https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/issue/feed Mediascapes journal 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Giovanni Boccia Artieri mediascapesjournal@gmail.com Open Journal Systems <p align="JUSTIFY"><em>Mediascapes Journal</em> è una rivista online open access pubblicata semestralmente che offre articoli di taglio teorico ed empirico il cui obiettivo è offrire uno sguardo originale sul mondo della comunicazione e dei mass media.</p> <p align="JUSTIFY">Nata nel 2013,<em> Mediascapes Journal</em> è la prima rivista italiana espressamente dedicata ai media studies, dove studiosi di diverse generazioni e approcci di analisi possono confrontare teorie, metodologie e sguardi critici. <span class="text">Mediascapes è inserita nell'elenco delle riviste scientifiche di fascia A dall'ANVUR in due specifici settori disciplinari: <em>Sociologia dei Processi Culturali e Comunicativi</em> (<span class="text">Area: 14, Settore: 14C2, SSD: Sps/08); <span class="st"><em>Teatro</em>, <em>musica</em>, <em>cinema</em>, <em>televisione e media audiovisivi</em> </span></span>(Area:10, Settore: 10C1; SSD: <span class="st">L-ART/05</span>).</span></p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><em>Mediascapes Journal</em> è organizzata in due parti: una sezione monografica di saggi, in cui diversi studiosi si confrontano sui temi di maggiore urgenza; una sezione "percorsi di ricerca", che accoglie contributi teorici ed empirici di diversa provenienza, attraverso una call for papers sempre aperta. Tutti gli articoli sono sottoposti ad un sistema di doppio referaggio cieco.</p> <p align="JUSTIFY"><em>Mediascapes Journal</em> accetta contributi in italiano e inglese.</p> https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/18877 Underground resistance 2025-04-16T14:48:39+00:00 Nicola Costalunga nicola.costalunga@unito.it Michele Varini michele.varini@unicatt.it <p>Video games have been, and increasingly are, a component of popular culture. With their growing popularity, their ability to generate mythopoiesis, stereotypes and language is becoming increasingly evident, as is their economic relevance and the size of their fan bases. The pandemic and the consequent increase in the use of digital media has further made this phenomenon a more and more important part of many people's lives, no longer just young or very young, increasingly extending to other socio-demographic groups, as is also evident in the growing phenomenon of nostalgia and 'retro gaming'. The well-known ‘Street Fighter’ saga, as a whole, has had a very strong media, artistic and imaginative impact, just think of the fact that the franchise in question has expanded to include comics, anime, films in a trans and cross media manner. Today, communities of gamers, be they platform loyalists, nostalgic or early adopters, are a fertile field to study the role that ‘Street Fighter 3’ has had and still has in shaping imaginaries, communities, places and practices dedicated to this activity, in fact, almost 20 years after its release, the title is still played, even competitively, by specific communities in the sector, despite its apparent commercial failure. This video game has the typical characteristics of 1990s fighting games, but the fact that it is still played has brought interesting innovations and developments, updates that run parallel to the game itself: streaming, new gaming peripherals and new communities. Gaming peripherals, necessary for tournaments, are not only space-consuming but also vintage, requiring dedicated space, skills and technical knowledge that players often learn on their own by domesticating the tool in question. Given these premises, the research intends to structure itself in an ethnographic investigation aimed at exploring the members of a community of Italian players, avid enthusiasts, numerically meagre and heterogeneous in terms of age and socio-economic background. This community has demonstrated resilience in terms of continuity, challenging the evolutionary processes of gaming, but making its own customised evolutionary transformation, partially adapting to contemporary modes of 'play'. Despite being a heterogeneous community, the places dedicated to tournaments and gatherings are for the most part located in the city of Milan, the place of choice for conducting the research, consisting of semi-structured interviews with selected individuals. With rare exceptions, these players have nurtured the existence of the community for over ten years, interacting even outside its physical space and enriching its direct and indirect knowledge of the game in question.</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/18903 “Roman-ness” in Italian Crime Dramas 2025-01-02T15:11:58+00:00 Paola De Rosa p.derosa@unilink.it <p>Over the last years, several Italian crime dramas have increasingly explored Roman-ness, defined as the distinctive way of living and thinking (as well as speaking) traditionally ascribed to the inhabitants of the Eternal City. This article presents the results of an empirical study aimed at investigating <em>whether</em> and <em>how</em> representations of Roman identity provided by crime dramas align with audience perceptions of “Roman-ness”. Employing a mixed-method approach, the research combines qualitative media content analysis of eight selected crime dramas with a structured quantitative survey of audience perceptions. Findings show that Roman-ness emerges as a cultural identity equally constructed in crime dramas and recognized by audiences across three distinct narrative levels: plot, settings, and characters. The crucial role of actors/actresses’ authentic Roman origins in shaping audience perceptions is particularly notable, highlighting the significance of Roman celebrities in legitimizing mediated representations of cultural identity.</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/19050 The media ideologies of medical influencers: 2025-03-31T10:33:51+00:00 Francesca Ieracitano francesca.ieracitano@uniroma1.it Alessia Centola alessiacentola@gmail.com <p>This study compares the media ideologies of Italian med-influencers and their followers concerning medical personal branding on social media. The existing literature explores how medical practitioners promote themselves online. Nevertheless, it overlooks the beliefs shaping how med-influencers use social media for personal branding and how they perceive their followers’ expectations. In order to explore med-influencers and followers’ media ideologies, 30 semi-structured interviews, integrated with the techniques of cognitive walkthrough and thinking aloud methods, were carried out. The interviews with the Italian med-influencers and followers were analyzed through a thematic analysis. The results reveal a lack of awareness of social media logic among med-influencers, a deterministic approach towards social media, and false beliefs about follower expectations. These media ideologies affect the choice of med-personal branding strategies, limiting them to clarity, entertainment, and the sharing of personal content. Med-influencers believe that posting personal and fun content is enough to humanize the doctor’s role. Conversely, followers prioritize genuine emotional engagement. Findings suggest that, while digital literacy skills are important, med-influencers also need greater awareness of how their beliefs and misconceptions may affect personal branding practices.</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/19027 Il borgo dei borghi 2025-03-12T09:17:12+00:00 Enrico Mariani enrico.mariani@uniurb.it <p>Il dibattito sui borghi delle aree interne durante la pandemia di Covid-19 ha conosciuto un’inattesa accelerazione, in parte spiegabile con il desiderio di fuga dai centri urbani densamente popolati e congestionati. Questo contributo si concentra sull’immaginario mediale dei borghi italiani, cercando di individuarne i tratti caratteristici in relazione ai fenomeni sociali e culturali generati dalla pandemia. Se diverse ricerche contemporanee sui borghi e sulle aree interne si concentrano sull’impatto territoriale delle politiche turistiche istituzionali, l’immaginario mediale che muove queste politiche è un ambito poco esplorato. Queste iniziative istituzionali, infatti, sono legate a criteri di classificazione dell’autenticità dei borghi. Il contributo esplora alcuni oggetti mediali che veicolano tale concezione dell’autenticità, considerandoli come dispositivi narrativi che contribuiscono a costruire il valore dell’esperienza che è possibile vivere nei borghi italiani. Verranno messi in luce alcuni ordini valoriali che hanno la funzione di descrivere l’autenticità e, al tempo stesso, di fornire delle istruzioni su come riconoscerla, legittimando il valore di alcune esperienze. Il cambiamento rilevato negli oggetti mediali analizzati dei processi di autenticazione tra pre e post-pandemia permette, nelle conclusioni, di fare alcune considerazioni sul principale orientamento delle pratiche turistiche contemporanee. Il modello della gita breve nei borghi, che sembra prevalere, non solo propone la visita al patrimonio storico, culturale e naturale, ma presenta una recente tendenza a raccontare in modo comico e ironico l’incontro con i locali, a testimonianza delle possibilità di buon vivere quotidiane offerte dai borghi italiani.</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/19070 “To be Queer, To be in Dating Apps, To be Queer in Dating Apps” 2025-04-02T09:12:31+00:00 Rachele Reschiglian rachele.reschiglian@phd.unipd.it Cosimo Marco Scarcelli cosimomarco.scarcelli@unipd.it Brady Robards brady.robards@monash.edu <p>This study examines the experiences of Italian LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and/or Queer) young adults (aged 19-35) navigating safety in online dating apps in the context of growing sociocultural challenges. Situating itself in the study of digital intimacies, the research explores how platform affordances, societal norms, and individual identity journeys shape digital dating safety practices and their perceptions among LGBTQ+ users. Drawing on eight focus groups with 39 people, in this article we employ thematic analysis to uncover users' experiences of risks, fears, and strategies for navigating safety on dating apps. These findings expand on Babcock et al.'s (2024) Safety Spectrum Theory Model by introducing the concept of "Biographical Queerness," which captures the dynamic and evolving relationship between LGBTQ+ users' identities, their digital practices, and the idea of modality spectrum between offline and online safety practices. The findings reveal that Italian LGBTQ+ young adults frequently face risks such as harassment, fetishisation, unsolicited explicit content, and the fear of being outed in both digital and physical spaces, based on their gender (identity and perception), and sexual orientation.. These risks are compounded by Italy's current sociocultural climate, which often stigmatises LGBTQ+ identities, making digital visibility a precarious endeavour. To mitigate risks, participants report employing a range of safety strategies spanning in-app, multi-app, and offline practices. Users’ approaches in the apps to safety are shaped by what we describe as their Biographical Queerness, which reflects their evolving gender and sexual identities and their sociocultural and biographical contexts. These strategies intersect with the Safety Spectrum Theory's (Babcock et al., 2024) categories of strict, fluid, and relaxed safety protocols, demonstrating how users adapt their behaviours based on perceived risks and contextual factors. By examining the interplay between LGBTQ+ identities, digital practices, and cultural contexts, this study nuances understanding of safety negotiation in digital dating spaces for LGBTQ+ users in Italy. This paper seeks to highlight the significance of identity-specific risks, platform affordances, and the sociocultural landscape shaping LGBTQ+ digital intimacy and safety practices.</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/19039 Imagining Photography in the Age of AI 2025-03-20T10:16:13+00:00 Chiara Spaggiari c.spaggiari@campus.uniurb.it <p>The present article observes the current crisis of photography concerning the new algorithmic and machine learning systems, which are increasingly integrated into the apparatus of capturing, processing and creating technical images. In this moment of technological transformation, it changes conceptions and definitions of photographic images, influencing both the imaginaries from a structural and philosophical point of view, as well as the imaginative expectations and related worries of individuals. The case of Boris Eldagsen, who won a photography award in April 2023 with an image generated with DALL-E, was the trigger for a debate on social media, particularly Facebook, concerning the relationship between photorealism and photography, art and communication. Through the qualitative content analysis of posts and comments, it is possible to observe the trajectories by which new distinctions are defined by social imaginaries.</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/18929 Affect and its role in the formation of Italian political fandoms on social media 2025-03-03T07:58:17+00:00 Giovanni Daniele Starita giovanni.starita@sns.it Sara Consonni sara.consonni@rai.usc.es Roberto Mincigrucci roberto.mincigrucci@unipg.it <p>This article explores the phenomenon of political fandom in Italy through an analysis of Instagram posts related to Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister and leader of Fratelli d’Italia. Positioned within the discourse on the celebritization of politics, the study examines the integration of fan-like behaviours into political engagement, particularly within the algorithmically governed and fragmented spaces of contemporary social media. Drawing on Jonathan Dean’s (2017) framework, the authors assess how these elements are articulated in digital interactions. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research combines quantitative analysis of 383 Instagram posts under the hashtag #GiorgiaMeloni with qualitative visual and multimodal analysis. The findings show that the majority of fan-like content supporting Meloni is strategically created by political actors to build a sense of community and align followers with the leader’s political agenda. Conversely, anti-fandom content by ordinary users predominantly critiques Meloni in a personal or political capacity, often lacking the communal aspects typical of fandom. The study introduces the concept of fandomesque, a genre of fan-like content generated primarily by political actors rather than ordinary users. Unlike spontaneous fandom, fandomesque practices blend affective expressions with strategic political objectives, challenging traditional assumptions about the nature of fan-like behaviours. The analysis reveals that while anti-fandom content dominates among ordinary users, reflecting personal and political disapproval of Meloni, fandomesque content is largely produced by political actors seeking to shape a supportive digital discourse around the leader. The authors argue that Dean’s framework requires adaptation to capture the nuances of digital political fandoms in the social media age. Specifically, the interplay of parasocial relationships and strategic motives necessitates an expanded theoretical lens that incorporates insights from celebrity politics, social media studies, and affect theory. This integrative approach enables a deeper understanding of digital political fandoms as dynamic phenomena shaped by individual affective attachments and collective strategic efforts within fragmented online spaces. This research contributes to the broader literature on political communication by highlighting the interplay between celebrity-like performances by politicians and the fan-like behaviours of their supporters. It also underscores the importance of distinguishing between spontaneous fandom and fandomesque practices to better understand how political actors leverage fan culture to achieve strategic goals. The findings provide a foundation for future empirical and theoretical studies on the role of affective publics and parasocial dynamics in political engagement on social media.</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/19034 Between diaspora and Greater Israel 2025-03-27T11:59:21+00:00 Fabio Tarzia fabio.tarzia@uniroma1.it <p>The war that started with the massacre on 7 October 2023 and saw Israel fighting on many fronts, from Gaza to southern Lebanon has been a constant story in the news for over a year. Everything has been said, geopolitically and emotionally. If, however, we wanted to move on to the deep level of collective imaginaries, a factor that remains fundamental in every war and every type of conflict, a central question arises: what does Israel really propose? What does it intend to achieve in terms of symbolism and identity? What is really at stake seems to be the annexation of the West Bank and, therefore, the construction of Greater Israel. Looking at the question from the point of view of the sociology of imaginaries, it is perhaps possible to go deeper into the actions and reveal their symbolic and identity-based purpose. The construction of Greater Israel implies the annihilation of Jewish diasporic identity, that is, of the millennial Jewish constitutive structure. But is this really the case? Or is Greater Israel in danger of becoming another immense ghetto within the global diaspora?</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/19203 When Stars Grow Old – Cultural and Media Processes of the Celebrity/Ageing Nexus 2025-06-29T14:57:15+00:00 Antonella Mascio antonella.mascio@unibo.it Roy Menarini roy.menarini@unibo.it Sara Pesce sara.pesce@unibo.it Mario Tirino mtirino@unisa.it <p>Introduction to the Special Issue of Mediascapes Journal "Celebr-Age: Celebrity and Ageing in Media and Sports Contexts"</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/19086 The Double Standard of Screen Age 2025-05-05T16:02:46+00:00 Gloria Dagnino gloria.dagnino@uniud.it Francesco Pitassio francesco.pitassio@uniud.it <p>This article investigates the underexplored concept of "screen age" within the Italian film industry, situating it at the intersection of cultural gerontology and production studies. By analysing screen age as a distinct construct from chronological, biological, social, and psychological age, the article aims to illuminate how age is understood and operationalized in casting practices. Drawing on Susan Sontag’s concept of the double standard of ageing, the study focuses on the gendered biases that systematically marginalize older actresses, contributing to their underrepresentation and typecasting. Through an exploratory qualitative analysis based on semi-structured interviews with Italian casting directors, the article reveals the gatekeeping role of casting professionals and the socially-determined nature of assigning screen age, which often results in privileging youthful femininity over age diversity. The research also reflects on the evolving practices of diversity casting, questioning whether race- and gender-inclusive strategies might be extended to age-inclusive approaches. Although international practices such as digital de-ageing are emerging, they still remain peripheral in the Italian context. The paper argues for the need to integrate screen age more rigorously into academic and industrial discourse and proposes a rethinking of diversity paradigms to encompass age as a critical identity marker. The findings highlight both challenges and possibilities for inclusive representation in contemporary audiovisual media, advocating for systemic change in both creative and industrial spheres to counter entrenched ageist and gendered norms.</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/19102 Isabella Rossellini’s assertive marginality 2025-05-23T16:06:58+00:00 Sara Pesce sara.pesce@unibo.it <p>This study explores the intersection of celebrity ageing and ecological sustainability, using Isabella Rossellini’s career trajectory as a case study to examine how ageing celebrities navigate the margins of the attention economy, the production systems and the beauty standards. As celebrities transition from cultural centrality to marginality, they often engage in experimental behaviors that challenge societal norms, offering insights both into sustainable personal management and environmental resilience. By analyzing Rossellini’s public roles in the new millennium, this paper uncovers how ageing celebrities influence audience perceptions of ecological issues, drawing parallels between individual adaptation to ageing and broader principles of environmental justice. The discussion situates these dynamics within the frameworks of environmental heterogeneity, salvage capitalism, and sustainable ecosystems, emphasizing the socio-cultural implications of resource scarcity, unequal distribution, and ethical disposal – whether of attentional capital or natural resources. This analysis underscores the interconnectedness of cultural dynamics and environmental challenges, revealing how celebrity culture both mirrors and influences collective attitudes toward sustainability and resource preservation. Ultimately, this research contributes to scholarly debates on celebrity engagement with environmental causes, arguing that ageing celebrities, by transforming their cultural obsolescence into innovative and inspirational narratives, reflect broader adaptive processes within societal and ecological systems.</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/19076 “All things change, but Gilbert Roland remains the same” (or not?) 2025-05-06T07:58:04+00:00 Costanza Salvi costanza.salvi@unibg.it <p>Gilbert Roland’s career spanned from the early 1920s to 1982, the year of his last appearance on-screen. In 1974, when he was 69, the <em>Los Angeles Times</em> commented upon his capacity to endure, defining his glamorous figure as living proof that time can add character to his handsome Latin features. Still, the sense of fulfillment derives less from invariability than from his ability to adapt to Hollywood’s evolving trends and global expectations. This article contributes to the adaptability hypothesis for aging stars addressed by this special issue of <em>Mediascapes</em> by exploring Roland’s critical moments. At the beginning of his career, the actor either capitalized on the Latin Lover trend or attempted to erase his origins to avoid excessive typecasting. However, as he aged, his career stalled in smaller movies, and finding roles became all the more challenging. The turning point took place after World War II, when the actor, now in his 50s, began portraying characters associated with his Mexican origin. He aimed to present a more confident and assertive image of Mexico in Hollywood through the characters he played on the screen. Two main strategies employed by Roland are emphasized in the article: firstly, he proposed a positive role model, established through a well-planned program combining awareness of aging and the objective of maintaining a consistent standard of professionalism. Secondly, he addressed his audiences across the US-Mexico border to secure a transnational and transgenerational understanding of his messages. This article provides a fresh perspective on Gilbert Roland’s career by moving beyond the narrow portrayal of him as just a Latin Lover, which has been the focus of academic scholarship thus far. Instead, it highlights his modern approach, based on a full grasp of the factors that have driven popularity in the post-war phase of Hollywood studio production.</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/19111 Intergenerational Influence Culture 2025-05-23T16:04:12+00:00 Miriam Ferraro miriam.ferraro@unife.it Marco Luca Pedroni marcoluca.pedroni@unife.it Benedetto Bramante brmbdt@unife.it <p>This article examines how digital platforms are reshaping cultural representations of ageing, with a focus on the rise of elderly influencers as symbolic agents in an evolving influence culture. Moving beyond youth-centred narratives of digital fluency, the study explores the case of Gabriella Tupini, an octogenarian psychologist whose YouTube channel challenges ageist and gendered assumptions about technological competence, self-representation, and cultural authority. Using a qualitative case study approach that integrates content analysis and netnography, the article investigates how figures like Tupini reconfigure the logics of influence culture by employing alternative repertoires of expertise, affective resonance, and narrative intimacy. The analysis addresses three interrelated research questions: How do elderly influencers such as Tupini contribute to reconfiguring ageing narratives via social media? What discursive and relational strategies support their authority, particularly around therapeutic discourse and self-disclosure? To what extent do these practices disrupt stereotypical boundaries of age, visibility, and symbolic capital in digital ecosystems? Findings highlight how Tupini’s unscripted videos promote cognitive participation and emotional identification across generational lines, cultivating a distinctive form of intergenerational digital intimacy. Her rejection of commercial strategies and emphasis on reflective discourse contrasts with dominant metrics-driven influencer practices. Rather than embodying performative vitality or entrepreneurial self-branding, her digital presence affirms the value of experience, introspection, and psychological insight. This article advances the notion of “intergenerational influence culture” to describe emerging dynamics in which older adults not only access but reshape digital participation. While such cases offer emancipatory potential, they may also obscure structural exclusions and reinforce neoliberal ideals of productive ageing. By foregrounding alternative imaginaries and affective labour, the study contributes to critical debates on age, media, and agency in platform societies.</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/19104 “Es el show de Maradona” 2025-05-15T05:18:13+00:00 Luca Bifulco luca.bifulco@unina.it <p>The TV series <em>Maradona in Mexico</em> seems to make explicit the conflicting coexistence of rationality and irrationality, disenchantment and enchantment in the celebrity status of contemporary sport. Sport has, in fact, its own ritualistic, emotional, effervescent dimension, capable of rooting solidarity, identity, and social belonging. At the same time, the factors of commercialization, commodification and spectacular entertainment, based on the principles of economic rationality and profit orientation, are equally constitutive today, if not more influential. Thus, a sports celebrity maintains that complex balance between being a brand within a market logic and an identifying point of reference for communities of fans, apparently by virtue of charismatic qualities and a predisposition for enchantment. Maradona’s experience in Mexico – with his performance in the TV series – is no exception. The series tells the story of how Maradona, called upon to coach a low-ranking team in the Mexican second division, emerges as a charismatic leader, a centre of ritual attention, apparently gifted with mysterious and ineffable qualities. Despite his advanced age and very poor health, he still seems capable of arousing deep feelings, of instilling energy and of potentially leading a team – and with it the whole community – towards innovative and glorious footballing and moral achievements. However, his charisma does not escape the mesh of market rationality without being somehow contained and integrated. As a famous personality inserted in the commercial mechanisms of football, but also as a character in the television industry, he is experiencing that process of commodification of reputation that is typical of sports celebrities.</p> <p> </p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/19084 Is this already the “Box Box” era? 2025-05-06T07:53:13+00:00 Simona Castellano sicastellano@unisa.it <p>This paper examines the concept of celebrity capital in sports, with a focus on the post-career phase of élite athletes. Using Lewis Hamilton – Formula One champion and prominent public figure – as a case study, the research investigates how this form of capital is renegotiated during the transition from full competitive performance to the prospect of retirement. Drawing on the conceptual framework of celebrity studies, media studies, and sport sociology, while adopting a qualitative approach through a thematic analysis, the study examines Hamilton’s self-narrative on Instagram, as well as the ideas that the Italian press is spreading on this particular moment in his career, and the mainstream narrative carried out through the documentary TV series <em>Formula 1: Drive to Survive.</em> The research identifies the recurring themes of remembrance, generational transition, self-commodification, public legacy, and self-branding strategies. Hamilton's media-driven narrative is oriented towards a gradual process of transformation, placing the athlete between a symbolic closure (of a journey) and promising new possibilities for his future. The case exemplifies how sports celebrities perform a publicly staged negotiation of their end-of-career, constructing a legacy that may extend beyond sport and into cultural, ethical, and entrepreneurial spheres.</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/19103 Eternal Youth 2025-06-06T09:35:46+00:00 Ylenia Caputo ylenia.caputo2@unibo.it <p>Gymnastics is a discipline that offers the possibility to explore the complex relationship between body, ageing and gender. Professional gymnasts, who reach the peak of their physical performance during adolescence, appear to undergo an anomalous alteration of the ageing process, shaped by both extrinsic elements (intense physical effort, strict dietary regimes, the use of pharmacological substances) and intrinsic ones (the natural biological metamorphosis). As is well known, the developmental phase, with the changes it entails – first and foremost the onset of menstruation – affects the athletes’ physical performance. Their young bodies are thus prematurely perceived, experienced and managed as if they were “old bodies”, generating a paradox that translates into concrete attempts to delay such ageing, through practices that, in fact, reverse the process and confine gymnasts within a sort of “perpetual youth”, with all the associated physical, biological, psychological, and even social implications. In exploring this phenomenon, reference will be made to the representations and narratives of gymnasts in the media, with a specific focus on the docu-series <em>Ginnaste – Vite Parallele</em> (MTV, 2011–2016) and the fiction <em>The Gymnasts</em> (<em>Corpo libero</em>, Rai 2, 2023). Furthermore, exemplary figures in the discipline will be taken into account, such as Carlotta Ferlito for Italy and Simone Biles for the United States, who, as public and cross-media personalities, contribute to the redefinition of the female body, ageing and heroism, in the sporting context and beyond.</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/19113 Beckham 2025-05-13T10:08:27+00:00 Antonella Mascio antonella.mascio@unibo.it <p>In the mid-1990s, young David Beckham was already a football star thanks to his performances on the pitch. He quickly became a true celebrity, a status he “achieved” (Rojek, 2001; Ricci 2013), thanks to the public recognition he gained for his sporting abilities. In a short time, Beckham's fame transcended the boundaries of sport to influence other areas, such as fashion and entertainment, connoting the footballer as famous by “attribution”: his constant presence in the media, his marriage to Victoria Adams and the popularity he gradually gained from the public only served to increase his fame. His ageing, his retirement from football in 2013, and the difficulties he has experienced over the years, both professionally and personally, are all part of the narrative fabric of the docu-series <em>Beckham </em>(Netflix, 2023). The title of the television product features only the athlete's surname, condensing into a single word the reference to a person-character, to “Golden Balls” on and off the pitch, to the personification of a real brand (Edwards, 2011). David Beckham thus appears as the protagonist of a story that moves along multiple perspectives. Through multiple angles – and interventions – that call into question his media and public image (including archive footage), together with his private image (through interviews and actual confessions made by members of his inner circle), and using a sort of truth-telling narrative, the football champion is presented on screen as a complex narrative character (Mittell, 2015). The articulation between “front region” and “back region” (Goffman, 1959) works on a directorial level as a dynamic capable of reinforcing the celebrity device, around which the entire narrative revolves (Mascio, 2023). Through this analysis, we will try to understand the turning points in the docu-series that mark the highlights of the different phases of Beckham's fluid and changing celebrity, together with his “spreadable” capacity for dissemination (Jenkins, Ford &amp; Green, 2013). The docu-series presents a series of innovative interventions in telling the rise, fall and consolidation of celebrity. The possibility of structuring the narrative using the typical structure of fiction, together with the use of archive footage - as is the case in many docu-series - allows for the elicitation and revival of “authentic” emotions in the various subjects interviewed, starting with Beckham himself. All this contributes to defining the former athlete's celebrity status, which also reverberates on his entire family, consequently encouraging the formation of that form of second-level celebrity that Rojek (2001) defines as “ascribed”.</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/19101 For a Fistful of Fame 2025-05-05T15:31:31+00:00 Lorenzo Di Paola lorenzo.di.paola@ulb.be <p>This paper explores the figure of Primo Carnera (1906-1967) – the first Italian to win a world boxing title in 1933 – as a paradigmatic case for understanding the transformation of celebrity capital during the post-career phase, within a media environment vastly different from today’s, initially dominated by cinema and later by television. Carnera was notable not only for his athletic achievements; his public image was skillfully renegotiated and reshaped by traditional media – newspapers, cinema, and later television – which solidified his status as a prominent celebrity even after his retirement from the ring. This study focuses particularly on Carnera's ability to reinvent himself during his post-career phase, managing to retain a prominent position despite ageing and physical changes, thanks to the resources offered by the media landscape of his time. His transition from sport to the broader field of entertainment stands as a compelling instance of how celebrity capital can be strategically redeployed beyond the athlete’s initial domain of renown. Through the analysis of various media narratives – from journalistic reports to films, comics, and television portrayals – this paper discusses how Carnera made the most of his fame, leveraging the main media platforms of the era. Adopting a multidisciplinary perspective, this study draws on media analysis and celebrity studies to investigate how strategies of self-narration – mediated through traditional formats such as cinema and television – enabled Carnera to sustain his public profile across shifting media landscapes and biographical ageing.</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025 https://rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa03/mediascapes/article/view/19108 What Comes Next? 2025-05-05T14:54:38+00:00 Mario Tirino mtirino@unisa.it <p>The end-of-career and post-career represent a delicate transition for sports celebrities. At this stage, the management of the celebrity capital accumulated over the course of a competitive career involves a renegotiation with the target audience and stakeholders, in an attempt to reinvest it in the same or other (political, business, etc.) sporting spheres. Social networking platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, constitute media environments in which celebrities can set up forms of self-representation and self-narratives that influence and inspire the behaviour of followers and wider circles. Such communicative stages may also be aimed at practising forms of activism (cultural, civic, political, social, etc.). This paper intends to investigate the practices and processes through which sports celebrities, in the end-of-career and post-career phases, renegotiate their public role by being influencers and influ-activists. The specific case examined concerns the analysis of the forms of self-narration and self-representation set up by basketball player Gigi Datome on his official Instagram page, in the period between the end of his career and the first months of his post-career.</p> 2025-07-01T00:00:00+00:00 Copyright (c) 2025