Hollywood Stars Are Ideal Example of How to Be

Stars are contradictory examples of how to be a person—an individual—in a modern society. Or, in the words of one Hollywood character, how to “be somebody”. Discuss this aspect of stardom in relation to ONE film studied in the unit.
Introduction
The phenomenon of ‘stars’ comprises all elements of a celebrity the masses are familiar with. The image of actors or actresses doesn’t merely hinge on the movies they make; rather, their image is the sum total of movie and actor/ actress promotion events, public appearances, pin- ups, biographies, hand- outs from the production studio, media coverage of the private lives of stars, and media interviews. Additionally, their image stems from what society, especially criticizers and reporters report on them, and how their image is utilized in areas like pop culture, ads, fiction, etc. Lastly, their image is grounded in how they are included in daily speech coinage (BRAUDY 1989). The image of a celebrity is invariably inter- textual, far- reaching, and multimedia; however, every representation will not essentially be equal.
A celebrity’s image has a history which usually lasts longer than the celebrity him/ herself. An image needs to be established. The media sector creates stars, and movie actors and actresses, in particular, are made by Hollywood (in the case of America) and its counterparts within other nations. Besides Hollywood, other allied organizations having different levels of influence shape celebrity images in a number of ways (Dyer 2004, 4). In specific, Hollywood has control over movies made as well as movie and celeb promotion, pin- ups, media statements, glamor photographs, and fan clubs (to a considerable degree). Successively, the link Hollywood has to other media arenas implies it largely governs press content, TV clips, those allowed to organize interviews with celebrities, etc. This, however, would be exhibiting the celeb creation process as being of a one- way, homogenous nature. Even confined to its own limits, Hollywood actually depicts greater complexity and contradiction as compared to this.
Nevertheless, what society makes of the abovementioned process and efforts is an entirely different thing, owing to the fact that viewers are involved in the image creation process as well. While viewers are unable to make images by the press imply whatever they desire it to, they are able to choose those outlooks, meanings, nuances, inconsistencies and disparities from the intricacies of star images which work out for them (Dyer 2004, 5). Furthermore, fan clubs, magazine companies, viewer studies and box office acceptance imply that what attitude society holds with regard to any celebrity may be able to reciprocally act on press producers’ image of the celeb. However, this is no equivalent back and forth – viewers are more dissimilar and disjointed than we think. Further, they don’t, themselves, create the extensively circulated, unified press image of celebrities. Then again, press agencies and Hollywood don’t comprehensively control viewers either.
Even celebrities take part in the process of ‘commoditizing’ themselves. One can state that they represent labor as well as what it creates. However, they are not unaided in this production process. It is possible to identify a couple of rationally distinct phases. Firstly, individuals represent entities, an outlook, and a skill set combined, mined and directed towards creating the image of the celebrity. The above endeavor of molding celebrities from the aforementioned raw material differs in the regard it holds for the material’s intrinsic characteristics. Hairdos, outfits, body- building, slimming, and cosmetics may shape their body features, acting and socializing capability may be learned, and personality is a rather flexible thing (Dyer 2004, 5). Those involved in this endeavor include both the celebrity and other associated individuals like hairstylists, outfit designers, make- up artists, photographers, dieticians, dance tutors, acting coaches, personal trainers, journalists, promoters, etc. While movies also play a role in shaping a celebrity’s image (with efforts made on the part of every employee of the studio), movies may be considered the second phase.
Rita Hayworth stardom: a review
Hearing the name of 40’s erotic star, Rita Hayworth (nee Margarita Carmen Cansino), conjures up the following image in one’s mind: a Life magazine pin- up of her clad in a lace- and- satin dark nightdress, kneeling upon a crumpled bed, looking, over her shoulder, towards the camera. This picture makes for an interesting experimentation with contradiction (BRAUDY 1989). Apparently offering herself up, the actress seems to maintain her actual self mysteriously aloof.
Rita Hayworth’s most popular role was that of ‘Gilda’, calling to mind the image of her peeling off black gloves during a self- centered striptease (Movie Documentary 2013). The famous celebrity faced an appalling childhood: she was the victim of sexual exploitation, the perpetrator being none other than her own father (BRAUDY 1989).
Rita Hayworth as an example of contradiction
Human appeal and desirability standards, the bases for which are a person’s face and body denoting indexical representation (though one that is usually 'improved upon' by means of cosmetic surgery or applying cosmetics, digitized 'retouching', and airbrushing), form one common element of the celebrity. Rita Hayworth was persuaded by her husband, Edward Charles Judson, into transforming her looks from her typical dark, young Latin appearance into a sophisticated red- head. She also underwent electrolysis for her eyebrows and hairline, and altered her name (Austin 2003, 25). Though ‘beauty’ standards evidently inform her constructions, Rita Hayworth continued to be different from the indexical representation of feminine beauty.
In the same way, celebrities possess agency (commonly celebrated within celeb discussions) which involves leading a 'private life' outside of the movies (and invariably vulnerable to being partly revealed and rewritten in journalist articles, biographies, gossip columns, and promotional articles); a set of exigencies, experiences, and results narrated and interpreted as their ‘career’; and the application of decisions and performance strategies (Balio 1996). In contrast, these agency representations cannot be seen in ‘cyber- stars’. Judson’s swift drive for making his wife the “glamour girl” of Columbia Studios involved ensuring she was the cover girl of a majority of fan magazines, besides Look and Life magazines. Her ‘press- friendly’ nature ensured Rita Hayworth became Hollywood’s most extensively photographed female star (McLean 2004, 36).
A 'virtual stardom' shift necessitates reverting to the idea that celebrity is comprised, partially, of 'subsidiary forms' flowing about and further than appearances in movies. Evidently, Rita Hayworth’s promotional pictures (e.g., that of Gilda) have a familiar business role to play. However, these appearance’s nature is, interestingly, unlike human stars’ nature. Digitally- produced characters are identifiable, pictorially distinct, and can easily be transferred, akin to human celebrities’ character images (Dyer 2004, 7). Being identity figures, movie stars, at all times, present the issue of genuineness – who is speaking in this instance, what personal capacity is in play, and what ethical authority is entailed. A few scholars contend that celebrities can be actual persons, as they authored their own speech (King 2003, 46). Bias against acting is grounded deeply in religious and moral argument. However, its historic replication employs, perhaps, the simple element of occupation — an actor is a pretender. This, tough, gives rise to the persistent questions relating to the match between what they appear as before us and their true identity. This can evidently be seen when actors play different roles; however, even those apparently posing as themselves are putting up nothing but pretense.
Actors’ roles have a temporary, insignificant existence, being a loose designator of them. Several actors may perform that role. Actual performance, particularly if recorded, can give birth to a firm designator – which is conclusive, in a way. Following an impressive silver- screen performance, the character will never be able to decisively revert to slackness (Austin 2003, 27). The external projecting of a strong intrinsic self is detached, at its peak, from the independently- or cinematographically- achievable impression of the performer’s interiority, within Hollywood. Non- verbal and verbal conduct, looks, and deportment have a novel semantic significance within movie signification; further, the potential to fake such features are greatly increased when compared with live performance. The intensive cynosure approach – utilizing frames and close- ups for making the star’s spectacle within narrative – serves to reinforce perceptions of a deep relationship between the role and the individual performing that role.
Thus, in opposition to the belief that on- screen images represent the ultimate moment of celeb presence, realizing that this character’s presence depends on circulating meaning via viewership, and consuming pictures and textual content within secondary circulation, is vital. Viewing has the powerful potential to cause disagreements between what one anticipates and what the film portrays. However, the ‘anticipated’ is adapted through frameworks that are instituted via promotion and publicity that intrinsically employ generic ideas of type as well as viewers’ prior experiences of a given celebrity (McLean 2004).
When climbing up the Hollywood ladder, Rita Hayworth claims “I had to be sold to the public just like a breakfast cereal or a real estate development or something new in ladies’ wear” (McLean 2004, 41). Even the most renowned celebrities were required to demonstrate their approval of commodities within print advertisements contracted between studios and companies, but Rita Hayworth, in particular, featured in several features purportedly springing from actual interviews with her instead of studio- created, reused publicity content and bios. Hayworth’s commoditization, “exploitable with advertising”, includes the following events: change of name, changes to her body, publicity, hard work, and so forth. However, Hayworth’s description of her personal commoditization process, together with the associated mayhem and pain, creates a more subtle sense of agency as both product and the laborer producing the product.
From her admirers’ standpoint, Rita Hayworth’s personality grows into a presence not accessible any longer on film in its entire coveted all- inclusiveness. Instead, it is an experimental sum total which needs to be reconstructed from several acts and textual matter. While this can be ever harder for admirers to agree with, persona has stopped implying a particular sort of person. A more apt description would be a channel of experiencing, or a life force, or the vital adhesive fastening numerous similar blows at self- realization (King 2003, 59- 60). Her supporters can elect to understand the desired entity using a mode denying closure. Even if the object’s desire transforms into desiring desire, it would prove profitable.
Present- day celebrities’ overriding challenge lies in controlling the sort of personal information pivotal to their comprehension as a public figure. Ardent and casual fans can understand a celebrity better than is expected of this aim. Reliance on knowledge makes celebs’ marketability an assured intrinsic property (King 2003, 60). In response to this, celebrities today are modelling the challenges linked to maintenance of a more realistic self within a flurry of social interactions. With competing demands and the need for managing them, persona related efforts include extending their so- called foundation of inherent attributes in order for taking into account every contingency as well as rationalizing all moves and reformations as being elements of constancy. Here, the persona is not fake but flexible, and nearer to a means for survival (that is, self- experimentation), as compared to an essence. Consequently, persona related standards can presently be considered chiefly indexical and not iconic (i.e., being and not resembling).
Rita Hayworth's image is linked closely to incongruities with what is normally expected of women, particularly if one takes into consideration the context of a conservative society. While this is unsurprising, it is pivotal to grasp the meaning of this with regard to Rita Hayworth’s public biography. Her career was kick- started in the role of ‘Dancer’, and she developed the air and image of an ideal sexuality symbol, for better manipulating the male gender (Pomerance 2012; King 2003, 53). This sexually appealing image is indeed linked closely to her role as the erotic ‘Gilda’, which helped propel her to stardom.
The present day celebrity is not as much a beast born of postmodernity as he/ she is a person continually attempting to re- negotiate his/ her social engagement. Obviously, it is the celeb’s commercially motivated decision in respect of their re- negotiation pace. With the extensive improvement of image’s commercial value, nurturing it has grown into a process involving perpetual revision, in order to get accustomed to the idea that both current and earlier personae are occupants of a shared expansive space (King 2003, 52). The above may be best demonstrated by deceased celebrities’ digitized reactivation, which intensifies the confusion regarding type and tense of celebrity. Indeed, past celebrities hardly depicted any link to the elements of ordinary existence; however, their media representation made us believe they did. Present- day celebrities appear to forever be shifting their representational terms, such equivocation becoming their life story.
Conclusion
Female cinematic celebrities, especially Rita Hayworth, depict a huge contradiction between their on- screen image and character, as evidenced by their easily accessible idealistic images for the benefit of viewers. At least one of the following two elements – Rita Hayworth’s characters explored within the previously mentioned movies and her on- screen image as an actress – go against the traditional trends of female glamor, but are akin to small European national- level cinemas. Modern- day celebrity has given up on endeavoring to fake a vague relationship to a shared definition of ordinariness. While 'naturally' residing within a persona is challenging (if one takes into consideration the huge consequences of publicity and promotion by brand logic), identity politics has served to dramatically weaken the very idea or ordinariness. One means of overcoming the barriers associated with metonymic servitude would be by becoming the servant of the metaphor (this is associated with the significant benefit of becoming 'creator'). Despite celebrities potentially venturing into character representation metaphoric, this represents a transient and often delaying parting from stardom. A greater likelihood is drawing back and reaching a more theoretical identity affirmation stage which, contrary to the conventional idea that image constitutes nothing but self- extension, appears to be positively postmodern. Within this circumstance, there will, perhaps, arise on purpose or in actual fact an extant image projection which is absent within individual manifestations – that is, persona will become meta- textual.


References
Austin, Thomas. “Star systems.” In Thomas Austin & Martin Barker, eds. Contemporary Hollywood Stardom, Edward Arnold (Publishers) Limited, 2003, p. 25-28.
Balio, Tino. "Columbia Pictures: The Making of a Motion Picture Major, 1930–1943." In David Bordwell, Noel Carroll eds, Post-Theory: Reconstructing Film Studies, 419-433. University of Wisconsin Press, 1996.
BRAUDY, SUSAN. “WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A VERY SAD STORY.” The New York Times, November 19, 1989. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/19/books/what-we-have-here-is-a-very-sad-story.html?mcubz=0 (Accessed 5 September 2017)
Dyer, Richard. “Introduction : Heavenly bodies.” In : Heavenly bodies : film stars and society/ Richard Dyer. Second edition. London : Routledge, 2004. pp. 1-16.
King, Barry. “EMBODYING AN ELASTIC SELF: THE PARAMETRICS OF CONTEMPORARY STARDOM.” In Thomas Austin & Martin Barker, eds. Contemporary Hollywood Stardom, Edward Arnold (Publishers) Limited, 2003. p. 45-61.
McLean, Adrienne L. Being Rita Hayworth: Labor, Identity, and Hollywood Stardom. Rutgers University Press, 2004.
Movie Documentary. “Rita Hayworth.” YouTube. Dec 8, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jDvdPYPZ0k (Accessed 4 September 2017)
Pomerance, Murray, Mary Beth Haralovich, Toby Miller, Linda Ruth Williams, Laura Isabel Serna, Tara McPherson, Mia Mask et al. Pretty People: Movie Stars of the 1990s. Rutgers University Press, 2012.