An advertiser's dream: the construction of the "consumptionist" cinematic persona of Mercedes Gleitze

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorChambers, Ciara
dc.date.accessioned2018-04-18T09:17:12Z
dc.date.available2018-04-18T09:17:12Z
dc.date.issued2013
dc.description.abstractMercedes Gleitze was a British endurance swimmer who garnered huge public interest in the 1920s and 1930s. Celebrated for her athletic endeavours and philanthropic work, she was one of the first sportswomen to endorse a range of products, and most famously became a “poster girl” for Rolex. At a time when Edward Bernays was developing the psychoanalytic theories of his uncle, Sigmund Freud, to expand the fields of advertising and public relations, the media became increasingly interested in celebrities and the products they promoted. This article will examine the way the media covered Gleitze’s attempts to break world records and how coverage of her in the press and newsreels expanded beyond her athletic prowess to delve into her personal life and financial affairs. It will also consider how Gleitze became a symbol of expanding consumerism and explore how the tensions between her “new woman” status and her commodified persona were framed in the cinema. The article will also offer a consideration of how newsreels, a resource that has been underutilised by film scholars and historians, can help to inflect debates about contemporary popular culture, shifting female identities and burgeoning consumerism.en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationChambers, C. (2013) 'An advertiser's dream: the construction of the "consumptionist" cinematic persona of Mercedes Gleitze', Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media, 6. https://doi.org/10.33178/alpha.6.05en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.33178/alpha.6.05
dc.identifier.endpage88
dc.identifier.issn2009-4078
dc.identifier.issued6
dc.identifier.journalabbrevAlphaville
dc.identifier.journaltitleAlphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Mediaen
dc.identifier.startpage69
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/5803
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherFilm and Screen Media, University College Corken
dc.relation.urihttp://www.alphavillejournal.com/Issue6/HTML/ArticleChambers.html
dc.rights© 2013, The Author(s)en
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.subjectMercedes Gleitzeen
dc.subjectAdvertisingen
dc.subjectMediaen
dc.subjectCelebrityen
dc.subjectConsumerismen
dc.titleAn advertiser's dream: the construction of the "consumptionist" cinematic persona of Mercedes Gleitzeen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
ArticleChambers issue 6.pdf
Size:
4.23 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Published Version
Download
Collections
Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media. Issue 06: Reframing Cinema Histories