02/03/15 Reading Core Response #1

In Richard Dyer's Stars, he emphasizes on stars' images becoming certain recognizable stereotypes. His comment on how some actors and actresses (or "extras") do not have the chance to be a star demonstrates the true reality of reaching stardom. Although the place I am living in is the capital of the entertainment industry, if comparing the number of people who long to be a star and the probability to make it to be a star seems bleak. The images or lifestyles stars portrait also could be an illusion as well, like Dyer's example of Monroe's suicide portraying "the exploitation of woman as spectacle in film" (44). His chapter especially on types was interesting to me since the type of male figures have a connotation of being manly and righteous, and often tolerable when being aggressive, whereas the types of female are feminine and restricted. I feel like these recognizable and/or sublime use of types of stars as characters in films and TV are to be more expanded in types since they are extremely influential to the culture and society. I was glad to read that Dyer explains about the "Independent Woman" type since more and more movies are starting to have the story of female protagonists, such as Pride and Prejudice, Julie and Julia, The Help, etc. Although in these female-driven movies might need a "clear-cut male approval" for woman's (Charlotte's) sanity (as Maria Laplace argues in her essay), movies that are dealing with problems that women might share demonstrate more women are viewing the movie, thus, women's say and power in society and culture are growing. I think this is a step from pure objectification, commodification, and exploitation of the image of women and the physical body of women--however, there is still a need for reestablishing the image of women.

In Charles Eckert's essay in Stardom:Industry of Desire, the explicit details of how stars and consumerism and market are correlated was interesting. Some films and television shows do the product placement (PPL) extremely subtly so that the viewers/potential consumers do not recognize that they are being pursued by advertisement. Especially, in current days, I think social networks add onto consumerism using stars. Stars can easily post pictures of what they are wearing and what they are applying on their lips. Furthermore, this information travels fast to various countries as well. Eckert's essay sure did make me think of the consumerism of current days, how it is between a blur boundary between reality and pure marketing.