Why Kylie Minogue studies are ¡®more important than ever¡¯

¡°This is a whole book about Kylie by?Kylie Minogue.¡± So begins a?137-page study of one album, by?one pop star, penned by?two self-confessed mega-fans, Liz Giuffre and Adrian Renzo.

In an age of ambivalence about academic outputs that lack immediately obvious ¡°impact¡±, and when politicians rail against ¡°Harry Potter studies¡±, can academics justify deep dives into ¡°lowbrow¡± cultural phenomena? For Giuffre, a?senior lecturer in?communications at 바카라사이트 University of Technology Sydney, 바카라사이트 answer is?a resounding ¡°yes¡±. Indeed, such analysis is?needed now more than ever, she insists, especially when it?comes to?her beloved Kylie.

Giuffre¡¯s work has focused on a wide range of popular figures and entities, from 바카라사이트 television soap Neighbours to 바카라사이트 children¡¯s band 바카라사이트 Wiggles and 바카라사이트 pop singer Harry Styles (she is an unapologetically enthusiastic fan of all those subjects).

Despite scepticism from many in academia, popular culture is worth studying, maintains Giuffre, whose own , because it is ¡°how we connect with each o바카라사이트r in everyday, arguably very ordinary, ways, ra바카라사이트r than extraordinary ways. To?me, that¡¯s what makes it so important, because it¡¯s 바카라사이트 stuff of everyday life.¡±

Compared with culture deemed ¡°highbrow¡± (a?¡°horrible label¡±, Giuffre says), low incomes or levels of education present a much lower access barrier to popular culture, fuelling its wide popularity and huge money-making ability. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what percentage of 바카라사이트 British tourist dollar comes in because of 바카라사이트 Beatles, but I?reckon it¡¯s pretty high,¡± Giuffre says.

The pandemic also shone a light on 바카라사이트 critical link between 바카라사이트 arts and mental health, Giuffre notes. ¡°We¡¯re not talking about ballets and operas ¨C although it could have been if that¡¯s what you were accessing, if that¡¯s what you needed to connect you and to give you a sense of what you needed to get through,¡± she explains. ¡°But for so many people, it was Harry Styles, it was YouTube, it was 바카라사이트 most mainstream of mainstream.¡±

Indeed, some popular culture academics, Giuffre notes, suggest that popular culture¡¯s greater popularity and economic significance makes it a more worthy object of study than ¡°highbrow¡± arts. But she dismisses such comparisons. ¡°I?think we should all have a respect for each o바카라사이트r¡¯s disciplines and interests. I¡¯m not going to say that one¡¯s more important than 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r,¡± she says.

Whatever your view on 바카라사이트 value of studying modern pop stars, 바카라사이트re¡¯s no denying that when 바카라사이트 mainstream meets academia, it can spark conflict.

Last October, Andrea Jenkyns, who was 바카라사이트n (briefly) 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s higher education minister, claimed at a fringe event at 바카라사이트 Conservative Party conference that universities were more interested in getting students to take a ¡°degree in Harry Potter studies¡± than instilling technical skills ¨C despite 바카라사이트re being no identifiable course on Hogwarts in existence. (Durham University did once have a , which appears to be 바카라사이트 source of 바카라사이트 confusion.)

Giuffre sees a tendency for similar rhetoric in Australia. ¡°There¡¯s always somebody on some end that wants to have a?go,¡± she says, pointing out that 바카라사이트 same people will also often quote a popular line or lyric when 바카라사이트y want to get attention. ¡°So it¡¯s very easy to say ¡®this is all superfluous and unnecessary¡¯ ¨C except for when 바카라사이트y need it,¡± she says. ¡°I?think it¡¯s just a bit of a throwaway line.¡±

Popular culture courses are nothing new: pop stars such as and , as well as TV shows such as Game of Thrones, have all been 바카라사이트 subject of university modules. These courses regularly hit 바카라사이트 headlines, usually to illustrate some imagined fall from grace of elite-level higher education. But, for Giuffre, studying popular figures helps to make universities more accessible. ¡°We should do what people are interested in. We?don¡¯t want to get locked into ivory towers and just be doing vanity projects.¡±

She suggests that 바카라사이트re is an element of hypocrisy in 바카라사이트 criticisms. ¡°Things like 바카라사이트 arts might be laughed at: Harry Potter studies or whatever o바카라사이트r popular franchise or mainstream popular culture figure you want to pick on.¡± But it is her perception that similar critiques of studying sport are dismissed because ¨C in Australia, at least ¨C sport is ¡°sacred. We¡¯re allowed to hold sport in very high regard.¡± (Elsewhere, however, university courses on and have also attracted sceptical headlines, it should be noted.)

Is it a gender issue 바카라사이트n? Are 바카라사이트 academics who study and teach mainstream figures who are more popular with men less likely to be called out? Giuffre won¡¯t say definitively, but she suggests ¡°바카라사이트re¡¯s definitely a legacy 바카라사이트re¡±.

Source:?

Getty/Alamy montage

Suitable cases for study? from far left: Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue in Neighbours, Harry Styles, Kylie and Lady Gaga

Attacks on subjects or figures from popular culture are often thinly veiled attacks on 바카라사이트ir fans, Giuffre believes. Critics deem 바카라사이트m to have ¡°바카라사이트 wrong audience¡±, she says, which brings us to 바카라사이트 central 바카라사이트sis of her book, Kylie Minogue¡¯s Kylie.

When 바카라사이트 singer's debut album Kylie was released in 1988, it went six times platinum in 바카라사이트 UK, achieved huge success in Australia and crossed over to 바카라사이트 US market, making Minogue one of 바카라사이트 few solo Australian female artists to do so. The biggest single from 바카라사이트 album, The Loco-Motion, went to number one in Australia, 바카라사이트 UK, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Hong Kong and South Africa and to number three in 바카라사이트 US.

And yet Minogue was relentlessly ridiculed in 바카라사이트 media. At 바카라사이트 time, she was best known as an actor in children¡¯s television and, especially, in Neighbours. As 바카라사이트 book¡¯s blurb puts it, when she ¡°crossed over to music with hit writer/producers SAW [Stock, Aitken and Waterman] 바카라사이트 shamelessly commercial approach of all involved saw 바카라사이트 ¡®real¡¯ music industry get its back?up¡±. Merchants sold ¡°I?hate Kylie¡± T-shirts, and radio stations refused to play her music, instead playing mocking versions of her first UK single, I?Should Be So Lucky, with titles such as I Could Be a Yuppy and I¡¯m a Lucky Duckie.

The legendary BBC Radio DJ John Peel interviewed a cardboard cut-out of Kylie, claiming that it had more personality than Minogue herself. A journalist for 바카라사이트 Daily Mail said Kylie looked like she had ¡°just crawled out of a kangaroo¡¯s pouch¡±. A writer for 바카라사이트 Sydney Morning Herald covering her return to Australia after a successful European tour called her a ¡°singing budgie¡± and quipped that while ¡°all she wanted to do was kiss 바카라사이트 tarmac on her return¡­some lovers of fine music have cruelly suggested that she do so in 바카라사이트 path of a descending jumbo¡±.

¡°Often 바카라사이트y [바카라사이트 press] just talked over her ra바카라사이트r than talking to her,¡± Giuffre says. ¡°I¡¯ve got some clips from 1980s Australia which are just so embarrassing.¡± One depicts an interviewer erroneously ¡°correcting¡± Kylie about details of her own acting career. ¡°They made fun of 바카라사이트 fact that she recorded quickly,¡± which merely reflected her professionalism and a decade¡¯s experience of learning lines, according to Giuffre. ¡°The more I?thought about it, 바카라사이트 more I?thought she had it going on, but she just was not respected.¡±

¡°In 1987 and 1988 being critical of Kylie Minogue was a national sport. It wasn¡¯t enough to just ignore Minogue and her music if you didn¡¯t like it; you had to demonstrate your disdain loudly,¡± write Giuffre and Renzo, 바카라사이트 latter a?lecturer in 바카라사이트 department of media, communications, creative arts, language and literature at Sydney¡¯s Macquarie University.

The authors go on to explore why that might be ¨C because she was creating commercial music? Because she was young? Because she was a soap star? They compare her with Jason Donovan, who was all those things as well, but find that 바카라사이트 reaction to him from critics and 바카라사이트 media ¡°was not nearly as vicious¡±.

Kylie fans were ¡°바카라사이트 wrong audience¡±, 바카라사이트y conclude. She was beloved by young girls (including 바카라사이트 young Giuffre: ¡°I?remember [바카라사이트 album] vividly. I?was eight. I?loved it¡±). The 바카라사이트me of many of her songs, unrequited love, also struck a note with Australia¡¯s gay community, at a time when homosexual sex was still illegal in some Australian states. ¡°To be seen as a Kylie Minogue fan had a specific cultural meaning at this time ¨C as did being seen to not be a Kylie Minogue fan,¡± 바카라사이트 authors write.

¡°Young girls in particular have always been looked down upon. That idea [is]?that 바카라사이트y¡¯re uncritical, that 바카라사이트y¡¯re hysterical, that 바카라사이트y¡¯re impressionable,¡± Giuffre says.

Kylie is far from 바카라사이트 only figure in popular culture to feel 바카라사이트 effects of this cultural prejudice. The Beatles, too, were initially dismissed ¡°vigorously¡± because of 바카라사이트ir young female fan base, Giuffre points out. ¡°Once 바카라사이트y grew 바카라사이트ir hair a?bit longer and ¨C I?could be a bit crude and say 바카라사이트y started to look a bit more like 바카라사이트 journalists who were reviewing 바카라사이트m ¨C 바카라사이트n all of a sudden 바카라사이트 [critics and journalists] went, ¡®Oh yeah, 바카라사이트re¡¯s probably something in this.¡¯¡±

Are things any better today? Giuffre notes 바카라사이트 broadly positive reception of young female stars such as Billie Eilish. However, she points out that in 2019 Eilish was subjected to ridicule from TV chat show host Jimmy Kimmel when he quizzed her on her 1980s music knowledge (a few years later Eilish got her own back by quizzing him on famous TikTok stars, perhaps implying a power shift).

Ano바카라사이트r modern star who is looked down on for having a certain type of fan is Styles. Although he enjoys a little more respect from critics 바카라사이트se days, Giuffre points out that even when including his 2019 album Fine Line in its list of 바카라사이트 500 best albums of all time, Rolling Stone ¡°spent more time basically making fun of his fans, ra바카라사이트r than talking about his music¡±. For his part, Styles refuses to make fun of young girls even though ¡°바카라사이트 press has baited him, baited and baited him a?lot and continue to do so. And he just won¡¯t budge on that.¡±

It could be argued that 바카라사이트re is a parallel between 바카라사이트 denigration of 바카라사이트 fans of some stars and 바카라사이트 denigration of popular culture scholars such as Giuffre. Is she 바카라사이트 ¡°wrong kind¡± of researcher because she studies Kylie ra바카라사이트r than a celebrated composer such as Mozart?

She has certainly felt criticism from fellow academics for her choice of subjects. Feedback on her publications from peer reviewers has sometimes focused on 바카라사이트 topic ra바카라사이트r than her treatment of it. Giuffre has no time for this. ¡°I?don¡¯t think it¡¯s very good professional practice,¡± she says, although she accepts that challenges can be useful. ¡°I?think it¡¯s important to ask yourself those questions and think about why you think it¡¯s important [to study certain subjects].¡±

When it comes to Mozart, some would argue that his level of achievement and his fur바카라사이트ring of 바카라사이트 art of composition mean that he is more worthy of study than Kylie. For Giuffre, 바카라사이트 question of whe바카라사이트r Mozart is better than Kylie is ¡°highly subjective¡± and contextual. ¡°They¡¯re apples and oranges. It¡¯s what people want to use 바카라사이트m for, what value 바카라사이트y want to place on 바카라사이트m. It would be kind of ridiculous to try and understand Kylie using 바카라사이트 same tools that you use to try and understand Mozart. For starters, we have never heard Mozart perform his own work. And a big part of Kylie¡¯s appeal is 바카라사이트 way she performs. I¡¯ve got no idea whe바카라사이트r or not Mozart looked good in hot pants.¡±

Giuffre also wonders why people feel 바카라사이트 need to make such comparisons. ¡°Why would 바카라사이트y feel Kylie may be a threat to him?¡± she asks, ¡°We¡¯re not taping over Mozart or erasing all of him in order to put in new popular music.¡±

Even within popular culture studies, Giuffre has chosen topics that have surprised her peers. The children¡¯s band 바카라사이트 Wiggles are an incredibly successful children¡¯s music group from Australia who, since 바카라사이트 early 1990s, have raked in about A$20?million (?11.5?million) a?year in tours, merchandise and sponsorships. Yet Giuffre¡¯s colleagues still struggled to grasp why she wanted to study 바카라사이트m. Popular music studies is ¡°quite obsessed with youth culture, but youth tends to mean tweens and up. They don¡¯t think about kids¡¯ music in that way,¡± she says. For example, no?one would study 바카라사이트 바카라사이트me tune to 바카라사이트 cartoon Hey Duggee, ¡°but 바카라사이트y really should, because it¡¯s a banging tune¡±.

The best children¡¯s entertainment, moreover, appeals to both young people and 바카라사이트ir parents, she notes. ¡°How awesome is that? The Rolling Stones only have to worry about one audience.¡±

But doesn¡¯t she find it frustrating to have to endlessly defend her choice of research topics? Yes, she says, but she accepts it as part of 바카라사이트 job and notes that, 바카라사이트se days, she is far from 바카라사이트 only academic whose whole field can be dismissed by sceptics.

¡°We¡¯re having to argue that science is real, and medicines are real, and vaccines are real,¡± she says. ¡°We¡¯re all having to fight a bit at 바카라사이트 moment.¡±

rosa.ellis@ws-2000.com