Like #131: Conan O'Brien

Quotes Lander:
"It is not hard to understand why white people love Conan O’Brien, he embodies so many of the things they already like before he even opens his mouth: Ivy League Schools, Red Hair, the Boston Red Sox, Self Deprecating Humor, The Simpsons, and Bad Memories of High School (likely, but not confirmed). Seeing him on television five nights a week is a comforting reminder of community to the white people who still have televisions."


Zooey has appeared on Conan O'Brien's show both alone and with her band, She & Him, and this clip shows her being interviewed by O'Brien about her film "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." This appearance connects Deschanel's star image to another image that is, according to Lander, loved by white people, highlighting her own demographic of popularity. Additionally, Lander references previous posts from his blog while describing Conan's appeal to white people (i.e. Bad Memories of High School). The same method can be used to describe Zooey Deschanel's popularity among upper middle class people. Lander chooses individual aspects of Conan's star image to demonstrate Conan's popularity within this culture, so we can do the same by using aspects of Deschanel's star image to discover what makes Zooey popular within white, upper middle class society.

Like #130: Ray Ban Wayfarers

"Right now, all white people are either wearing or coveting a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses. White people love these Ray-Bans because they were very popular in the 1960s and 1980s. This gives them a historical precedent and allows white people to classify them as “timeless.” That way when they purchase these sunglasses they can talk about how they were inspired by the fashion and music of these bygone eras. When a white person says this, you should just nod and mention how they look like young Johnny Cash, a dead Beach Boy, Audrey Hepburn, or an extra from a John Hughes movie. Under no circumstances, should you imply that white people purchased their sunglasses because of celebrities that are not dead or because they saw them on other white people they think are cool. This will make them very upset as white people need to believe they cannot be persuaded to buy anything."

Recently, Zooey Deschanel has appeared as a model for the Oliver Peoples Sunglasses Company. Although the glasses that Zooey wears are not Ray-Ban, they are the wayfarer style. A picture of Zooey wearing Ray-Ban wayfarers themselves can be seen above.

Interestingly, Zooey has become a model for this type of sunglasses at the same time that Lander has suggested that white people may buy wayfarers because they have seen them on “stars who are not dead” or on “other white people they think are cool.” Deschanel, as an Indie star, qualifies both as a star who is not dead and as a ‘cool’ white person. If people are imitating her consumer choices, it would appear that she is becoming an icon of sorts.

Wayfarers also have a vintage sensibility that is in line with Deschanel’s image (see the post on Vintage). As mentioned before, Zooey considers herself “an old-fashioned girl.” The Oliver Peoples ad in particular seems to draw intertextually on images of Audrey Hepburn wearing wayfarers in Breakfast At Tiffany's. (see below)

Additionally, this video advertisement "Catch a Tuesday" for Oliver Peoples showcases Deschanel's vintage style. She is filmed wearing vintage clothes and accessories in elegant-yet-retro surroundings. Thus, both wayfarer sunglasses and vintage style are updated and targeted toward affluent consumers.

Like #126: Vespa Scooters

"As it stands, every single white person on earth either owns, has owned, or is dreaming about owning a Vespa Scooter. And why not? They are Italian, feature vintage design, low emissions, make the rider look more sophisticated, and they carry a little bit of risk. In fact, were it to have a liberal arts degree and a steady income, a Vespa scooter would possesses every important quality that a white person looks for in a spouse."

Deschanel's key link to vespa scooters emerges from her performance in Yes Man. Her character, a yoga instructor/photographer/indie singer owns a vespa. Many scenes feature Deschanel driving around Los Angeles on this iconic vehicle, lending credence to Lander's stereotypical descriptions. There is even a group on Facebook called "10,000 Strong for the Petition to Revoke Zooey Deschanel's Scooter License," which can be found here.

Like #116: Black Music that Black People Don't Listen to Anymore

Quotes Lander:
"All music genres go through a very similar life cycle: birth, growth, mainstream acceptance, decline, and finally obscurity. With black music, however, the final stage is never reached because white people are work tirelessly to keep it alive. Apparently, once a music has lost its relevance with its intended audience, it becomes MORE relevant to white people. Historically speaking, the music that white people have kept on life support for the longest period of time is Jazz. Thanks largely to public radio, bookstores, and coffee shops, Jazz has carved out a niche in white culture that is not yet ready to be replaced by Indie Rock. But the biggest role that Jazz plays in white culture is in the white fantasy of leisure. All white people believe that they prefer listening to jazz over watching television. This is not true."

From the music we have listened to over the course of this blog, the obvious overtones of jazz and cabaret styles are constantly present in Zooey's singing style and in the music of She & Him.  Above is a video of Deschanel singing Louis Armstrong's "Dream a Little Dream of Me," which provides a concrete example of her purposeful use of jazz music, or 'Black Music' in her own work.  The image of Deschanel is another example of this connection by showing her singing in her cabaret inspired band called 'If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies."

Deschanel does recognize the importance of jazz music, as NPR reports "But jazz is perhaps her biggest influence. Deschanel grew up listening to jazz greats from Ella Fitzgerald and Anita O'Day to Chet Baker and Stan Getz. "I think my knowledge of music theory is rooted in jazz theory, and a lot of the writers of standards — Rodgers and Hart, and Gershwin." Deschanel says."

In addition, Deschanel's star image is associated with vintage, particularly African American associated sounds and tastes.  With her interview in Self Magazine from August 2009, Deschanel made a short playlist for summer songs, including 2 songs by African American artists, Nina Simone's 'My Baby Just Cares for Me,' and The Shirelles' 'Everbody Loves a Lover.'  It may be suprising that Deschanel's obvious appreciation and admiration for 'Black Music' actually excentuates her whiteness, but that is what Lander suggests in his argument that black people don't listen to jazz music anymore.  So in choosing to use jazz music, Deschanel is using the fantasy that jazz music is for relaxation and leisure that is connected to the white upper middle class.

Like #111: Pea Coats

"As the temperature starts to drop, many white people are forced to start wearing winter coats. Though many will simply don outdoor performance gear, a great number will turn to the #1 white winter jacket of all time: The Pea Coat. The Pea Coat was originally worn by sailors and members of the European Navy. If you think about it for a second, this means that the coat is European, Coastal, and Vintage. Three of white people’s favorite things. "

Drunk History

Zooey recently appeared as Mary Todd Lincoln in the comedy sketch, Drunk History. She appears alongside mainstream stars Don Cheadle and Will Ferrell in this off-beat comedy clip. The Drunk History videos target a liberal and well-educated demographic, owing to their historical references and their particular brand of humor.

Like #104: Girls With Bangs

"If you see a white woman and you are trying to figure out whether she is liked or just merely tolerated by white people, the best thing you can do is get a quick look at her haircut. It is a known fact that white people love women who wear their hair with bangs that hang straight down. For white people, this simple haircut makes a bold declaration by saying that the wearer is artistic, deep, and has probably dated a guy in a band you like."

Not only is Deschanel famous for this particular hairstyle, she is also married to Death Cab for Cutie singer, Ben Gibbard (a step beyond having 'dated a guy in a band you like'). Did Lander have Deschanel's star image in mind when typing up this post? Whatever the case may be, Lander's stereotype matches Zooey Deschanel to a tee.

Like #103: Sweaters

 

 

"The sweater is an essential part of the white person wardrobe and it is a very good idea to familiarize yourself with all the different types of sweaters that are most popular with white people."

Deschanel's star image is associated with every kind of sweater from cardigans to thick cable sweaters.  Here are some images from publicized images that would be used to further the connection that white, upper middle class people feel with her.

Like #97: Scarves

"White People’s body temperatures do not operate on logical or consistent levels, and because of this white people are often forced to wear clothing combinations that might seem strange or illogical...But without a doubt, the one piece of clothing that helps to regulate white body temperature in all situations is the scarf.  During winter months, it’s no surprise to find white people all bundled up with scarves around their neck – it just makes sense. But even as the weather warms up and the other layers start to fall off, the scarf remains."

In these images, Zooey's use of scarves in her outfits is conforming to Lander's ideas about them.  As he argues, the weather is not the most important factor in whether or not a white person will wear a scarf, which is certainly the case with Deschanel.  She wears scarves both for warmth and for accessorizing, which aids in our understanding of her star image as part of the white, upper middle class culture.

Like #86: Shorts

"One thing prized by white people is making the most of situations. They like to maximize opportunities for all that they are worth. It applies to jobs, vacations, investments, books, education, and perhaps most importantly, warm days. In order to get the most possible enjoyment out of these days, white people turn to one of their most trusted allies: shorts."

Like #83: Bad Memories of High School

Quote Lander:
"Virtually every white person you meet was a nerd in a high school-it is how they were able to get into a good arts program and law school. As such, their memories of high school are painful, but not tragic since they were able to eventually find success in the real world. Exploiting this information is your one way to ticket into the heart of a white person."

Fans of Deschanel will remember one particular role that resonates with bad memories of high school: her role as Nora in "The New Guy." According to IMDB, the film is about "A high school senior branded uncool in the ninth grade gets himself expelled so he can change his image to cool kid at the town's other high school." Nora is a misfit, nerdy highschooler, who is friends with the main character before he becomes popular. Playing in a band and hanging out with outsiders, Deschanel's character is shown as a typical nerdy teenager that, Lander believes, white people can all connect with based on their mutual painful experiences of high school.

Outside of this character, Zooey is often presented as a geeky or intellectual character that one can imagine being a nerd in high school. And her star image, in general, can be tied to this idea. When interviewed, Zooey has stated, "I was a kid when I started, and people really didn't know what to do with me at all," she says. "People were like, 'Uh, you're not a cheerleader, but you're not a goth.' Basically you need to convince a few people they should change their idea of what the part should be for you, which is hard." In addition, she has stated "I was labeled a 'theatre type' in high school, which made it hard to fit in and feel part of things." Because of this, white upper middle class people can connect with her on an emotional level, believing that even though they did not fit in while in high school, they are successful now, just as Deschanel is (Quotes from here).

Like #79: Modern Furniture

"When white people envision their dream home, a key part of the fantasy involves a least one piece of furniture designed by a famous architect from the 1930s"

These stills are from an important scene from 500 Days of Summer where Deschanel's character, Summer, runs through Ikea with her costar Joseph Gordon-Levitt. This scene is clearly a telling and fun scene for the couple, and it was even included in the trailer for the film. Looking at the stills, one can notice Ikea's modern furniture all around, and the two interact with the furniture, lying on the beds and joking around in this false domestic interior space. While Deschanel's personal home is not known to us, fans of Deschanel can imagine that (owing to her artistic and quirky persona) she lives in a home with modern furniture like Lander describes. Thanks to this charming scene, Deschanel's star image is connected to the buying of modern furniture, which white, upper middle class people are supposedly familiar with.

Like #67: Standing Still at Concerts

"Music is very important to white people. The problem is that most of the music that white people like isn’t really dance-friendly. More often the songs are about pain, or love, or breaking up with someone, or not being able to date someone, or death. So when white people go to concerts at smaller venues, what to do they do? They stand still! This is an important part of white concert going as it enables you to focus on the music, and it will prevent drawing excess attention to you."

As this video reveals, Zooey Deschanel's concerts are the perfect venues at which audience members can stand completely still. This song is not dance-friendly, and the lyrics are about pain and love--the kind of song one needs to "focus on."

Like #64: Recycling

"Recycling is a part of a larger theme of stuff white people like: saving the earth without having to do that much. Recycling is fantastic! You can still buy all the stuff you like (bottled water, beer, wine, organic iced tea, and cans of all varieties) and then when you’re done you just put it in a DIFFERENT bin than where you would throw your other garbage. And boom! Environment saved! Everyone feels great, it’s so easy!"

Deschanel is associated with the green movement, and especially recycling in a few ways, but most prominently and recently, with the t-shirt recycling program: "As part of the kick-off of the second season of “The Green” on Sundance Channel, the network has hooked up with Barneys New York CO-OP and the eco-chic fashion brand Loomstate to launch a first of its kind, national t-shirt recycling program."  Deschanel helped to publicize and support the event by performing with She and Him, as seen in the picture above.

Deschanel is also associated with recycling in the way Lander suggests because of her general involvement with environmentalism.  Some of the other parallels we have drawn between Lander's site and Deschanel's star image are also things that are related to green activism.  For example, Vespa Scooters are low emissions and bicycles are even more environmentally responsible.  In addition, by shopping at Grocery Store Co ops and eating vegetarian/vegan Deschanel forges this connection to conservation and environmentalism.  Outside of our posts, it should also be noted that Zooey and her sister regularly participate in the Humane Society's Genesis Awards.  All of these aspects of Deschanel's green sensibility are even more connected to Lander's post because they require very little effort (for most of these things) and they help to connect white upper middle class fans to Deschanel on an intellectual and emotional level because of their shared concern for the environment.

Like #61: Bicycles

"there is a special category of bicycles that appeal to white women: the European city bike. White women have a lot of fantasies about idealized lives, and one of them is living in Europe and riding around an old city on one of these bikes. They dream about waking up and riding to a little cafe, then visiting bakeries and cheese shops and finally riding home to prepare a fancy meal for their friends who will all eat under a canopy with white Christmas lights."

Like #49: Vintage

"Beginning in their late teens, white people begin an obsession with finding cool vintage clothing at local thrift shops and Goodwills. Making purchases at these locations address a number of white person needs.

First, it allows them to say “oh, this? I got this shirt at Goodwill for $3.” This statement focuses the attention on the shirt, taking attention away from the $350 jeans and $200 shoes. The white person can then retain that precious ‘indie’ cred.

Secondly, it allows a white person to have something that other white people don’t. This is an important consideration when trying to determine the worth and ranking of white people."

Zooey Deschanel's vintage fashion sense is integral to her star image. Many fan websites and magazine articles focus on her unique sense of style and on her clothing choices. Articles describing her style range from "500 Days of Vintage: Zooey Deschanel's Incredible Wardrobe" (found here) to "Vintage Queen: Zooey Deschanel" (here). Zooey takes her vintage style everywhere she goes: on stage, around town, and on the silver screen. Photo spreads feature her vintage style (including the use of black/white and sepia tones), and she wears the same outfits in 500 Days of Summer that she is seen wearing on the street. Deschanel, like Parker Posey, seems to be a "picture personality" in that audiences imagine her acting the same way in her private life as she does on camera. The pervasiveness of her vintage iconicity across many forms of media appears to help cement this image.

Deschanel is proud of her style and is not ashamed of her retro tastes. She has been quoted as saying that she loves "old music, old movies, screwball comedies, vintage clothes and basically I'm an old-fashioned gal."

This vintage sensibility also applies to her musical tastes. Her singing voice is often compared to singers of the 1940's, and Deschanel herself is a fan of Ella Fitzgerald. Her jazzy-sounding voice can be heard in the clip from Elf below. In the clip, she sings the 1944 holiday song, "Baby It's Cold Outside."

In an interview, Deschanel reveals that "my music taste is mostly stuff before 1975" and that "I just find that, part of my attraction to it is I like a lot of old films, I like a lot old music, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that I like the idea of knowing what happened before, so that I can understand it." Her interests are thus grounded on an intellectual level that (as Lander would probably agree) lends her "indie cred."

Here are a few images that further illustrate Deschanel's association with vintage. The first two images (below) are shots from 500 Days of Summer. Deschanel's character, Summer Finn, is always decked in vintage style. Further below are two photo spreads from Lula Magazine. In the final image from the Lula spread, Deschanel appears as a flapper at the beach. The vintage connotations that accompany her star image are clearly perpetuated across many forms of media.

Like #48: Whole Foods and Grocery Co-Ops

"White people need organic food to survive, and where they purchase this food is as important as what they purchase."

Deschanel’s image, as described in the post on Vegan/Vegetarianism, is highly associated with health and organic eating. Not only is this form of consumerism geared toward the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, it also serves as a status symbol for the upper-middle class and its associates. Only those with substantial incomes are able to pay the premiums charged for exotic and/or organic health products.

In an interview with Health Magazine, Deschanel admits that she shops at health food stores. She says that “I almost always visit health-food stores in every city I’m in, just to make sure there’s stuff on the bus I can eat—vegetables, fruits, lean meat, and nuts.” Additionally, a star sighting website posted this update on March 23, 2010: “Zooey Deschanel talking to her husband, Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, at Whole Foods on Coldwater in Sherman Oaks.”

A different interview with Self Magazine also added health food associations to Deschanel’s star image. In the article, Deschanel suggests summer recipes for eclectic, organic cuisine that followers can try for themselves.  She suggests for readers to "eat some heirloom tomatoes-I like all varieties.  With salt."  Not only are heirloom tomatoes healthy, but they are also a more rare and expensive kind of tomatoes.  Deschanel also gives a recipe for a healthy picnic quinoa salad and roasted spiced chickpeas.  These recipes help to associate her image to health and slightly exotic ingredients that one would imagine shopping for at a specialty grocery store.

Deschanel’s association with health food culture could also be a factor in producers’ decisions to cast her as a yoga student or instructor. For instance, it is usually common knowledge that Deschanel had been a vegan and that she is allergic to wheat gluten and soy. It is also usually known that the best places to find gluten-free products are health foods stores. Whether or not Deschanel’s association with health foods stores began as a result of her vegan lifestyle/gluten allergies or through some understanding that other affluent people like herself shop at Whole Foods is not very important. What is important is that upper-middle class fans see and hear about Deschanel’s health-conscious lifestyle and feel a stronger association with the star. Like themselves, she cares about what goes in her body and about living a healthy lifestyle.

Zooey and Jimmy Kimmel

Zooey Deschanel appears with Jimmy Fallon as a part in Fallon's Music Video for his song "Idiot Boyfriend."  Here, we see Deschanel shown as a upper middle class suburbanite in a completely white setting.  Upper middle class individuals would be able to connect with the staged home, and relate to Deschanel's character's portrayed family life.  This video is also, in part, connected to Lander's post on white people's enjoyment of Musical Comedy.

Like #47: Arts Degrees

"When white people go away to college, they tend to study what are known as the Arts."

Although Zooey Deschanel did not graduate from college, she began her studies as an arts student. She studied theater at Northwestern University for most of a year before dropping out to pursue her acting career.

It is likely that Zooey’s affluent background played an important role in her decision to pursue a degree in the arts. Her parents’ comfortable financial situation likely paved her way to follow her own passions. She did not necessarily have to obtain a degree in order to gain a better financial standing. Rather, she could rely on her parents to support her if her decision to pursue a degree in the arts led her into any financial difficulties. As Lander so sarcastically points out in his blog, “if the pay is low, no problem, [affluent] parents will happily help out with rent until [their children] magically start making six figures or non-magically turn 40.”

Like #43: Plays

quotes Lander:

"white people believe that live theater is essential to any cultured city. It is not known if white people actually enjoy plays or if they are just victims of massive peer pressure from the 45% of white people who have acted in a play at some point in their life."

Zooey Deschanel is a fan of the theater. As mentioned in the post on Arts Degrees, Zooey spent a year studying musical theater at Northwestern University. She has revealed in interviews that her career began "doing musicals," and in the future, she "would love to do a musical." As a child, she has said that she "wasn't really the most charming person, socially - it took me a long time to develop my people skills - but the one place I was always comfortable was onstage, acting or singing." Zooey, then, counts as one of the "45% of white people who have acted in a play at some point in their life" that, if Lander is correct, inspires the other 55% to attend the theater.

Like #41: Indie Music

"If you want to understand white people, you need to understand indie music. As mentioned before, white people hate anything ‘mainstream’ and are desperate to find things that are more genuine, unique, and reflective of their experiences. Fortunately, they have independent music."

By now you are fully aware that Zooey Deschanel prides herself on her individuality and creative sense of style and identity, which sets her apart from commercial and popular culture. Accentuating this counter-cultural association, Deschanel is also an independent musician.

Outside of Hollywood, Deschanel has been successful as the lead singer of indie band She & Him. In true Indie style, Deschanel insisted on paying for her first album herself rather than turning to a production studio. This do-it-yourself attitude is extremely important in the Independent music community because it represents a nonconforming attitude as well as a desire for artistic control that is respected by listeners. This legitimacy and credibility among indie music lovers has contributed to the band's growth in popularity in recent years.

Zooey’s music career has also gained notoriety thanks to the actress' on-screen singing performances. In Elf, Deschanel originally gained much renown for her forties-style singing voice. She also sings on screen in Yes Man as the lead singer of fictional band Munchausen By Proxy (an unpopular and artistic Indie band). Most recently, She & Him songs were included in the soundtrack for 500 Days of Summer. Zooey sings karaoke in the film, and she and 500 Days co-star Joseph Gordon-Levitt later produced a companion music video to the film. The video (the “Bank Dance” posted below) features the She & Him song “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here.”

Deschanel has an extremely unique situation with her band and her star image, which is part of the reason that she can be seen as an upper middle class icon. She is not like other actresses that record albums (like Jennifer Lopez or Scarlett Johanssen who have albums of their own) for a few reasons that we will attempt to understand here. First of all, Deschanel is extremely talented and has the ability to really deliver on her album, unlike many other actresses. Other talented actors and actresses who record music successfully tend to be much more associated with pop music and pop culture than Deschanel is. In part, we can imagine this is the case because she is viewed as an Independent actress, so her star image is already rebelling against the confines of consumer and mass culture, and her characters, while not belonging to popular bands, are often musicians or at least, musical (See The New Guy or Yes Man). In addition, Indie music lovers can respect the band's attitude because She & Him does not exploit Deschanel's popularity as many other actresses do for their music. The band is not called Zooey & Him, which is significant in understanding why their music is still viewed as Independent and not a part of generic pop culture.

In a way, Deschanel's association with Indie music validates her as an Independent actress and a white, upper middle class icon. Similarly, actor Mos Def and his band Black Star are associated with Independent music, and Lander mentions Mos Def in his list, saying:

"(Mos Def) has done an amazing job of being in big budget movies (The Italian Job) and having one of his songs become a white person wedding staple (Ms. Fat Booty) while still retaining authenticity and credibility."

We can imagine that white, upper middle class people see Deschanel and her band in the same light, helping to highlight the aspects of her star image (like her rebellious and individual attitude) that endear her to this culture. Again, upper middle class people can see the values that they hold dear visible in Deschanel's star image, and they can imagine that if they were as popular as Deschanel is, that they would also choose to remain a part of the Indie music counter-culture rather than selling out to the masses.

In addition, Deschanel's recent marriage to Death Cab for Cutie's lead singer, Ben Gibbard, has shown her involvement and prominence in the Independent music scene with Ben's band being one of its most important and known figures.