Luke - Final Project

Through my video I am exploring the media’s portrayal of two celebrities against the
public’s perception of the same two celebrities. The media portrays celebrities in all different
ways, focusing on certain aspects of their life and ignoring or leaving out others. I chose to look
at Caitlyn Jenner’s transformation and how it was portrayed in the media. Another star that I
chose to examine was Tom Brady and his involvement with the Deflategate scandal. This
scandal took place during a NFL playoff game between the Patriots and the Colts when Tom
Brady was accused of knowing about a deflated game ball. I interviewed four people, two men
and two women, concerning their personal views, as public participants, on these two celebrities
and their issues. I also considered the bias in the media’s portrayal of Jenner and Brady.
In Communication and Popular Culture we learned how emotions could influence and
persuade peoples perceptions. Caitlyn Jenner and Tom Brady both played on emotions during
their controversies in the media. Specifically, when Kim Kardation talked about Bruce (now
Caitlyn) cross-dressing she played on the audience emotions on the Ellen Show. Kim was
justifying Bruce actions and letting the world know that this is who he really is. Also Kim talked
about how Bruce was cross-dressing in secrecy and had to hide his true identity from everyone
he loved and cared about. This triggers emotions from the viewers; they could disagree or feel
sympathetic.

Tom Brady’s controversy of the deflategate also used emotions to influence the audience
point of view. For example if someone was a supporter of the New England Patriots they would
disagree with the NFL and their diction to severely punish Tom and the rest of the team.
Additionally football fans might be persuaded by their emotions when learning about how the
NFL responds to potential cheating. Depending on a person’s favorite team they may have positive or negative emotions associated with the deflategate controversy.

In class we discussed how media and the news are influenced as a networking tool in this
current technological age. Due to both Caitlyn and Tom’s life updates, they have both been all
over the news and social media sights. Caitlyn has had several articles in magazines about her
gender transformation and has been on countless talk shows including Ellen and Diane Sawyer.
On the same note Tom Brady and his involvement with the deflategate scandal was heavily
discussed on networks such as ESPN and Sports Center. In this current time period when society
relies heavily on technology the social media networks are responsible for constantly updating
their information and keeping society up to date.

The last course concept is gender and sexuality. This idea can be used to talk about
Caitlyn and Tom Brady. Caitlyn’s gender transformation was heavily discussed in all different
media platforms because society felt in the need to classify her into a gender category. Caitlyn
identifies as a female, and dresses to support that. Tom Brady’s gender was not discussed during
this controversy, but he is a male, he’s a professional athlete, strong, masculine and a father, but
often associated with several female traits such as being a “pretty boy” a model attractive and
very clean cut. All in all social media plays on both Caitlyn and toms gender identities.

References
E. (2015, September 10). ESPN First Take Richard Sherman Statement on Tom Brady's
Deflategate Ruling. Retrieved November 18, 2015, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moKaq_CetVA
T. (2015, September 30). Kim on Caitlyn Jenner. Retrieved November 18, 2015, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX05yYc-9k8