Clap your hands if you believe in fairies and pirates - free talks tackle Depp and Tinker Bell
Media releaseFans of Johnny Depp and Tinker Bell should go along to two illustrated talks sponsored by Deakin University by Professor Murray Pomerance, from Ryerson University, Canada.
"Tinker Bell is more than just a fairy in a children's book, she encapsulates the birth of the 20th Century, people's obsession with spiritualism, the identification of women with housework and mothering and the domestication of electricity," Professor Pomerance said.
"Tinker Bell is an electric fairy."
Tinker Bell: The Fairy of Electricity will be held at the University of Melbourne, today, Wednesday, October 5 at 5.30pm.
Professor Pomerance's second talk Deep Depp: Travails of Celebrity in the Global Era will be held the next day, Thursday, October 6 at 2pm at Deakin University's Burwood Campus.
"Johnny Depp holds a special and unique place in the movie star system, unlike anyone else," Professor Pomerance said.
Professor Pomerance said some movie goers would have come to Johnny Depp through films such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland or Sleepy Hollow.
"These fans are the largest group.
"If they looked at his other works they might see someone they don't quite recognise," he said.
"The second group of Depp fans are much older and have come to Johnny Depp through 21 Jump Street, A Nightmare on Elm Street, or Edward Scissorhands.
" They look at Pirates of the Caribbean against this far less popular background.
"He really is an enigma and the celebrity he enjoys now is the net effect of the choices he has made throughout his biography.
"You can't emulate the Johnny Depp phenomenon, and in some ways his popularity creates a problem for him, as he faces difficulties that other actors don't have when deciding whether to play a particular role or not."
Further information
Deep Depp: Travails of Celebrity in the Global Era, Thursday, October 6, 2pm
Richard Searby Room (B-HD2.006), Deakin University Burwood Campus
221 Burwood Highway, Burwood