Everyday Sociology: The Red Carpet

To many, the annual Hollywood awards shows may seem like trivial events, complete with flashing cameras, perfectly coiffed A-listers, drawn-out acceptance speeches, and of course, a red carpet. But in reality, these shows illustrate a lot of important sociological concepts and give us insight into how these concepts are applied to our own society. In her article "Sociology on the Red Carpet" at the Everyday Sociology Blog, Karen Sternheimer explains these awards shows from a sociological perspective. This post will share some of Sternheimer's main points and analyze them, showing how thinking sociologically can help us challenge the way we think about a well established cultural event.

As Sternheimer writes in her article, the red carpet walk and following awards show are both examples of Erving Goffman's front stage/back stage idea. This idea is that there are different social rules, scripts, and expectations in a public scenario compared to a private one. At these shows, the celebrities in attendance are, literally and figuratively, front stage. Millions of people tune in on their televisions and scrutinize every part of the event. And the celebrities are expected to "perform" a certain way. For example, Angelina Jolie would be expected to wear a designer dress and have her hair and makeup professionally done. She would be expected to talk to a reporter about "who" she is wearing and what she is excited about. She will need to sit through the show and clap, smile, and laugh at all the right times. Not only that, but she will likely end up being the subject of talk shows the next morning if she doesn't do those things right. Often times, the actions of the celebrities at the awards shows are more important than the awards themselves. This example shows us how much we as a society scrutinize each other in a public setting, and in scenarios far more ordinary than an
awards show.

In another part of her article, Sternheimer explains what the awards shows tell us about status in our society. In Hollywood, it is well known that there are more roles for Caucasian actors compared to ethnic actors. "Legitimate" photographers are afforded access to the red carpet, while paparazzi (often Latino immigrants of  a lower socio-economic class) must photograph from the sidelines. Even the Academy, who decides who wins the awards, is composed mainly of white males. These trends in Hollywood are projections of sociological trends at a larger scale, and this example shows us how one small event or ritual can tell us so many things about the broader society.

I found Sternheimer's article a really interesting read. Generally, I have never been a huge fan of awards shows because it seems like everyone is kind of being fake. But if you take Sternheimer's opinion into account, you might agree that these people are in fact playing a front stage role, and that role is one made by social forces (i.e. us). Not only do we make these people famous (by reading about them, Google searching them, emulating them, etc.), but we give them roles they are supposed to play out. This comes back to the idea of social construction, a point that Sternheimer left out. We, as members of society, construct societal norms and roles, such as what makes a celebrity and how a celebrity should act. Overall, Sternheimer's article is successfull in showing how thinking sociologically about something seemingly mundane can reveal a lot about society as a whole.

Link to Karen Sternheimer's article: http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2015/02/sociology-on-the-red-carpet.html