What's Bradley Cooper's Deal?

Culture Study Podcast

Anne Helen Petersen

Fashion & Beauty, Society & Culture, Arts

4.6 • 637 Ratings

🗓️ 21 February 2024

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Bradley Cooper would very much like an Oscar. If you’ve been paying attention to Hollywood at any point over the last five years, you know this. It’s evident in the films he makes, the way he talks about them, the cheesesteak food truck he opened for a weekend to keep himself in the press cycle. There’s nothing wrong with wanting an Oscar — what actor doesn’t want one?! — but what happens when that desire becomes the overarching theme of your entire image? The dominant way the public understands you?

The great Sam Sanders joins the pod to talk about Cooper’s star image, Hollywood masculinity, and the Tracy Flick of it all.

[If you’re familiar with Culture Study/my work/Sam’s work, you’ll recognize this type of star image analysis — if not, a reminder that we’re talking about what Cooper means, not trying to *be* mean.]

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everyone, it's Anne. We're making today's full episode free for everyone. You'll get the bonus
0:07.4	segment, ask an anything, and a very fun set of show notes guaranteed to send you down a rabbit hole.
0:13.5	If you want to join the ranks of paid subscribers so you always get the full episode and no ads,
0:19.0	head to culturestudypod.substack.com. Right now, we have made enough to
0:24.8	pay Melody. This includes all the money that we've made from ads and the money from subscribers.
0:29.1	I think through the end of April, if we want to keep making the pod, we have to pay for it.
0:35.3	And we need your help. If you want to become a subscriber,
0:38.1	it's $5 a month or $50 a year. There's also a really great deal. It's just $3 a month or $30 a
0:44.8	year if you are already a subscriber to the cultural study newsletter. Just go to the
0:48.8	substack, either to cultural study pod or to the newsletter and just Google, like, where's
0:53.7	the podcast?
0:54.4	Like, you can figure it out.
0:55.7	Or you can email me and I'll help you figure it out personally.
0:58.8	And then the other thing I just want to note is if you are familiar with the culture
1:02.8	study's style of star analysis, we are really talking about star image analysis.
1:09.1	We're not trying to be mean to a star. We're talking about how a star
1:13.4	resonates what their image means in the broader cultural fabric. If you keep that in mind as we
1:19.6	move through this episode, that's how Sam and I are approaching the question of Bradley Cooper.
1:25.4	Okay, on with the show.
1:28.0	When I think of Bradley Cooper, the first thing that comes to mind is, and hear me out, Tracy Flick from Election.
1:36.0	He has the same kind of tryhard energy. And I remember I watched election when it came out several times as a young person, not understanding the trauma and tragedy behind Tracy Flick's character.
1:50.9	Like when you first see election as a kid, you hate her.
	...

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