Theorising the state celebrity: a case study of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Abstract

This paper explores a rarely discussed side of celebrity -the 'state celebrity' produced by state broadcasting systems. The state celebrity is explored by way of a case study of four central television personalities -not, incidentally, all white men -found on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The state celebrity differs in important respects from individual entrepreneurial celebrities found in commercial contexts. As such, theories of celebrity that focus primarily on commodification, consumption, and individualism do not adequately explain this form of celebrity. The state celebrities discussed here are found to support state formation and legitimate state cultural policies. Thus, state celebrity must be understood in terms of its state positioning, as the state broadcasting system provides the framework and conditions for the celebrity's appearance and performances.

Without a Paddle: Schitt’s Creek, CBC, and the Return to Community and Family in Uncertain Times

“…In the years since then, several "regional" comedy hits have emerged that have proven, despite their specific geographic positionality in Canada, to have appeal abroad (Corner Gas on CTV, Trailer Park Boys on Showcase, and Little Mosque on the Prairie on CBC), thus challenging the de-Canadianization model that shaped much production policy in the 1990s. Furthermore, during the early 2000s, the CBC "Canadianized" its brand (Bociurkiw, 2011, p. 36), as signified by the introduction of the word "Canada" into its slogans (e.g., "Canada's Own," 2001-2007, and "Canada Lives Here," 2007 and its expanded use of what Cormack and Cosgrave (2014) call "state celebrity": that is, CBC personalities who appear across CBC programming as ideal citizens and representatives of both the "nation" and the public broadcaster itself (see also Cormack & Cosgrave, 2016). This kind of stardom, as will be discussed further, serves as a significant contrast against the stardom of both Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara, whose fame is neither sutured to the CBC, nor contained within the (imagined) borders of the Canadian nation-state.…”

“…Although the lackadaisical success of much Canadian content has often been tied to a notion that Canadians are averse to such content, this lack of success could speak to the continued efforts by those working within the Canadian industry to shape a broad and simplified version of an identity ("gentle," "nice," "equalizing") that can easily distinguish "Canadian-ness" from "American-ness." This (mis-)ascription of certain characteristics to Canadians has long been sustained by the programming of the CBC, which, as outlined by Cormack and Cosgrave (2014), would find itself redundant if it ever truly succeeded at "[solving] the problem of Canadian identity" (p. 326). Perhaps, then, Canadian audiences are not so much averse to Canadian content as they are averse to the continued ascription of these so-called Canadian qualities that, if they ever existed, are less and less suitable for success within the neoliberal global marketplace.…”

“…This renown additionally affords Levy a primetime slot in which he can take more comedic risks, including naming a show after a profane colloquialism, which might not be so welcomed if coming from a younger, lesser-known talent. Furthermore, as a cross-border star, Levy had already transcended the gentle "Canadian-ness" with which other CBC stars are identified (Cormack & Cosgrave, 2014), thus immediately signalling the "darker" elements of CBC's re-branding. 3 In choosing, then, to return to Canada to produce and star in his own CBC show, which, in turn, necessitated the hiring of other Canadian actors, Levy symbolically located Schitt's Creek within Canada's cultural landscape and re-inscribed Canadian-ness onto his already established multinational star persona-a persona which, by then, was likely associated by many with an edgier comedy than most recent Canadian television.…”

State celebrity, institutional charisma and the public sphere: managing scandal at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

“…The general academic formulation of celebrity as commodity (Turner, 2004), individuated (De Cordova, 1990; Dyer, 1979) and as having exposed private lives (Cashmore, 2014) does not completely fit the state celebrity we have found cultivated at the CBC (Cormack and Cosgrave, 2013a and 2013b). The state celebrity functions as a mediated pseudo-commodity, attractive because he or she apparently offers cultural products fashioned at least in part outside the demands of profit making.…”

“…We have formulated the ‘state celebrity’ (Cormack and Cosgrave, 2013b) as a particular social type located at the nexus of state, nation building and official culture. States depend on nation building, or emotional identification on the part of citizens, and achieve this ‘material’ (Althusser, 1971) manifestation in part through nationalistic-public performances of significant individuals (Hall, 1984).…”