How important are 'Stars' to audiences and producers?

Stars play a vital role in both the movie and the franchise. Because of this audiences and producers depend on Stars outside of the film industry. Stars bring extra revenue to a film because they have an already established fan-base. Christine Gledhill proposed that stars can be defined by four categories; Capital Value, Constructs, Defiance and Cultural Value. In this essay I am going to be analysing the star Angelina Jolie and categorising her using Gledhill's 'Star Theory'. 

Firstly we must look at Angeline Jolie not as a person but as a construct. She has carefully constructed her image through the media so that us -as an audience- can find her more appealing. The main use of Jolie by the producers is as Capital Value. She helps bring extra revenue to a film and reduces the risk of loss. Her role in the 2010 movie 'Salt' earned her over $20 million which is an incredible amount of money but internationally the movie made approximately $296 million. This shows us that her role in the movie payed off and that she helped make it a success. In regards to audiences her role in top-grossing movies is good because she has a massive fan-base who will pay to watch any movie she makes, making her more popular with them. 

As a construct Angelina Jolie has changed a lot. In her younger years she was seen as dark and ominous, giving her a 'bad girl' image in Hollywood. She married actor Jonny Lee Miller at the age of 21 but it only lasted a year. During the marriage they both experimented with drugs and we seen as a very 'dangerous' couple. In her later years she has repaired her image and now is involved in a lot of humanitarian work. After adopting 3 children in the past 12 years she has gotten involved in a lot of voluntary work including building schools and making a wildlife sanctuary. 

During Jolie's earlier years she has been seen as 'defiant' by both audiences and producers. She found it hard to find work due to her mischievous ways and this affected both her image and her state-of-mind. Angelina has even had a lesbian relationship with model and actress Jenny Shimizu, claiming that if she hasn't married Jonny Lee Miller she would of married her. She also fell in love with Brad Pitt on the set of Mrs and Mrs Smith, who was then married to Jennifer Aniston. Even nowadays she is seen as a home wrecker and she is hated by Aniston fans. All of her actions in life affect how audience member perceive her, they can either see her hedonistic lifestyle as menacing or funny. 

Angelina Jolie's Cultural Value is high because of her voluntary work. She has ideologies that are seen as appealing by both producers and audience members. Her humanitarian work shows that she is a well rounded person that is kind. She has various organisations set out to help impoverished people in third world counties. She has also won various awards to do with her humanitarian work which makes her image more appealing. 

In conclusion I believe that stars are very important to audiences and producers because they create a persona that is relatable and appealing to audiences. Stars bring in more revenue to the film they are working on because they have an already established fan base that will pay to see any movie they are starring in. They also have 'star qualities' which attract audiences to them such as their acting skills, home life and personalities. Nowadays if an actor wants to become a film star they have to become three dimensional and let the audience know everything about them.