Dr. Jackie Raphael's research is predominantly within the themes of celebrity culture, social media, endorsements, branding, iconic status and bromances. Dr. Raphael on the Editorial Board of Waterhill Publishing, and on the Advisory Board of Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS). As a member of CMCS, Dr. Raphael has organised and chaired conferences globally. She also created and is the producer of Celebrity Chat, a scholarly YouTube series. Dr. Raphael has published various papers and books including Bridging the Gaps Between Celebrity and Media, Becoming Brands: Celebrity, Activism and Politics, and the upcoming Credibility and the Incredible: Disassembling the Celebrity Figure.

She is also a Centre for Media and Celebrity Studies (CMCS) Advisory Board Member, producer of Celebrity Chat and WaterHill Publishing editorial board member.Her main fields of research are celebrity culture, iconic status, endorsements, brand identity, fandom, bromances and social media.

Dyer's influential texts Stars and Heavenly Bodies posited the notion of celebrities, in his case film stars, as symbolically significant entities in the expression of cultural values and discourse. Contemporary celebrity culture and the rise of social media has seen a decline in the type of symbolically significant film stars first examined by Dyer, yet the notion of social substantiality still holds true. With varying levels of success, contemporary celebrities, by virtue of their online presence, constitute an influential factor in the ebb and flow of modern culture. They set trends, influence dialogue, and focus attention on issues. However, to compete for attention in the cluttered space of mediatised celebrity culture, group interaction has become key to going viral. Celebrity bromances in particular have increased in recent years and are now being used as a marketing technique. Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy are among the large names attached to the X-Men film franchise. During the promotion of Days of FuturePast, the bromance between the actors featured prominently in media interviews and audience commentary alike. Although the use of the celebrity bromance was not confirmed as a promotional strategy, it provided a means to generate interest and discussion. This paper will explore celebrity bromances in contemporary culture through a case study of the X-Men bromance, focusing on the analysis of a promotional video and the online response from audiences.

No abstract

No abstract