Manufacturing a Messiah

Abstract

This monograph analyzes how Nike and the athlete himself jointly commodified the public persona of LeBron James, with James cast in two normative narratives: (a) the Messiah and (b) hegemonic masculinity, stripping James of his Blackness and making him identifiable to a mainstream audience. The open-ended configuration of these narratives allows for “pivot points” in James’ life. Real-life developments fold into the construction of James, mitigating damage and shaping narratives in the process. New avenues of research in critical celebrity-branding analysis focus on areas such as the cross sections of endorsements and social media as well as the process of how mediated narratives normalize subjectivities.

What Color is a Golden Boy? The Glorification and Disparagement of Male Superstar Athletes in Sports Illustrated

“…Compared to whites, minority golden boys were more often described as lacking charm, intelligence, confidence, and morality. The disproportionate emphasis placed on the flaws and failings of minority athletes supports more than two decades of research on racial bias in sports media (Davis 2016;Regoli 2007a, 2007b;Dufur 1997;Park 2015;Grano 2014;Hylton and Lawrence 2015;Jamieson 1998;Lawrence 2017;Butterworth 2007;Mocarski and Billings 2014;Walters 2020;Leonard 2017). This study's second major finding contributes to an emerging area in the literature.…”

“…Although much of the commentary followed the standard image of an NBA basketball star, there were several instances of racialized portrayals and emasculating discourse, rooted in longstanding negative stereotypes of Asian Americans. Research on the stars of several other sports, including football (Grano 2014), soccer (Hylton and Lawrence 2015;Lawrence 2017), baseball (Butterworth 2007), basketball (Mocarski and Billings 2014), and mixed martial arts (Walters 2020), has revealed stark inequities in media representations of white and minoritized athletes. Leonard's (2017) Playing While White showed how whiteness matters in sports media by examining the cases of Johnny Manziel, Lance Armstrong, LeBron James, Serena Williams, Tiger Woods, Tim Tebow, and other superstars.…”

“…Case studies are appropriate when it is infeasible to sample multiple units over a long period of time or when a case has special theoretical relevance (Babbie 2008). Scholars have produced a range of historically and contextually rich case studies of superstars like basketball player LeBron James, soccer sensation Cristiano Ronald and Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps (Park 2015;Grano 2014;Hylton and Lawrence 2015;Lawrence 2017;Butterworth 2007;Mocarski and Billings 2014;Walters 2020;Dickerson 2018;Leonard 2017;Walsh and McAllister-Spooner 2011). However, the main goal of this study, and its primary contribution to the literature, is to expand the scope of existing research and take a systematic sample of numerous athletes from a wide range of sports across an extensive historical period.…”

Framing risk and responsibility: Newspaper coverage of COVID-19 racial disparities

“…This is a cause for significant concern considering that as attributions of responsibility are shifted to individuals, fundamental issues of inequality remain unaddressed. That said, there is also considerable evidence demonstrating thematic frames are employed to report on racial inequalities in some cases ( Holt & Major, 2010 ; Mourão et al., 2018 ) and that news coverage becoming increasingly equitable and less stereotypical in certain contexts ( Mocarski & Billings, 2013 ) such that reporting tends to accurately represent society. While this is a positive sign of evolving standards in journalism, most of this research is focused on political issues.…”

Looks, Liveliness, and Laughter: Visual Representations in Commercial Sports for Children

“…In addition, his work also pointed at the interrelated nature of sport, gender, race, and commodification, which could be seen in marketing strategies, for example, by Nike (see also McKay, 1995). This interrelation has been expanded on more recently by others who have shown a blend of representational characteristics (Gee, 2015;Ho & Tanaka, 2021;Horne, 2006;Jackson & Andrews, 2005;Mocarski & Billings, 2014;Toffoletti, 2017). For example, to reach a new female audience for the 2015 Cricket World Cup, advertisements were to promote an idea of cricket as inclusive and transnational, but instead, a particular idea of Australianness as White and male was conveyed.…”