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Post by thebayharborbutcher on Jan 3, 2021 23:09:57 GMT
So I often wondered why film stars or movie stars no longer exist. Yes, I know there are a few but overall the ability to sell a film on a stars name nowadays is pretty hard. I feel like I may have figured out why this happened. The answer is social media. I’ve never really used social media outside of Twitter, but over the last month or 2 I’ve expanded to Instagram and Tik Tok. There are people on there, just normal everyday people, who have like millions of followers. I feel like these people have replaced movie stars. Let’s be honest, most movie stars popularity were fueled by vanity. Yes, they could have talent, but it was largely about how good looking they are, who they’re dating and they’re glamorous lives. The actual praise for talent was kinda secondary. Now you have these influencers on Instagram and Tik Tok who have taken over that thirst for stars. People now go to them for whatever it is they got from movie stars. Maybe it helps they are slightly more “everyday” (seemingly) than movie stars, so perhaps that creates an illusion of being relatable? There is also more access to them through social media. But whatever it is I feel these people have taken over for movie stars.
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Post by politicidal on Jan 3, 2021 23:21:02 GMT
...You're not wrong which is kind of depressing.
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Post by mortsahlfan on Jan 3, 2021 23:21:14 GMT
I agree that we no longer have movie stars, but I think it's them, not us...
They aren't believable. They lack charisma, personality, courage, humor. They choose shitty movies. 50 years ago, the great actors turned down some huge money-makers for reasons of their own.
We STILL talk about the stars from before, we still watch their movies, read their books. Who the hell writes a book about Marky Mark?
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Post by Ransom on Jan 3, 2021 23:22:08 GMT
But aren't Hollywood actors on social media too?
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Post by Ransom on Jan 3, 2021 23:27:05 GMT
I agree that we no longer have movie stars, but I think it's them, not us... They aren't believable. They lack charisma, personality, courage, humor. They choose shitty movies. 50 years ago, the great actors turned down some huge money-makers for reasons of their own. We STILL talk about the stars from before, we still watch their movies, read their books. Who the hell writes a book about Marky Mark? An actor who turns down big money that their management team also survive on to feed their families is a dumb fuck doesn't matter which century or decade they were a dumb fuck in. |
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Post by kolchak92 on Jan 3, 2021 23:54:06 GMT
I think we still have movie stars, it's just that these days a brand name is the more important factor in a film's success, rather than who stars in it.
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Post by Prime etc. on Jan 4, 2021 0:02:50 GMT
It's because Hollywood eliminated them.
Interesting thing is that before Hollywood existed, the stars were their own masters.
Pickford, Fairbanks, Chaplin etc. There was no middle man. The public went to see the artist.
But when Hollywood Majors came into being, they created their own line of stars who were under contract and very controlled (still true today actually).
But they groomed a large number of them and had an assembly line approach so there were lots of similar kinds of actors.
But as time marched on, they decided that stars were not really important anymore--the film type was (fx-driven, action, franchises) so the stars became more beta.
Why are there no old time movie stars anymore? Because Hollywood won't let them in the gates.
They want obedience--and they get it from Pitt, Hanks, Downey Jr etc.
Thus no one similar to a William Holden, John Wayne, or Charlton Heston.
Oh pardon me, I forgot about Idris Elba.
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Post by kolchak92 on Jan 4, 2021 0:07:42 GMT
It's because Hollywood eliminated them. Interesting thing is that before Hollywood existed, the stars were their own masters. Pickford, Fairbanks, Chaplin etc. There was no middle man. The public went to see the artist. But when Hollywood Majors came into being, they created their own line of stars who were under contract and very controlled (still true today actually). But they groomed a large number of them and had an assembly line approach so there were lots of similar kinds of actors. But as time marched on, they decided that stars were not really important anymore--the film type was (fx-driven, action, franchises) so the stars became more beta. Why are there no old time movie stars anymore? Because Hollywood won't let them in the gates. They want obedience--and they get it from Pitt, Hanks, Downey Jr etc. Thus no one similar to a William Holden, John Wayne, or Charlton Heston. Oh pardon me, I forgot about Idris Elba. Are you referring to Holden, Wayne and Heston because they were right-wing or is that just a coincidence?
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Post by Prime etc. on Jan 4, 2021 0:16:18 GMT
Are you referring to Holden, Wayne and Heston because they were right-wing or is that just a coincidence? lol no--it is a coincidence--but remember Heston marched with Martin Luther King and Wayne married Mexican women. They were progressive for their day.
Even Mickey Rooney's marriages were some kind of publicity stunt. Had to be. Rooney was the Tom Cruise of his day--the actresses marry him and then get a pay off after it in career or what not.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Jan 4, 2021 0:24:05 GMT
"Film Stars" used to be individuals ... now they tend to look alike and dress alike and are pretty much interchangeable. They were presented in the media (mostly magazines) as different from regular people and mysterious.. Now all of their flaws and foibles are foisted upon us via shows like "Entertainment" Tonight and the endless blogs and tweets. |
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Post by kolchak92 on Jan 4, 2021 0:30:39 GMT
Are you referring to Holden, Wayne and Heston because they were right-wing or is that just a coincidence? lol no--it is a coincidence--but remember Heston marched with Martin Luther King and Wayne married Mexican women. They were progressive for their day.
Even Mickey Rooney's marriages were some kind of publicity stunt. Had to be. Rooney was the Tom Cruise of his day--the actresses marry him and then get a pay off after it in career or what not.
Rooney really was the Tom Cruise of his day, that's a good analogy.
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Post by Prime etc. on Jan 4, 2021 0:34:10 GMT
Rooney really was the Tom Cruise of his day, that's a good analogy.
Ava Gardner, Martha Vickers, Elaine Devry (she was the Mimi Rogers of her time). They have to be arranged marriages because the official story is Rooney was unfaithful to Gardner and
because she didnt divorce him, they gave her a film contract.
COME
ON
NOW.
There's no way that is how it went and while Rooney was a 5'4 dynamo of star power I do not think he was the backlot lothario they claimed him to be. Rumor has it Frank Sinatra's managers paid women to swoon at his concerts too.
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Post by Archelaus on Jan 4, 2021 1:02:25 GMT
The Big Picture by Ben Fritz kind of answers the question of why the power of the celebrity star to draw an audience declined. In short, back in the 1990s and early 2000s, A-list stars like Will Smith and Adam Sandler were huge box office stars and they were paid millions because of it. By the 2010s, some of their tentpole projects started flopping costing the studios millions. Then, the studios started gravitating towards creating film series out of established intellectual properties, in hopes that the brand draws an audience. At the same time, the big studios are competing with Netflix so the celebrity star power started to become more niche.
I also do agree that with these celebrities on social media, there's no reason to go see them in their latest film in theaters.
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Post by mortsahlfan on Jan 4, 2021 11:28:44 GMT
LOL... "I saw them on fakebook, why would I wanna see them in a MOVIE?"
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Post by thebayharborbutcher on Jan 4, 2021 15:17:24 GMT
But aren't Hollywood actors on social media too? True they are... but they now have to compete with all these influencers. Many of these influencers are just better at using social media than many actors.
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Post by Rey Kahuka on Jan 4, 2021 18:14:38 GMT
But aren't Hollywood actors on social media too? True they are... but they now have to compete with all these influencers. Many of these influencers are just better at using social media than many actors. This is closer to the truth. Not only do they have to compete with so many other personas on social media, they have to compete with themselves. The stars themselves are simply much more available now than they ever were before. The very appearance of a star in a film was itself an event. Now, thanks to social media, VOD, etc.; we see them all the time. Thanks to twitter, we know their inner thoughts. In many ways, we can't get away from them. If the concept of modern 'celebrity' teaches us anything about the past, it's that less is more.
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Post by lowtacks86 on Jan 4, 2021 18:41:12 GMT
Hollywood is probably rather happy about that, imagine not having to pay for obscenly high actor salaries anymore. How much did Jim Carrey make in his prime, like $20 million per film?
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Post by TheGoodMan19 on Jan 4, 2021 20:17:17 GMT
The studio system was all about marketing their stars. MGM, Universal, Warners did massive marketing things to keep their stars in the headlines even when they didn't have a film in theaters. Newsreels, public appearances (when is he last time you seen a movie star opening a supermarket?), movie magazines. The studios wanted fans to go see a Clark Gable, James Stewart, Gene Kelly film, no matter the plot. Even if they churned out a turkey, it would still make money. No coincidence that the era of the end of the star era ended with the end of the studio system.
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Post by millar70 on Jan 4, 2021 21:19:48 GMT
"Film Stars" used to be individuals ... now they tend to look alike and dress alike and are pretty much interchangeable. They were presented in the media (mostly magazines) as different from regular people and mysterious.. Now all of their flaws and foibles are foisted upon us via shows like "Entertainment" Tonight and the endless blogs and tweets. Excellent point. It's a little bit like cars. Back in the day, cars all looked different, many more different models and colors on the road. Now cars are all generic, kind of like modern films, music, art, celebrity, you name it. |
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Post by mortsahlfan on Jan 4, 2021 23:37:31 GMT
^ Generic is right, and another reason for the bland movies, music, etc.
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