CELEBR-ETÀ
Ageing celebrity in contemporary media and sport contexts: a model of social and cultural well-being
The project studies elderly celebrities in different cultural settings. Celebrity studies is a fertile and interdisciplinary area of research, which initially developed in the USA, UK and Australia and is still little known in Italy. As public figures, celebrities are important to specific audience segments, which recognize their significance. Namely, ageing celebrities have increasingly helped develop public discourse on the impediments of getting old and, at the same time, have turned into examples of how to conceive of old age as something desirable, self-fulfilling, powerful, successful. The field research on 'elderly' celebrities is rare at the moment, despite these particular celebrities’ visibility has risen significantly in recent years. Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca MUR - BANDO 2022 PNRR Media productions featuring elderly celebrities or addressing an ageing audience represent symptoms of a process of revision of the taboo of old age. What appears evident is that a physical evolution is taking place that also calls into question an anthropological mutation (habits, routines, lifestyles). Through a mix methods methodological approach, the project aims to investigate this profound transformation in its cultural, social and media configurations. The project intends to investigate both how elderly celebrities build models of active participation in collective life for their peers, and how their social communication can nurture intergenerational links with other cohorts (Generation X, Y, Z, etc.). Overall, the research is aimed at highlighting the proactive function of older celebrities. These spread positive models of old age, marked by independence, free time, self-fulfillment. In this sense, the main purpose of the research is to show the social and civic function of elderly celebrities for the achievement of collective social well-being, in terms of stimulating active participation for the same age group and intensification of the intergenerational link for the other cohorts. In brief, the research involves four goals: 1. identification of a corpus of media products starring old age celebrities. Observation of communicative and social dynamics within social media profiles. 2. Comparative analysis of digital content, aimed at identifying key gender differences between celebrities, both in media products and in the management of social pages and profiles. 3. Identification of a corpus of elderly "sports" celebrities. 4. Study of the older celebrity-model’s (possible) influences on specific generational cohorts. Analysis of the evaluation of new elderly celebrity models made by audiences, and diversified by generational cohorts.
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Prof. Roy Menarini (Università di Bologna)
SUBSTITUTE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Prof. Mario Tirino (Università di Salerno)