Case study of a film star

Tom Hanks

Cultural value(s)

Tom featured in a film named 'Philadelphia', in which he plays a gay lawyer who has AIDS. In this film Hanks is endorsing gay rights, which ultimately go against his religion in Christianity, which could be seen as Hanks wanting people to follow him and embrace the gay community by showing his ideologies through the films character.

When Tom Hanks won an Oscar for this film he thanked a gay teacher he knew in his acceptance speech, which indicates that he embraces the gay community by thanking a gay teacher on the night of him winning the most prestigious award in film. Which yet again goes against his religion and raises the question that if he believes in Christianity and its beliefs why did he take the job? But a opposing point could be a quote from Hank saying - "That's the great thing about being an actor - you play characters have a little bit of something in common with or you play characters you have nothing in common with at all". Raising the point that the character he played has nothing in common with him.

Hanks has also done a lot of work with the gay community over gay marriage has he believes it should be aloud and that it should be accepted by all people.

Hanks admitted that one of his reasons for taking the part in the film 'The da Vinci code' was to get people to start flocking to Churches as it would help them do their job. He said - "If they (The church) put up a sign saying, 'This Wednesday we're discussing the gospel,' 12 people show up. But if the sign says, 'We're discussing 'The Da Vinci Code', 800 people show up."

Hanks along with being a Christian has said that he has settled for a Greek orthodox due to following this due to it being the religion his wife Rita Wilson follows.

Deviant

Hanks could be seen as deviant but not as much now due to him being older but he has been caught doing some rather funny things, he was caught dancing and singing to 'This is how we do it' by Montell Jordan wearing a Jewish Prayer shawl and a Scull cap. This video was posted on the Internet and viewed by over a million people. Hanks was quoted though saying - "I've never been a playboy and I've never had a taste for the life." 

Hank's son could reflect on Hanks being deviant as his son admitted to being a cocaine addicted from the age of 16 which reflects badly on Tom as it is his son. But recently his son now aged 24 has said on social media that he is in rehab for his addiction. But Tom himself is viewed as a very likeable person who takes care in what he does and doesn’t take part in deviant things which helps add to his like ability.

Constructed

Hanks does work with the gay community as he stands up for their rights but he also does charity work for veterans who fight for his country, for example he takes part in veteran concerts and announces on his social media accounts about it.

Tom Hanks is known for frequently playing serious characters that are faced with in extra ordinary situations and he usually plays the protagonist in his films. His characters are often very likeable and seem 'ordinary', which reflected on his real life characteristics. He has been in some huge successful films like; Forrest Gump, Cast away and Saving private Ryan, which in all he is the main character. Which could ultimately reflect on his character as the characters he plays reflect on his personality in real life and would help influence the way people see him.

Capital value

Tom Hanks could considerably make money for films and their studios due to him being in successful films from the beginning of his career in actor and directing. Now as his career is still on going he still carries a big name due to him being an Oscar winner and an infamous celebrity.

Also Hank's outside of film life affects this due to him being a likeable person who is liked by the vast majority of the American population. Using Tom Hanks as a character in a film would help the promotion of the film due to him being in successful films that have made millions and if audiences saw him in a film they could think about other films he has featured in.

Hanks is a world renown actor and has just over 9million followers on Twitter and over 6million likes on Facebook. Which would be important for the advertisement of films he features in for example if he tweeted or posted a trailer for a film he is in would be broadcasted to over 15million people in total which would really help advertise the film.

Tom Hank’s Star Qualities:

In Forrest Gump, The Da Vinci Code and The Green Mile Hanks plays the protagonist who is faced with extra ordinary circumstances. Due to him being the main character in most films he is easily likeable due to him playing the same kinds of parts in each of his films. This would build expectation for audiences as they would have built expectations for Tom to be the main character as like in the films he has been in.

The trailers create a expectation of Hanks which is a positive because in all of his films he has done a good job and even won a Oscar for one of his films. Which builds the expectation that the films that he is in must be good because he is infamous and so well known. Hanks himself is a very versatile actor for example in the film Philadelphia he plays a gay teacher with AIDs and then in Saving Private Ryan he plays a soldier who took part in world war two, which helps build on Hank’s expectation. The expectation that Hanks brings to his films also helps promote the film due to him being such a good actor then people would feel like the film itself must be good for him to be in it.

The pro’s of using Tom Hanks is that he brings experience to films; due to other films he has been in he creates a good expectation, as the films he has been in have been very successful. The con’s of Tom Hanks being in films is that due to his previous films he has often been the hero and the main character. But in a different film if he was casted as the villain or a secondary character it would be strange as it hasn’t happened before in his career.