SSC Film Studies

‘Neither producers nor audience need stars anymore’ - How far do you agree with this statement?

 

I agree with the statement to a certain extent. There are many reasons why the stars have been declining, the major reason is that there are more franchise based films coming out than standalone original idea films. In 2014, four of the top 20 films were original ideas and the rest were franchises. This is evidence for stars decline, this is down to it being more about the character than the actor. An example of a star that has took his film role beyond the silver screen is Robert Downey Jr. who wouldn’t be where he is now if he didn’t get the iron man role. In real life he plays Tony Stark and Robert Downey Jr. has become a character. An exception to this is Interstellar, a film made by Christopher Nolan, this is a star driven film because of the director. However he only made the film because he made so much money from the Batman trilogy and Interstellar was a risk. All non-franchise films are risky e.g. John Carter, The Golden Compass and Avatar: The Last Airbender. These were all supposed to kickstart franchises however they all flopped.

 

In the 1980s star-driven films were the norm e.g. Top Gun (Tom Cruise), Labyrinth (David Bowie), Blade Runner (Harrison Ford). Back in the 1980s there was no such thing as social media and so audiences only saw actors on TV and film, this made them appear mysterious and untouchable. Today this is completely different because Facebook and Twitter allow interactions between stars and audiences. This leads to stars becoming more ‘normal’ and reachable. An example is Tom Cruise who had a persona in the 80s of an All-American man that everyone could relate to. Now stars are more exposed and everything they do adds to their character, e.g. he is a scientologist, Oprah couch scene, does his own stunts.  This shows that film stars are declining because actors are becoming less relevant and characters are becoming more relevant. Actors have online profiles, but characters aren’t real beyond the cinema, e.g. you can’t see what Chewbacca is eating for breakfast.

 

Film stars are becoming more important in other ways e.g. Emma Watson is speaking at UN conferences and putting her points across, this adds to her character as a strong female. Emma Watson was unknown before the Harry Potter film series, but she attached herself to it and is now a global star.  People were more interested in seeing ‘Hermione’ than Emma Watson. Christine Gledhill says that stars are seen as a cultural value, Emma Watson is an example of this as she is more than just an actor. This shows the importance of how actors portray themselves in the public and how this helps producers pick films for them.

 

Another example of this is Will Smith who has revealed he beat a person and blinded them as well as an open marriage with his wife, this is all to help his public image appear suited to his role in Suicide Squad. There are negatives to overexposed film stars for example Lindsay Lohan was a star that overexposed herself e.g. drugs, alcohol, rehab which ruined her career. In the 1940s onwards, Judy Garland  was a drug addict however she still got the role in The Wizard of Oz because there was little media to show this to the public and people still looked up to her.

 

 Another example is Ed Sheeran’s ‘Lego House’ music video starring Rupert Grint, but people watched the video because it was ‘Ron Weasley’ not because it was Rupert Grint. This shows that audiences care more about the characters in the films than the actors themselves. This shows that stars are declining and aren’t necessary.

 

There are still some stars that draw us to the silver screen e.g. Leonardo DiCaprio. Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the only stars that still drives audiences to the cinema for example his latest film ‘The Revenant’ knocked Star Wars: The Force Awakens (franchise) off the top of the box office. The Revenant was a star driven film that knocked a franchise off the top spot based on Leonardo DiCaprio’s star quality. This is an example of stars power still existing but slowly declining. Out of all of Leonardo DiCaprio’s films none have been franchises and he has made his career out of being himself rather than being the star of a franchise. This is an example of how stars can still be important, if Leonardo DiCaprio wasn’t in ‘The Revenant then it is likely less people would see it.