What’s the Buzz? Celebrity Worship and Fandom Experiences of Ted Neeley (Jesus Christ Superstar)
-
Johan Roeland
und
Joren IJzerman
Abstract
This article deals with the question in what ways the fandom surrounding Jesus Christ Superstar actor Ted Neeley can be understood as a form of religious celebrity worship. On the basis of an empirical study among Dutch fans of Neeley, we argue that celebrity worship as proposed by the most influential scholars on this subject was not present in the fandom surrounding Neeley, but that traces of it could still be identified – albeit in a scattered and altered manner. Being perceived as the representation of the religious myth of Superstar, a Jesus-like person and a religious guide, Neeley had religious significance for his fans, suggesting that the concept of celebrity worship is in some way still applicable here.
Zusammenfassung
Der Aufsatz beschäftigt sich mit der Frage, inwiefern die Fankultur um den Musicalschauspieler Ted Neeley (Jesus Christ Superstar) als eine religiöse Art von „Celebrity Worship“ verstanden werden kann. Eine empirische Untersuchung unter niederländischen Neeley-Fans ergab, dass dies nach den gängigsten Kriterien nur zum Teil der Fall ist. Neeley wird als Verkörperung eines religiösen Mythos, als eine Jesus ähnliche Person und als religiöses Vorbild wahrgenommen und hat entsprechend große Bedeutung für seine Fans. Dies lässt darauf schließen, dass das Konzept „Celebrity Worship“ in einer abgewandelten Form für das untersuchte Phänomen aussagekräftig ist.
© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Research Articles
- A Theopoetics of Practice: Re-forming in Practical Theology
- Theopoetics as Response to Suffering: the Visual Art of Käthe Kollwitz in the Reformation of Practical Theodicy
- Poetic License
- Joining the Slow Pilgrimage in a Second Holy Week in Autumn: A Theopoetics from the Ars Moriendi.
- What’s the Buzz? Celebrity Worship and Fandom Experiences of Ted Neeley (Jesus Christ Superstar)
- Heimat im Offenen?
- Von Fall zu Fall
- International Report
- Practical Theology in Africa: Situation, Approaches, Framework and Agenda Proposition
- Research Report
- We’re all “Bananas and Coconuts”: Congregational Song in the Global South
- Book Reviews
- Tapiwa N. Mucherera and Emmanuel Y. Lartey (eds), Pastoral Care, Health, Healing, and Wholeness in African Contexts: Methodology, Context, and Issues – African Practical Theology, Vol. 1 (Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2017), 137pp, ISBN: 978-1-4982-2188-7.
- Emmanuel Katongole, Born from Lament: The Theology and Politics of Hope in Africa, Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2017, 294 pp., ISBN 9780802874244, $30.
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Research Articles
- A Theopoetics of Practice: Re-forming in Practical Theology
- Theopoetics as Response to Suffering: the Visual Art of Käthe Kollwitz in the Reformation of Practical Theodicy
- Poetic License
- Joining the Slow Pilgrimage in a Second Holy Week in Autumn: A Theopoetics from the Ars Moriendi.
- What’s the Buzz? Celebrity Worship and Fandom Experiences of Ted Neeley (Jesus Christ Superstar)
- Heimat im Offenen?
- Von Fall zu Fall
- International Report
- Practical Theology in Africa: Situation, Approaches, Framework and Agenda Proposition
- Research Report
- We’re all “Bananas and Coconuts”: Congregational Song in the Global South
- Book Reviews
- Tapiwa N. Mucherera and Emmanuel Y. Lartey (eds), Pastoral Care, Health, Healing, and Wholeness in African Contexts: Methodology, Context, and Issues – African Practical Theology, Vol. 1 (Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2017), 137pp, ISBN: 978-1-4982-2188-7.
- Emmanuel Katongole, Born from Lament: The Theology and Politics of Hope in Africa, Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2017, 294 pp., ISBN 9780802874244, $30.
