Brangelina
Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks Jr
STARS and STAR theory
What are Stars
What is Star Theory
Why are Stars so
important
What impact do Stars
have on American
or British Films
Name as many film stars as you can in
five minutes
Holly wood Stars
British Stars
Others
How do you decide what films to
watch?
• There are many reasons as to why the
audience would go to see a film. Normally it is
because of who makes the film (director),
sometimes it is because of the story itself and
how it is sold to the audience (trailers,
posters).
• Another reason would be because of who the
film has starring in it and Star Theory
considers this issue.
Two Key People
• Prof Christine Gledhill
• Stardom – Industry of
Desire
• Richard Dyer
• Stars
• Stars and Society
Christine Gledhill
• Fundamental in developing ‘Star Theory’
• Four Key points
– Stars as Capital Value
– Stars as Construct
– Stars as Deviant
– Star as Cultural Value
Stars as Capital Value
• ie they make money for the film companies
• Films with stars will make more money than
films without stars (even if it is the same ‘film’)
• How much are they worth, what can they make
for the Studio
• They add monetary value to the film and reduce
the risk of loss
• What are some of the ‘big names’ in
Hollywood?
Star as Construct
• They are very much involved in their own
mythification. How might they be involved?
• Christine Gledhill wrote that Stars ‘reach us through
their bodies’.
• We want to know the ‘real’ and ‘reel’. If we go to the
film we will learn who they really are.
– Real person
– Reel person
– Persona ie a combination of both
• How might we then consider that the average age of
a movie star is 36 for a man , but 27 for a woman?
Star as Deviant
• They live their lives to excess, outside the
normal rules of behaviour
• What examples can you think of…..
• We hear more about Hollywood stars breaking
the rules than the films they are in but this
adds to our interest (identification, wish
fulfilment)
Star as Cultural Value
• ‘Stars signify moral, social and
ideological values’
• ie they tell us what to think and how to behave,
what is right and wrong, even how we should
look and what our culture should be like
• Think about what they represent ideologically
on screen via the roles they play
• What is their cultural legacy beyond film texts
Richard Dyer
• Richard Dyer, writing in 1998, contributed the
academic approach to understanding how
stars were and are constructed. The chapters
in his book are divided thus:
• Stars as Social phenomenon
• Stars as Constructed Images
• Stars as Signs
Stars as a Social Phenomenom
• how stars are understood as fulfilling a social
and cultural function phenomenon• Consider Stallone’s roles in the Rambo films.
Was he winning the war in Hollywood which
the USA lost?
Stars as Image
• Uses semiotics and cultural studies to ask
about the social meanings of stardom in
general and specific stars in particular and
how these meanings are produced or
constructed.
• Why do we have star and what do they say to
the audience and our social values
Stars as Signs
• Stars as signs is about the problems
associated with a star and a particular
representation of a character in a film and
how the two interact.
• E.g. Arnold Schwarzenegger in Kindergarten
Cop or Clint Eastwood performing with an
orang utan orang-
Cary Grant
“Everybody wanted to be
Cary Grant. Even I
wanted to be Cary
Grant”
Cary Grant
Appeal of Hollywood stars
• Certain stars can be used as an indicator as to the type of film
about to be seen.
• Typecasting- Johnny Depp, stranger roles such as Willy
Wonka, the Mad Hatter etc.
• Sam Worthington- archetype hero, blockbuster film, good
against evil.
• Some stars are indicators of a film’s quality. Some stars will
appear in almost anything, whereas others will only appear in
the best
• Stars help to increase publicity for a film’s release by doing
interviews and press junkets; raise awareness and excitement
surrounding the film. Constantly in the media, promoting.
Hollywood Domination
• Most films are made by Hollywood as the
main distribution companies are Hollywood
based such as Universal Studios, Paramount,
Warner Bros and will feature American Stars
• As a result of this there is a wider choice of
American films with American stars rather
than British films, therefore, Hollywood films
attract a wider audience. There is less
opportunity for British films/stars to achieve
recognition.
Is this True?
Success Films with Big
Stars
Successful Film without
Big Stars
The Dark Knight (Christian Slumdog Millionaire (Fox
Bale, Heath Ledger, Warner Searchlight $377m)
Bros, 1 billion)
Films with Big Stars that
flopped
Snakes on a Plane (Samuel
L Jackson, New Line, $34m)
Class Tasks
Go through the class hand outs and answer the
questions provided.
You will each feed back to the class
How would you answer:
Class debate:
'Neither producers nor audiences need stars any
more.'
How far do you agree with this statement?
Task
• Choose a BIG hollywood star at the moment
and create a portifolio of material about that
star. Include text,images, youtube clip, links to
articles etc.
Next Week
• British Stars
1. How important is it for the British film
industry to have internationally recognised
stars?
2. 'Hollywood films have movie stars. That's
why they are more appealing to UK
audiences than UK films.' How far do you
agree with this comment?
British Stars
• If it is the appeal of a star that attracts an
audience, British films use British stars.
• Colin Firth, Helena Bonham-Carter, Bill Nighy,
Alan Rickman and Christopher Lee etc.
• Why don’t these films appeal as much?
• Not as common, cinema is dominated by
Hollywood films, therefore Hollywood stars.
• Some, such as Robert Pattinson, cross over
into Hollywood.