Eat, drink, shop
Constructing Sammi Cheng as global consumer
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5675342 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alice Leppert (University of Minnesota, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 19-30 |
| Publication date | 2011-03-14 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Celebrity Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1939-2397 • E-ISSN: 1939-2400 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/19392397.2011.544158 |
| OpenAlex | W1975757444 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 9 |
As the Hong Kong film industry struggles to regain its once prominent place in the global market, it turns increasingly to Cantopop stars to entice local audiences. Cantopop star and actress Sammi Cheng is one of the Hong Kong film industry's most bankable stars, leading a barrage of romantic comedies to box office success. Cheng's films, endorsements and fan discourse work together to brand her as a global consumer, yet her image maintains a local sensibility, embodying a key tension in arguments about globalisation as well as the contradictions of life in Hong Kong following the handover to China. This article argues that Cheng's celebrity is indicative of and perpetuates the gendered contradictions of global consumer culture, imploring young women to participate, but carefully policing their behaviour. Cheng serves as a model consumer for her young fans, yet her films often denigrate her consumption as excessively feminine and pathological. In four of her most popular films, Needing You (2000), Love on a Diet (2001), My Left Eye Sees Ghosts (2002) and Yesterday Once More (2004), Cheng plays characters whose consumption habits are out of control; her characters eat, drink, shop and shoplift compulsively. Cheng's characters participate heavily in the global capitalist economy, often preferring brands of western origin; however, the films usually resolve with a nod towards privileging the local specificity of Hong Kong. Cheng's celebrity is built upon a steady stream of endorsement deals with global brands alongside a few Hong Kong-based brands, and fan websites devoted to her delight consistently in detailing her consumer preferences. Cheng's star persona encourages her fans to fashion themselves after her, while her films caution them not to go too far
Advertising · Art · Art history · Business · China · Globalization · Literature · Media studies · Movie theater · Political science · Romance · Sensibility · Social science · Sociology · Yesterday · Asian Culture and Media Studies · History · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics · Law · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,25 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2022 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |