her status as a multiple winner, and her role as a fashion consultant for the Academy Awards. This paper is an analytical account of the film's production process. Through a close look to its publicity, it will unravel how the studios relied on the awards, and all possible inter-textual capacities to promote the film, despite the Academy's distancing from the project.
Lo squalo: animalità, politica e fi losofi a della natura Lo Squalo, quaranta anni dopo: cosa gar... more Lo squalo: animalità, politica e fi losofi a della natura Lo Squalo, quaranta anni dopo: cosa garantisce alla pellicola un successo invidiabilmente longevo? Alle origini del fi lm, la caparbietà del giovane Spielberg che – tra numerose disavventure produttive, sperpero di capitali e diffi denza degli studios – porta a termine il progetto del suo secondo lungometraggio. La certosina opera di lancio del fi lm e il battage pubblicitario inaugurano la lunga e remunerativa stagione del blockbuster fi lm, collezionando incassi da record, recensioni positive e riconoscimenti del pubblico. Lo squalo è un cult cinematografi co, apprezzato da spettatori di ogni età, appartenenza sociale e latitudine del globo, che mantiene ancora vivo il suo fascino abissale. Nel corso degli anni sono state suggerite diverse interpretazioni del fenomeno Squalo, tutte legittime: da quelle politiche a quelle psicoanalitiche, dal fascino puro del racconto che gioca con gli archetipi della letteratura (cui pure deve molto) al semplice piacere di lasciarsi atterrire da una plausibile aggressione marina, dalla metafora sottomarina con i dolenti trascorsi della seconda guerra mondiale a un'interpretazione misogina e sessista, dal convincente parallelo con lo scandalo Watergate al piacere, tutto umano, dato dalla contemplazione della propria distruzione. Se lo squalo continua a mordere, è proprio perché le chiavi di lettura sono molteplici, distribuite su vari livelli interpretativi di straordinaria attualità. Film denso e intenso, che aggredisce i nervi scoperti della coscienza, Lo squalo spazia dal tema dell'alterità come forza ignota e potenzialmente pericolosa, tessendo metafore e paure (l'animale che non vediamo vive negli abissi, lo scontro umano/animale, natura/cultura) fi no alla condanna (seppur mite) della cupidigia e della cecità del profi tto; il fi lm suggerisce la necessità del cambiamento (incarnata dall'impossibilità che lo squalo possa essere ucciso con i metodi del vecchio Quint) e difende l'intervento salvifi co della scienza e della tecnologia (a risolvere il problema è un giovane oceanografo, rispettoso della natura). Spielberg condensa tra le fauci dello squalo antropofago tutti i timori della società americana, inserendosi, come il saggio intende dimostrare, nel genere del disaster movie 1. Lo squalo è anche un'opera dal sapore ecologista, così come si evince dalla lettura " fi losofi ca " di Julio Cabrera, che proprio in questo fi lm (e in Jurassic Park, 1993) individua i principi dell'atteggiamento del regista verso la natura. Lo squalo ha animato la discussione sul disaster movie, pur distaccandosene per molti aspetti, e ne ha anticipato gli sviluppi più recenti e ideologici. Sarà utile, quindi, per comprendere il clima cinematografi co in cui irrompe il fi lm di Spielberg, una preliminare sintesi delle caratteristiche del fi lone catastrofi co e delle sue principali interpretazioni, così da individuare i punti di tangenza e l' originalità de Lo squalo rispetto al genere catastrofi co. Molti studiosi rifi utano di classifi care il disaster movie come un genere specifi co nato in seno agli studios di Hollywood negli anni Settanta, sostenendo che il disastro, la catastrofe e la (auto)distruzione esercitino un fascino connaturato tanto alla società americana quanto alla natura stessa del mezzo cinematografi co. Maurice Yacowar, autore del fondamentale The Bug in the Rug. Notes on the disaster genre 2 , avvalora la tesi secondo cui i disasters movie siano antichi quanto il cinema stesso, molto più simili alle fantasie di Méliès o a Intolerance (David Wark Griffi th, 1916) che al nutrito gruppo di pellicole fantascientifi che (queste ultime analizzate da Susan Sontag come specchio dell'angoscia della società americana e della sua fascinazione per la fi ne). Yacowar individua otto tipologie di disasters movie: " natural attack; the ship of fools; the city fails; the monster; survival; war; historical; the comic " 3. Queste categorie s'intersecano tra loro e alcune di esse presentano suddivisioni interne. Tra le numerose convenzioni operanti, quella dell'assenza di distanza temporale gioca un ruolo strategico: è l'immediatezza a generare il panico tra gli spettatori. Peter Lev, da parte sua, dichiara che:
Jane Fonda’s intergalactic adventure, Barbarella (Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica, 1968), loom... more Jane Fonda’s intergalactic adventure, Barbarella (Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica, 1968), looms large in popular culture despite its mild reception in 1968. Disguised under its sartorial splendor, the film’s narrative clearly negotiates social anxieties of the late ‘60s. Similarly, the production design of the film incorporates contemporary elements from art, architecture and fashion. Paco Rabanne is frequently credited as the creator of Fonda’s onscreen parade of highly stylized costumes. Yet, the Spanish designer only created one of her eight outfits. The paper addresses this misconception by exploring how the film’s mise-en-scène captured the contemporary design trends beyond Rabanne’s participation, perpetuating Barbarella as a symbol of its own times.
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Dissertations by Elizabeth Castaldo Lundén, Ph.D.
The dissertation addresses the problematics of media constructions through a case study of the movie Jaws departing from its production process, and by applying Barbara Klinger’s interpretation of “epiphenomena.” The thesis studies how cinema travels into popular culture, by following the traces of the movie into other media, and its dialogue with the surrounding texts generated by PR, marketing and merchandising; simultaneously, the thesis seek to demonstrate the connection between the movie as mythmaker and the stigmatized portrayal of sharks.
Chapter 1 provides a historical overview of the event, identifying key moments in the configuration of the Oscars and its red-carpet event. Chapter 2 discusses the role of gatekeepers as mediators of cultural capital. This contextualizes the connections between Hollywood and fashion journalism, and the emergence and development of the best- and worst- dressed lists in the U.S. Chapter 3 analyzes the role of advertising and endorsement practices in the circulation of ideas that set Hollywood personalities as influencers. In addition, the legal aspects of testimonials, the notion of “red-carpet treatment” in association with the emergence of lifestyle advertising, and the coronation of “Oscar” as a celebrity in its own right are discussed. Chapter 4 focuses on the career of Edith Head, looking into her popular appeal as Hollywood’s foremost “fashion expert.” Chapter 5 explores the dynamics of fashion at the Academy Awards, Head’s crucial role as the Academy Awards’ Fashion Consultant, and what may be considered the first Academy Awards’ fashion pre-show. Chapter 6 is pivoted on the role of television networks and sponsors in the inception of the Oscarcast, and the public relations dynamics that set fashion at the forefront by branding this media event as an international fashion show free-for-all. The dissertation closes with a case study of the film The Oscar (Embassy Films, 1966), which amalgamates the kaleidoscope of ideas explored in the previous six chapters.
This transdisciplinary study concludes that WWII marked a turning point in the history of the Academy Awards. The postwar culture was characterized by the power-shift towards television, the emergence of celebrity culture, the expansion of consumer culture, the reactivation of transatlantic trade, the growth of fashion journalism, and an increasing circulation of national and international designer names in the media. In this context, promotional practices that put Hollywood designers and stars at the forefront turned into an optimal platform for the proliferation of fashion discourses around the Oscars. This has been momentous for the conceptualization of the Oscarcast as a fashion show since its inception in 1953.
Papers by Elizabeth Castaldo Lundén, Ph.D.
The dissertation addresses the problematics of media constructions through a case study of the movie Jaws departing from its production process, and by applying Barbara Klinger’s interpretation of “epiphenomena.” The thesis studies how cinema travels into popular culture, by following the traces of the movie into other media, and its dialogue with the surrounding texts generated by PR, marketing and merchandising; simultaneously, the thesis seek to demonstrate the connection between the movie as mythmaker and the stigmatized portrayal of sharks.
Chapter 1 provides a historical overview of the event, identifying key moments in the configuration of the Oscars and its red-carpet event. Chapter 2 discusses the role of gatekeepers as mediators of cultural capital. This contextualizes the connections between Hollywood and fashion journalism, and the emergence and development of the best- and worst- dressed lists in the U.S. Chapter 3 analyzes the role of advertising and endorsement practices in the circulation of ideas that set Hollywood personalities as influencers. In addition, the legal aspects of testimonials, the notion of “red-carpet treatment” in association with the emergence of lifestyle advertising, and the coronation of “Oscar” as a celebrity in its own right are discussed. Chapter 4 focuses on the career of Edith Head, looking into her popular appeal as Hollywood’s foremost “fashion expert.” Chapter 5 explores the dynamics of fashion at the Academy Awards, Head’s crucial role as the Academy Awards’ Fashion Consultant, and what may be considered the first Academy Awards’ fashion pre-show. Chapter 6 is pivoted on the role of television networks and sponsors in the inception of the Oscarcast, and the public relations dynamics that set fashion at the forefront by branding this media event as an international fashion show free-for-all. The dissertation closes with a case study of the film The Oscar (Embassy Films, 1966), which amalgamates the kaleidoscope of ideas explored in the previous six chapters.
This transdisciplinary study concludes that WWII marked a turning point in the history of the Academy Awards. The postwar culture was characterized by the power-shift towards television, the emergence of celebrity culture, the expansion of consumer culture, the reactivation of transatlantic trade, the growth of fashion journalism, and an increasing circulation of national and international designer names in the media. In this context, promotional practices that put Hollywood designers and stars at the forefront turned into an optimal platform for the proliferation of fashion discourses around the Oscars. This has been momentous for the conceptualization of the Oscarcast as a fashion show since its inception in 1953.
*Play on words exchanging Dios (God) for Dior as in Dior (God) Save the Queen.