This essay examines three works — Willa Cather's short story "Paul's Case," the 1994 film Muriel's Wedding directed by P.J. Hogan, and Andy Warhol's silkscreen prints of Marilyn Monroe — as parallel critiques of celebrity culture and the mass-produced ideal of beauty and success. Drawing on Rob Saari's reading of Paul as a narcissistic personality and analysis of Warhol's pop art technique, the paper argues that all three works satirize the human desire to embody cultural ideals rather than engage authentically with others. It also contrasts the tragic, comic, and visual tones of each work, noting that only Muriel ultimately achieves genuine personal growth.
The modern concept of "celebrity" holds that anyone can be famous, provided that he or she embodies an ideal of glamour, using material trappings like clothing and possessions to signal their "specialness." The idea is paradoxical: on one hand, celebrities are special; on the other, the media suggests that everyone can be a celebrity and be "famous for 15 minutes."
This tension can be seen in Paul's Case by Willa Cather, a story about a boy who feels he is above his classmates. Paul desires a celebrity-like status based on his perception that he possesses innately refined tastes. But this costs money, and Paul is unwilling to do the hard work required to succeed — so he steals it instead. A less tragic and more comic version of Paul appears in the 1994 film Muriel's Wedding. Muriel lives in a rural town in Australia and believes that having the lavish wedding she sees in fashion magazines will bring her happiness.
Paul's and Muriel's fascination with celebrity is echoed in Andy Warhol's prints of Marilyn Monroe, which endlessly replicate Monroe's image to illustrate the ubiquity and emptiness of celebrity culture.
Paul's Case details the fate of a dreamy young man who believes he is "above" his surroundings. Paul escapes into the theater and into his own imagination. He is disgusted by commerce and by the everyday workings and demands of the world. Eventually, Paul steals money and commits suicide after his funds run dry.
Like Paul, Muriel lives in a rural area and dreams of making it big in the city. She has low self-esteem rather than the narcissism that defines Paul, though she also steals in order to embody an ideal of glamour. Eventually, after participating in a sham marriage to secure her "husband" a green card, Muriel comes to realize the false promise that marriage holds for women as a source of fulfillment. She ultimately turns her energy toward caring for her best friend Rhonda.
Warhol took still photographs of the recently deceased film star and colored the image with bright, unnatural shades after replicating it. He creates an intentionally mass-produced image through his art, repeating Marilyn's likeness to the point of meaninglessness, until the image of Marilyn is no longer recognizably "herself."
Cather does not sympathize with Paul. Although he is regarded as a figure of fun at school, this does not make him a sympathetic underdog. Paul holds himself aloof, clearly acting as though he believes he is better than both the other students and his teachers. This is why the story is titled Paul's case rather than Paul's story. According to Rob Saari, Paul exhibits a clinical narcissistic personality disorder, marked by grandiose fantasies and a lack of empathy for others. Symbolically, like Narcissus, Paul dies face-down, pining over his own image — in Paul's case, in the snow rather than in water (Saari, 1997). Paul is unwilling to work for the beautiful things he desires, and his appreciation of art is superficial rather than genuine: he loves associating with theater "types" but never applies himself to actually become an actor.
Muriel similarly steals rather than works hard to reach the city, but she is more sympathetic because of her weight and the way she is mistreated by her parents. Her theft is presented in a more positive light because it allows her to embark on a journey of self-discovery, even though she ultimately rejects the idea of a wedding as the source of all happiness. The tone of the film is more comedic than the tragic, satirical register of Cather's story.
Regarding Warhol's use of unnatural colors in his Marilyn series: "Unlike the Fauve colors, the non-representational colors of Pop Art do not depict the artist's inner sensation of the world. They refer to the popular culture, which also inspires Warhol to experiment with the technique of silkscreen printing, a popular technique used for mass production" (Andy Warhol's Marilyn Prints, 2011, Web Exhibits).
Like Paul's and Muriel's fantasies, Marilyn's image is mass-produced. It is also a vision of what many Americans aspire to — celebrity in popular culture. Anyone can buy Marilyn's image, just as Paul and Muriel strive to purchase an image of beauty and success. "In doing so, Warhol moves away from the elitist avant-garde tradition" by critiquing mass culture (Saari, 1997). The emptiness of pop culture, and the way a person is rendered into a crayon-colored celebrity, is fully embodied in the Marilyn works. Warhol's tone is parodic, however. He does not critique Marilyn the way Cather critiques Paul, nor does he celebrate the rejection of mass culture the way Muriel does by the end of the film.
"Shared critique of celebrity and mass culture"
"Internet and reality TV amplify these themes"
Andy Warhol's Marilyn prints. Web Exhibits. Retrieved October 11, 2011, from http://www.webexhibits.org/colorart/marilyns.html
Cather, Willa. Paul's case. Retrieved October 11, 2011, from
Muriel's Wedding. (1994). Directed by P.J. Hogan.
Saari, Rob. (1996). "Paul's case": A narcissistic personality disorder. Studies in Short Fiction, 301.81. Retrieved October 11, 2011, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mim2455/is334/ai59211546/pg2/?tag=content;col1
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