CONSTRUCTION

Justin Timberlake represents the type of man every girl wants to marry and every man wants to be.  Justin has good looks, charm, success, a sense of humor, a smart sense of style, and much more.  He can schmooze the ladies with his good looks and charm, all while singing love songs they feel Justin wrote just for them.  He can relate to his male fans with his likeability, his sense of humor, and his personal style that shine through in his acting roles.  Whether he is singing, acting, dancing, or taking photos, there is something in Justin for every fan.  This sense of versatility intertextually and extratextually contributes to the construction of Justin Timberlake’s star image: The Total Package.

            Intertextually, Justin Timberlake is a respected and successful singer, dancer, actor, and fashion designer.  Musically, he has managed to evolve from a teen heartthrob as one fifth of the pop sensation NSYNC to a more adult singer/songwriter with his solo albums Justified and Future Sex/Love Sounds.  With NSYNC, his target audience was the young, female population.  Although he was very successful with this group of people, he managed to keep that fan base, as well as transition to the more adult fan base—both male and female—with his edgier solo projects. Justin made a similar transition in acting, starting out in such juvenile Disney films like Model Behavior then going onto play a hardcore drug dealer in Alpha Dog and finally a twenty-something guy having sex with his best friend in Friends with Benefits.  This evolution in his acting styles and movie choices has yet again contributed to the expansion of his fan base. He is no longer able to fit in just one mold or social type. 

            Extratextually, or Justin’s private/personal life, also contributes to this idea of him being the total package.  He does not fit into just one category or either extraordinary or ordinary.  In his book Stars, Richard Dyer talks about the overlap of the two seen in different stars.  He gives two ways in which stars represent this and for Justin, that is his ability to be “seen as ordinary people who live more expensively than the rest of us but are not essentially transformed by this” (Dyer 43).  Justin lives the lavish lifestyle: homes in different states and cities, beautiful girlfriends, fast cars, luxurious vacations.  However, his ability to remain in touch with his fans and appear so down to earth allows for him to remain, in some sense, “ordinary”.  He takes time out of his busy schedule to talk to fans, wave at passing fans, and take pictures with fans. He remains relatable with them with this type of two-way communication he has created with his fans.

            Both intertextually and extratextually, Justin Timberlake represents ‘The Total Package.”  In his private or personal life we see his ability to represent the American Dream and all that comes along with that type of lifestyle.  He lives this luxurious lifestyle gained from hard work and determination.  Still, while living with this sort of extravagance, he remains grounded and appreciative of his family, friends, and fans that have helped give him this sort of life.  Intertextually, his versatility to be a sort of cross-over star has contributed to his construction as “The Total Package.”  He has the ability to appeal to both male and female audiences of a variety of different ages and backgrounds.  With attributes like this, there is not much Justin won’t be able to do.