Core Response #1

This being my first film class, I was struck by the amount of scholarly theorizing done on something as (an elitist would say) "pedestrian" as celebrity.  So many people (including myself previous to reading this week's assignment) discount the role of "celebrity worship" as being a meaningless and dangerous distraction (and at times addiction) for many Americans.  However, I have come to believe that the role of "stars" plays an important part in the development of imagination and even the aspirations of those impressionable youths who attend movies.  I have to imagine that much of my decision to become an actor was inspired by the movies I watched repeatedly as a child.  In a world absent of "PerezHilton.com" and "Star Magazine," it was the performances of my favorite actors and the journeys their characters took that allowed me to experience the four categories referenced by Dyer (p. 18).  The emotional affinity I felt for Pollyanna (Hayley Mills) and the self-identification that marked my childhood in the form of "keeping house" as Samantha Stevens (Elizabeth Montgomery) on "Bewitched" are two of my predominant memories of childhood.  The way I tried (in vain!) to imitate Julia Robert's hair and makeup in "Pretty Woman" and the way in which I projected myself into part of the Von Trapp family (to the point of screaming at my parents that I knew I had been adopted in Vienna), both extended into my early teen years.  All played major parts in the development of my imagination as well as formed the basis for my career aspirations. 

 This week's reading exposed to me the invaluable nature of "stars" and the movies that serve as their vehicles.  It is my belief that (though celebrities must establish themselves in some way before becoming famous), "stars" primarily "make" movies in the sense that the right name behind almost any film means at the very least, great attendance.  I read an article this week that announced Katharine Heigl officially a "movie star" as her presence on the poster for "27 Dresses" resulted in an incredibly lucrative opening for the film.  The implications of this result support what Dyer writes when he speaks of celebrity as being a powerful economic force. 

This weeks reading taught me most importantly that celebrity is a powerful economic force that plays a fundamental role in the formation and development of children and the "distraction" (in both good and bad ways) of American adults.