Stardom in the Filmmaking Industry - Essay Example

Stardom in the Filmmaking Industry Introduction Stardom has remained the central defining characteristic that facilitates successful production and exhibition of films. Film stars often attract attention, and that is why audience attend the movie clubs. Commercial production of films has increasingly used stars to secure funding because they believe that stars contribute significantly to the unpredictable profitability of films. In return, the stars are offered ‘star vehicles’ to showcase their talents and grow their personalities. The stars have also been a representation of people’s culture, race, ethnicity and more. Stars have facilitated marketing within the media by appearing in fan magazines and other popular books. Despite the star’s economic, social and cultural impact on the global society, it is astonishing that their contribution has received less attention in the academic world. The essay discusses the concept of stardom and illustrates how the idea enhances the understanding of a group of films made by Angelina Jolie as a Hollywood star. Production of Stardom The development of stardom can be dated back in the 1910’s where people conceived stars as mere talented actors who made them happy. At this time, actors aimed at exploiting their talent and entertain the public (Decordova and Creekmur 2001, p. 56). However, the notion of stardom changed in the 1950’s when large number of stars in music, films, and Television became ‘economic tools’ for film producers and marketers. The course of action at that time can be linked to the growth of materialistic approach to life in the American society. The film industries viewed stars as ‘economic products’ that could attract and retain large numbers of an audience (Thomas 2012, p. 159). During this period, film stardom had not received notable academic attention until Richard Dyer published the Stars in 1979. The book marked a breakthrough in film studies since Dyer provided credible methodologies for studying the stars and their relationship with the audience (Dyer 1998, p. 19). In his book, Dyer introduced three important concepts, which include the description of stars as ‘images’, multiple interpretations of these star images and stars as the incarnations of ideological contradictions. In his description of stars as ‘images’ Dyer claims that stars usually construct their how to appear on the screen and lives the normal life, as well. In fact film stars are branded as actors and actresses who showcase their beauty, talents and publicize their personalities in the films (Dyer 1998, p. 22). Angelina Jolie is a good example of an American actress who has been at the pinnacle of filmmaking in Hollywood. Jolie was born and raised in Los Angeles, California in the United States. Her father and mother were prominent participators of the 1970’s in the Hollywood filmmaking industry. With her passion for acting, Jolie attended school for training and at some point, she became a fashion model. She has grown up in the film industry and have been received numerous awards for the past two decades. Her amazing talent and beauty have maintained her at the pinnacle of film stardom for many decades. Dyer’s interpretation of an image as a complex configuration and combination of verbal, aural and visual signs can be applied to Jolie’s case. She is a beautiful, outspoken and amazingly talented film star of the 21st century. Star images receive multiple interpretations from the public. According to Dyer, the star is seen as the person different meanings in the eyes of the audience, the general public, and the commercial filmmakers. In reference to the promotional materials and fan magazines, the marketers would use people with outstanding physical attributes such as beauty (Hart 2008, p. 43). Film stars may also be said to be the talented and beautiful to the fashion models and designers. Dyer also recognizes that the importance of film stars goes beyond their commercial or industrial and encroach their representational functions (Dyer 1998, p. 29). While Dyer advocates for more research on the relationship between stars and their audience, he brings forth the differences in the meaning of stars in terms of race, gender and ethnicity. For example, an African-American featuring in Hollywood film would portray the representation of black people in the White dominated filmmaking industry. The concept of stars images receiving multiple interpretations can be linked to the life of Angelina Jolie, who is a controversial actress in the Hollywood. In 1999, Jolie won an Oscar after performing in the Girl, Interrupted. At this time, the audience saw her as a menacing and beautiful female film star of the century. In 2002, she got married to Thornton, a man who was 20 years older than her and at this time her sex life seemed weird. Jolie further invested in helping the refugees while they were making the film, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in Cambodia. She also adopted a one-year-old from Cambodia. As a result, she was appointed to become a highly ranked UN ambassador in the same year. Her mixed sexuality and humanitarianism contributed her rise to superstardom. It is evident that Jolie had several images during this time ranging from a film star, sex figure for women to a humanitarian for the refugees. Film Stars and the Audience As stated earlier, in his book, Richard Dyer’s advocates for more research on how the film stars relate to the audience from different backgrounds. Dyer’s work was to find out how the audience interprets or consumes the actors’ performance, not how the actors act on the screens. In addition, Dyer claims that analysis of the promotional and publicity material can help in understanding the stars image in a better way. In his works, publicity is termed as a promotional strategy that goes beyond the material produced in the studio and includes the press, gossip columns, magazine articles and broadcast interviews. On the other hand, the promotional material lacks these characteristics and relies on advertisements made on the magazines or the television (Dyer 1998, p. 91). Therefore, publicity would grant more information about a star to the audience than the promotional material. The analysis of the two concepts will help in showing the relationship between film stars across gender lines. Authors in film studies argue that the audience usually watch films in order to have visual pleasure. In film spectatorship, men will always identify themselves with a male actor who objectifies the female actor in a film. The female, in this case, is presented as a passive, dominated and sexual spectacle. The male audience will have visual pleasure if the male protagonist conquers the female romantically or punisher her effectively. The female actor must as well allow herself to be possessed by the male protagonist to increase visual pleasure for the male audience. The women present in the audience, however, are only allowed to have their visual pleasure through identifying themselves with the passive and objectified female star. They are also forced to identify themselves with the dominating male superstar. The response in both ways remains disempowering. In a reference to the films, Playing by Heart of 1998, Original Sin of 2001and Mr. and Mrs Smith of 2005, Angelina Jolie is depicted as the passive and objectified female star. The movies received high ratings upon their release, and their critical reception revolved around the perfect performance of Jolie. In almost all the films, the male actors effectively punish Angelina Jolie and thus making men in the audience feel represented. Jolie, in her case, presents herself as an ‘object’ to the male protagonists. The relationship between the film stars and the audience reaches the climax when Jolie is romantically conquered by the male actors. Although the women in the audience feel less empowered in her movies, the amazing talent and beauty makes women celebrate Jolie in almost the films. In this way, Jolie becomes a film star of all times due to her perfect relationship with both women and men in the audience. Stars as Representation Film stars are known to represent meaningful things to that audience, which identifies with them. The notion of representation is interrelated with what the audience consumes from these stars. As Dyer notes in the Stars, film stars have more importance in the film industry beyond their industrial functions. In addition, the fact that most stars combine ordinary and extraordinary qualities contributes to the notion that they must be representing something in films concerning their culture, gender, race or nationality. The film scholarship should recognize the fact that film stars are usually prone to complex relationships between their normal life and the special life in the film as star images (Geraghty 2008, p. 100). In the representational function of stars, we can refer to stars such as Barbara Streisand for the Jews, Sidney Pointier for the Blacks and Jackie Chan for the Chinese. In Philadelphia of 1993, Tom Hanks represent homosexuals or the Greta Garbo reading, which represents her female sexuality. In order to understand the representational function of stars, Jackie Stacy argues that we need to contextualize and understand the meaning of a film star with a certain mode of production and within the particular placement in time. The importance of specific context should be considered in evaluating how the representational function of stars reflects the dominant ideologies. In particular, Stacey suggests that the representational function of stars transform through specific historical developments (Stacey 2013, p. 23). The historicist approach is believed to explain how stars may change their representation over time. It is important to note that the significance of a star by relating them to their specific contexts is at the centre of the historicist approach. (Stacey 2013, p. 34). In a historical-based evaluation of star text, one can focus on the operation of particular star systems, the nature of film production policies, empirical reviews of the audience patterns, among others. In this way, the analysts can form the ‘open system’ that establishes the nature of relationships between various aspects of filmmaking and consumption and identifies how they relate to each other. Then the analysis can be combined with the empirical investigation results in order to deduce valid conclusions (Ovalle 2011, p. 85). The purpose of the analysis is to help understand the meaning created by stars by relating them to their cultural context and their historical moment. Some authors in the decades after Dyer’s book have argued that whatever the stars mean in the public signifies more in their original environment (McDonald 2012, p. 78). For example, a star’s be deduced as a signifier of wealth and richness based on the cultural environment. In historical placement approach, the star can be said to signify wealth when the star appeal was at its height in economic prosperous time. Similarly, A Mighty Heart of 2007 by Angelina Jolie can be interpreted differently. In this film, Jolie’s function can be said to signify the suffering of women in the ongoing terrorist attacks in Pakistan. Additionally, her, function can be said to signify the loneliness and despair of women due to hard economic times in Pakistan that changed their social and cultural lives to the worse. Conclusion The concept of stardom has enhanced the understanding of the role of Angelina Jolie in her several films in various. Richard Dyer’s book of 1978 has been recognized as the ground-breaking element that facilitated the growth of film studies in the subsequent decades and even up to date. With reference to Dyer’s work, it is evident that Jolie is a star image, which is interpreted differently by the audience. While some people perceive her as the amazingly talented woman of the decades, the refugees and other helpless people view her as humanitarian. Additionally, the nature of her relationship with the audience is unique in that both men and women in the audience identify with her in the movies. Another major aspect of stardom discussed in the essay is the representational function of stars. These functions are very significant in their communities, races, ethnic groups and gender. Jackie Stacey is acknowledged in her historicist approach to stars in relation to their cultural context as well as the historical moments. The function of Jolie in A Mighty Heart has been well been explained using the historicist approach. However, more research is needed in film studies in order to predict how the future of stardom might unfold in reference to the historical times. When there will be enough empirical investigation concerning the nature of stars, their functions and instabilities, analysis and forecasting of the future will become easier, unlike today. References List Decordova R & Creekmur C K 2001, Picture personalities: the emergence of the star system in America, Urbana [u.a.], Univ. of Illinois Press. Dyer R & Macdonald P 1998, Stars, London, British Film Inst. Geraghty C 2008, Now a major motion picture: film adaptations of literature and drama, Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Hart K-P R 2008, Film and television stardom, Newcastle, Cambridge Scholars Pub. Mcdonald P 2012, Hollywood Stardom, Chicester, Wiley. Ovalle P P 2011, Dance and the Hollywood Latina: race, sex, and stardom, New Brunswick, N.J., Rutgers University Press. Stacey J 2013, Star Gazing: Hollywood Cinema and Female Spectatorship, New York, Routledge. Thomas S 2012, Peter Lorre, face maker: stardom and performance between Hollywood and Europe, New York, Berghahn Books. Read More