[ENC 1101] A topic of my own choosing

One can not get away from the fact that celebrity is celebrated as a high calling, if not status, and has been for quite a while. This phenomenon dates back to the earliest days of Hollywood, where the studios actively promoted their stars and films, and used all sorts of promotional devices to do so: “gossip” magazines, the latest news on the “stars” and their personal lives, publicity events, and of course, just plain advertising of the movies and the stars.

One can’t help wondering what effect “stardom” has on an actor, when in the course of months or years, your life is no longer your own, but under the close and relentless scrutiny of the general populace, as well as the ‘paparazzi’ who hound you for everything they are worth. Their jobs and their livelihood depend on getting the latest and most revealing picture of the object of their dogged pursuit of a good headline. It is literally their job to hound you and drive you crazy. I am not surprised that some actors develop quite an antipathy for reporters and gossip magazines. Further, a life in the headlines, is impetus for many years of psychoanalysis, when you can’t understand why, when you try to do simple things that “everyman” does, people think you are public property, even a long-time friend you are meeting for the first time. The irony here is that people actually believe you belong to them, and that you should be as they think you should.

Publicists, production company’s, auditions and ‘gigs’ are all part of the arsenal of people whom you must have to create the enterprise one would call “Yourself, Inc.” Some younger entertainers have literally gone so far as to become a business, with clothing, perfumes, musical endeavors, and toys have all become part of the promotion of yourself as a corporate empire. You the actor are your most important product, and not surprisingly, most actors name their enterprise after themselves, or a catchy twist upon their names. Gone are the days when studios took care of every aspect of an actors life: these days the actors have to manage themselves and their careers, and often branch out beyond acting into producing, singing, talk-shows, and as mentioned before, other lines of manufacturing they can tie into.

Personally, I think it very demeaning to place a person on a high pedestal because they are a public personality. They are just a person like anyone else, who is marketing themselves and their images, because that is part of the business of being an actor. You are a marketing campaign, and the craziness of the lifestyle of the rich and famous is part of “doing business.” One must never forget to separate the person from the celebrity. Or to take either of them seriously.