Concept of Star (Lecture)

From Screenpedia

Contents 1 Early Films 2 Conventional History of Star System's Beginnings 3 Recent research, by Janet Staiger 4 Study of Stars

Early Films

Early films did not acknowledge actors. They were not named on the screen nor was there any publicity system. Why did this change?

Conventional History of Star System's Beginnings

I. Actors not identified

• A. Legitimate actors were embarrassed to be in film. (Legitimate actors = stage performers.)
  • 1. Most films at the time were silent, the actors felt they were just pantomime and not real acting (or a lower form of acting).
  • 2. They felt it might ruin their reputation as "actors."
  • 3. Film was considered "low" entertainment; not high art, like the theater.
• B. Producers didn't want to identify actors. They feared that fame = power.

II. Public desire to know the actors' names

• A. Names were given to actors:
  • 1. "The Biograph Girl" - actress appeared in many films made by a company called Biograph
    • a. Florence Lawrence (1890-1938)

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III. Carl Laemmle (pronounced lem-lee), producer of Imp Studios

• A. 1910: hired Florence Lawrence away from Biograph
• B. First publicity campaign for a film actor: faked death
  • 1. He circulated a rumor that she had been killed then turned around and condemned the rumor.
  • 2. She then became a star of Imp Studios in The Broken Bath.
• C. Independent producer: A way to fight Thomas Edison’s Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC, or The Trust) (which controlled access to cameras (basically a monopoly))
  • 1. Independent = independent from the trust
• D. He used star promotion to fight The Trust.

Economic premise of indepent vs. monopoly.

Conventional history is incomplete, misleading.

Recent research, by Janet Staiger

• A. Edison & the Trust promoted stars around 1910. (Laemmle not the only one promoting stars.)
• B. Other factors contributed to the rise of star system:
  • 1. The precedent of the legitimate theater: It had a star system from the early 1800s on actor as celebrity. (play bills)
  • 2. The evolution of the fan magazine: established viewers' knowledge of stars outside of the film roles they played and gave them a glimpse into the stars' private lives.
    • a. Motion Picture Story Magazine (1911)
    • b. Photoplay (1911-1980)

These early fan magazines did not have articles about the stars, but were basically just summaries of the stories in the films.

• • • c. In the 'teens, they moved from stories to stars and their publicly available private lives which is critical to the Star System.
    • d. Today's age: US Weekly and People to name a few.

Star system established by early 1920s

• A. Part of the film industry
• B. Standardization of the cinema: Stars as an economic "certainty"
• C. Fundamental part of the Hollywood Classical Cinema (along with genre)

Study of Stars

I. Milestone study: Stars, by Richard Dyer (1979)

• A. Star image or “star text” is constructed from “media texts.”
  • 1. "Text" borrowed from semiotics.
    • a. Semiotics = study of meaning and how it's created; or science of signs
    • b. Signs = anything that communicates meaning
    • c. Text = organized system of signs (can be analyzed for meaning)
  • 2. Media texts:
    • a. Promotion - material controlled by the star: posters, appearance on late night television shows
    • b. Publicity - material not controlled by the star: Roseanne having a child that she put up for adoption when she was younger.
    • c. Film roles - something in the star's personality expressed in the roles they play
    • d. Commentary/criticism - analysis
  • 3. Intertextuality = Presence across many media texts.
    • a. Seperates "stars" from mere "actors."
    • b. To be a star, one must be in many media.
    • c. Most daytime soap opera actors/actresses might not be "stars" according to Dyer. (Possible exceptions: Susan Lucci from All My Children, who has been in other media. Rick Springfield who played Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital more recently and then revitalized his singing career on the show.)
    • d. Star vs. Actor
  • 4. Structured polysemy
    • a. Poly- = many
    • b. -semy from semantics = meanings
    • c. Polysemy = many meanings
    • d. Structured = the different meanings relate to each other

ex.: John Wayne: patriotism, conventional politics, "man's man"

• • 5. Stars chapter: “Stars as Stars”
    • a. Recurring themes associated with film stardom:
      • 1. Consumption - conspicuous consumption: stars as consumers of luxury goods/services (Does the dog really need a $1000 French mani/pedi?)
      • 2. Success - the myth of success: attainable by anyone, but only granted to "special" individuals
      • 3. Ordinariness - Are stars the same as us?
        • a. US Weekly feature "Stars - They're Just Like US!" (example from February 11, 2008 issue: "They Hike Up Their Pants!" (page 47))
      • 4. The “dream soured” - the decadence of Hollywood life: They achieve great success but they're still not happy. (Lindsay Lohan repeatedly in rehab., Britney Spear's mental breakdown, Jamie Lynn Spear's teenage pregnancy, Nicole Richie's becoming a skeleton)
      • 5. Love and romance - transitory (Then: Brad + Jennifer; Now: Brangelina)