Jennica Core Blog Response #1

In order to comprehend how we understand stars one must distinguish between the character and the star itself. However, as the reading illuminates, if successful cinema carefully meshes character and star persona making it difficult to differentiate between star persona and film character. Considering stars are “manufactured,” should we think of them as mere commodities it is easier to remember that these individuals have been carefully crafted with specific marketing purposes to sell a product and exploit as much revenue as possible. Thus separating stars into a materialistic sphere exposes the unrealistic aspects behind the façade of the character and star persona. Unfortunately, the combination of the individualization and normalization of stars makes it difficult for individuals to distinguish between the star as a product and the star as a representation of the idealistic values or society. In order for the stars persona to be believable we must see some sort of continuity between the characters the star plays and the persona they exhibit in “real life.” A disconnect between the two strains the star persona disconnecting the physical, emotional, and psychological characteristics that have been strongly developed through character.

When Bette Davis’s character Margo in All about Eve exhibits a series of outbursts and passive aggressive behavior towards Eve, Margo’s calm, collected, and classy persona she has built through her performance for many years on the stage falls apart as her personal life no longer aligns with the behaviors of her character in the play. Thus Eve surpasses her in terms of star power because Eve embodies all of the characteristics she utilizes on the stage off of the stage ie. she is poised, elegant, and professional. The fact that Eve has been able to attain such power is due to a construction (manufacturing) by another individual (Margo) yet this construction is largely masked enabling Eve’s star power to peak as both her life on and off the stage appear to the audience to mesh well together granting her political, and social power over other characters like Margo who were not able to continue to blend the two.

While stars in the age of Bette Davis were considering stars because they behaved in “ideal ways,” the digital age has challenged this model as it is rather those who often challenge societal norms who become self made stars on platforms like YouTube. The digital age has not only challenged the conventional notions of stardom considering many stars do not represent idealistic qualities and characteristics. The credibility that was once associated with stars who successfully managed to navigate their film career in a reputable way is now being challenged by those stars who commit criminal acts for example yet still attain such a large fan base and provoke a curious sense of fascination amongst society. One of the elements that makes stars the most powerful and popular is when they exhibit a high level of realism according to Dyer thus perhaps these stars mistakes actually credit them with a greater sense of realism thus making them more appealing to audiences because it normalizes audiences life experiences.

One interesting point that the reading explicitly points out is that “stars” by the way we know them have been created thanks to the values of a capitalist society. Thus in the age of growing global entertainment should countries who do not have advanced technology, a surplus of economic and political power be able to construct their own stars? Stars represent a sense of excess in terms of beauty, and power both politically and economically thus stars should they require such an advanced capitalist society to exist further reflects the hyper idealized and hyper normalization of certain traits that only exist in a culture of excess.