Isn’t She Adorkable! Cuteness as Political Neutralization in the Star Text of Zooey Deschanel

Abstract

It has been argued that cuteness is emerging as one of the dominant aesthetic categories of the twenty-first century. In this essay, I analyze the star text of actress and singer Zooey Deschanel to trace the impact of cuteness on the political energies of “Millenials,” the generational cohort arguably most affected by the deleterious aftershocks of the 2008 financial crisis. Deschanel is a particularly multi-mediated celebrity with an extensive presence in new media, a hit sitcom, and a number of commercial endorsements. I analyze how cuteness facilitates Deschanel’s appeal to both mainstream and alternative modalities, and trace the affective power of a cute aesthetic to harness commercial imperatives and aid in the creation of a juxtapolitical intimate public that utilizes a “restorative nostalgia” to neutralize political energies amid straitened economic and social conditions.