The series has become a mass media phenomenon - TV, CDs, iTunes, Glee tour etc, and their mash ups and covers of many songs have become so popular that their fan base/ mainly the younger generation have come to only know Glee's versions and not the original. Furthermore, if they have heard the original, they are actually preferring the new version and therefore this is a destabilisation of the origin/ the original songs.
Don't Stop Believing
Glee Cover 2009
Journey (Original) 1981
The Glee story also links to the postmodern idea of the ordinary person becoming a celebrity, through talent shows and is seen as an artificial and manufactured talent and rise to fame - no longer real or authentic. For instance, shows such as the X Factor and The Voice, where people go on to perform and from the moment they are on TV they acquire a huge fan base supporting them to win - aided by mass media advertising such as stories on social networks, in magazines, and updates on national news programmes. The fans/ audience have also become an active part in these competitions and are no longer just a passive audience, they participate in voting and play a part in the making of the winner of the competition. These competitions are seen as lacking in originality, because the contestants that go on, perform in the style of what they have seen in other famous music artists, or for example, a group of boys arriving on the X Factor claiming to be a boyband have styled themselves in the stereotypical way seen in huge bands across the world, and perform according to what they know works and will gain them success.
One Direction and Union J - both formed on the X Factor
(Lecture notes from 1st April 2014 - The Spectacular Invasion - Longstaff, G)
This is a nice recap and a reminder from the lecture we had with Gareth. In many cases like this one, as a culture we do seem to keep reiterating the same subject over and over again. For example in that lecture there were other examples such as, The only way is Essex, Jersey Shore, Big Brother and so on where reality has become intwined with television. We as an audience are watching similar story lines in these reality TV series. Usually there are arguments, couples breaking up and affairs that seem to still interest us.
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