Manufacturing Celebrity: Latino Paparazzi and Women Reporters in Hollywood by Vanessa Díaz (review)

Abstract

M Celebrity is an ethnography of the celebrity media industry based in Los Angeles, with an emphasis on the precarious work of paparazzi and celebrity reporters working with magazines such as People and Us weekly. The book contributes to the existing literature on precarious labour in the American media industries as well as the broader field of media anthropology. It is divided into three main parts covering the labour of Latino paparazzi, the labour of white female celebrity reporters, and the content of celebrity magazines. Chapter 1 is an engaging ethnography of the everyday work of Latino paparazzi in Los Angeles, while Chapter 2 delves into the overall political economy of paparazzi images. With a focus on the death of Chris Guerra, a Latino paparazzo, after a police altercation on the job, Chapter 3 reflects on the disposability of racialized bodies in contemporary America. Chapters 4 and 5 provide, respectively, an ethnographic study of red-carpet routines and a strong analysis of the precarity of white celebrity reporters. Finally, Chapter 6 delves into the work of “body teams” in celebrity magazines, which are tasked with covering and manufacturing celebrity bodies on a daily basis, while Chapter 7 explores the power of blended couple names à la “Brangelina.” The book’s core strength lies in its detailed ethnographic attention to the racialized and gendered work of the celebrity media industry, a wellestablished theme in existing scholarship on American film and television production more broadly. Chapter 1, for instance, details how paparazzi