#3: Celebrity of Interest: Lana Del Rey

Lana Del Rey became an internet sensation after her songs, 'Video Games' and 'Born To Die' were leaked onto the web in mid 2011. Since then she has faced mixed reviews about both her musical talent, her attempt at a specific persona and her worthiness of a career in the music industry. Personally, I am in love with her music, as I find it to be a nice change from the typical pop princess cliche. It is her persona, however, that really intrigues me.
The way in which she portrays itself comes with a whole visual rhetoric of its own depending on the scenarios she is situated within as her look is constantly changing.
In this first image she is portraying a rebellious vibe, with her over sized ring, her 60's inspired sunglasses and her pouty yet seductive mouth.
From this image I get the impression that she is in control and that she isn't about to be taken advantage of.

The second image however shows a different side of her as she looks vulnerable and consequently could be taken advantage of at any moment. Her look is distant and she shows no hint of the badass attitude seen in the first image. The fact that she is leaned up against a wall portrays the message that she needs support.
This image is from the music video for 'Video Games' which holds a rhetoric of its own (it can be found here).

The third image goes back to her portraying herself as something out of the ordinary. From the look on her face, to the regular T-shirt contrasting with the abstract floral hair piece. Nothing about this look is average and I believe the purpose of posing for photo-shoots like this is too make herself stand out.

The fourth and final image is of her on Saturday Night Live during her, what some call, disastrous performance and unfortunately I am inclined to agree. See for yourself here. Regardless of the actual performance though her look here is once again completely different. She looks elegant, in a floor length lace gown, and her hair and makeup say 'old hollywood' to me.

Over the course of her rise to fame, critics have crucified her image as trying to be too 'American Apparel Hipster', too much of an attempt at a young Pricilla Presley, and over all too industry constructed. The point of me focusing this blog post on Lana Del Rey is not to judge her image and not to pick a side with any of these critics but to merely reflect on the fact that in just under half a year she has constructed more versions of visual rhetoric about herself than most celebrities do, or want to do, in their career (with the exception of Lady Gaga of course). The purpose of me including 5 images of Lana Del Rey is to show that she does not have one definable style, one definable look, or one definable character. Regardless of whether this is done purposely to make it in the industry, I think it can be argued that she knows how to make a visual argument about herself and the fact that so many people have chosen to criticize or comment on this just goes to show that it is working.