An exploration of the contexts surrounding images of female celebrities in Australian weekly women's magazines complicates any simple cause-and-effect relationship between women's behaviour and celebrity glamour by revealing parallels between the construction of star personae and the discourses surrounding the display of sideshow ‘freaks’. This paper focuses on a series of stories about the weight loss and gain of Renee Zellweger, over the 18-month period during which Zellweger filmed her second Bridget Jones movie. The articles illustrate the freakshow contexts in which images of Zellweger are embedded, and establish a dynamic of attraction and disgust that is possibly more compelling than unalloyed admiration for celebrity bodies.
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