OSP: Zendaya- Language & Representation

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 2015 Oscar controversy was when Giuliana Rancic made a racist comment on E's Fashion Police about Zendaya's her hair in dreadlocks that she "feels like it smells like patchouli oil" and that her hair looks like "it's swallowing her".

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

Zendaya took control of the narrative of the controversy by responding in an Instagram post saying that “There is already harsh criticism of African American hair in society without the help of ignorant people who choose to judge others based on the curl of their hair,” “My wearing my hair in locs on an Oscar red carpet was to showcase them in a positive light, to remind people of color that our hair is good enough. To me locs are a symbol of beauty and strength, almost like a lion’s mane.”

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

Zendaya used her celebrity in multiple occasions, such as on the Disney show K.C Undercover where she insisted her character should have a black family, as well as telling her theatrical manager to always send her out when they're looking for white girls to play for the role. In addition, Zendaya speaks up about Black women in Glamour interviews and BeautyCon.  

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

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

Zendaya's stylist is Law Roach. According to the Vox article, it takes someone like Zendaya, who understands the way that clothing creates image and finds the attitude necessary to make them work. “You’ve got to be a strong girl to do that on the red carpet,” Roach told the Guardian in 2018, referring to the time he dressed Zendaya as Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie for the Grammys. “You have to have conviction to say, ‘I like this, and I think I look cool, and fuck you to everybody who doesn’t.’”

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

Zendaya got the show retitled from Super Awesome Katy to K.C. Undercover. She demanded that her character, K.C., be brainy rather than artsy (“There are other things that a girl can be” besides the Disney-standard singer or dancer and that she have martial arts training.

7) How did LL Cool J describe Zendaya? 

“She’s cool. You can manufacture fame. You can manufacture publicity. You can manufacture songs. You can’t manufacture cool.”

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

I believe that Zendaya is authentically cool due to the way she stands up for herself in terms of her race and gender like the way she did in the 2015 Oscar controversy and how she aims to make change in certain roles she's playing however I still also believe she is a manufactured celebrity like any other due to her mainly posting 'celebrity like' content on her social medias such as promoting her products or posting herself representing a fashion brand and only subtly touching on topics that are political/social. 

Zendaya textual analysis

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? 

Zendaya's Twitter feed mainly is linked to fashion, this is due to her tweets containing images of her posing and promoting certain fashion brands she works with as well as posting looks from the met gala, fashion shows, movie premieres etc. However, she also subtly retweets social and political matters such as her retweeting GoFundMe's tweet about supporting civilians affected by the elementary school shooting which positions Zendaya on the left/liberal side of the political debate and could consider her as 'woke'. 

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? 

Zendaya's Instagram account is positioned as promoting her film/TV work due to her bio being filled with all her current projects as well as her pinned posts and highlights being mainly based around her upcoming projects. However, we can see some authenticity to Zendaya through some of her posts such as her post dedicated to her co-worker from Euphoria passing away where she shares her memories with him and what she admired in him which adds a personal touch to her account. I would argue and say her Instagram is mainly about promoting her products and fashion rather than authentic and politicial/social matters. 

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

Although Vogue were clearly trying to create an authentic and more casual style interview, the interview still comes off as constructed and rehearsed due to her changing settings and quickly being able to respond to the questions the interviewer is asking. However, it creates a positive representation of Zendaya as it's almost as if she's thanking her fans for "keeping me on my toes on political, social issues"

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.  

Zendaya has not posted much on her Facebook account since 2019, however from her Facebook account we can tell that in the past she would post much more often about political/social issues such as posting GoFundMe's for struggling families, the #weneedmore campaign which is about girls and people of colour going into the field of STEM, and even her volunteering for the organisation. We could argue that due to the growth of Zendaya's fame she has changed and is more focused on promoting her products and fashion than commenting on political/social issues. 

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?

At the start of the article, the concerns around social media being discussed is that social media can negatively affect one's mental health and cause anxiety to widespread. Younger users can't help comparing themselves to others on social media. Social media can even lead to users basing their self-worth based off how many likes or comments a post receives.  

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

In 2017 a video was posted to her YouTube channel titled ‘Watch Me React To My First YouTube Vids’ in which she and a friend watched back the YouTube videos she first posted onto her channel as a child star. She derides the videos and comments on how fake they were, claiming that when she was younger she felt like she had to create or perform a persona that matched Rocky – her character in the Disney show, Shake It Up. However, even this video from 2017 where she criticises her previous inauthenticity is not as genuine as it seems as the video description is quite clearly written in the third person which suggests she didn't upload this video by herself. 

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

The one social media app that Zendaya manages entirely herself is Instagram. 

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

Eilish here is highlighting the lack of nuance in understanding self-representation and feminism

which accompanies the mainstream online. These are over-simplified ideas and restrict one from

accurately and earnestly portraying oneself online and contribute to the mental health epidemic caused partly by social media platforms. As Eilish expresses in her song ‘Not My Responsibility’, the way people respond to her chosen forms of self- representation is not on her. Eilish is reminding herself and her audience that the opinions of other people, specifically the tabloids, critics and trolls online, are not in her control.

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 is mainly a media construction designed to look authentic like any other celebrity, this is portrayed through her posts, the Vogue interview, her social media accounts and how she utilises them to promote her media products. However, I believe that Zendaya was more authentic when she was younger rather than now as her old posts on Facebook suggests she was more 'woke' or at least more open about social/political topics in 2017/2018 and after 2019 she stopped posting as much on these sort of issues. Therefore, we could interpret that possibly fame has changed the way she expresses her opinions on such topics, and does it more subtly now instead of openly retweeting/posting about political and social issues.