The Shattered Glass of Celebrity

The Hollywood star system: Rest in Peace.

Nowadays, when I trawl through Blockbuster aisles, I find films with major stars that never saw the dark light of a theater. I’ve never even heard of some films. And I wonder about the parallel between society and film. History may be defined as the intersection of amazing events with amazing people. Will Mallory make the climb up the cliffs of Navarone? People created history by their choices, hesitations, fears, desires, whimsy, obsessions and visions. Will the Colonel give in to Saito’s brutality? Great films, anchored by magnetic personalities, cast wide nets across our consciousness. Will Lawrence survive the Devil’s Anvil?

“Epic,”film producer Frank McCarthy (“Patton”) once told me, “is defined as a man who changes himself, his community and his world.” In short, all the great character arcs in a movie script have driven the creation of events and epics which, in turn, are pushpins in World History. A noted script consultant, Chris Vogler, distilled and explained the work of Joseph Campbell, an expert on tribal storytelling and myth. Vogler explains the hero’s journey through the Ordinary World, the Call to Adventure, the Refusal of the Call, Mentor, Threshold, Tests by Allies and Enemies, Approach, Ordeal, Reward and The Road Back.

I recently watched “JCVD,” a feature about action actor Jean Claude Van Damme’s downward spiral and its intersection with a bank robbery. The film was fascinating, awash with the celebrity-spin culture and its detritus. Jean Claude plays himself in a confessional return to his hometown of Brussels and speaks of celebrity, inadequacy and his impotence against drugs and hype. I believe that the film will become a noted sociocultural marker in the decline of Hollywood’s celebrity-driven culture.

The Great Epic World will always survive because the human attraction to its form is too resonant and deeply embedded in our humanity. Anchoring the Great Story on a ‘Star System’ is like giving an old drunk uncle with a key to the liquor cabinet and the keys to your prized Mustang. The rise of the celebrity culture is shattering our present film industry model. Perhaps this is good.

The industry was initially only feature films, shown with newsreels, cartoons, a B-picture and then the “A” film. Aside from rallies and religious gatherings, the movie experience was our common cultural touchstone. Then TV came into our living rooms where the binding involved “I Love Lucy” and Walter Cronkite. You saw both or shut your mouth around the water cooler the next day. Jump forward with VHS, DVD, Blue-Ray, Netflix downloads, blogs, internet, Twitter, texting and cheap cell phones. We have the news burst cycle of seconds in an ADD mediacentric world. As individuals strive to establish their celebrity to become Stars, we experience the banality of the personal expose’ for the sake of fame, or worse, infamy.

This sensibility is confirmed by the misuse of ‘fame’ and ‘infamy.’ People don’t know the difference because, in a morally relativistic world, meaning doesn’t matter. Only the end result. Infamy is an “extremely bad reputation, public reproach, or strong condemnation as the result of a shameful, criminal, or outrageous act.” Fame is gained through merit. Infamy through shame. Fame and shame. But both lead to celebrity and, so it is thought, to Stardom.

With the assault of posts on Twitter, Facebook, Digg and more, we have lost not only our ability to focus, but on the meaning and stature of hard work, merit and heroic ordeal. One must ask onself: In today’s world, would Ulyssess feel obliged to Twitter his bathroom breaks?

We have lost the distant mystery of the stage. Looking up at our heroes, we sought their thoughts and inner secrets, their interests an tod experiences. Mysteries that we wanted to unravel, discover, and unravel again and again. But no more. My friend’s grandfather laments the downfall of newspapers due to the Internet, but I remind him that the crushing of the candlemakers by light bulb manufacturers was equally tragic. Both are the forward rush of innovation. We cannot turn back the clock to the past’s delivery of the epic but we can adjust our targets for the new media world.

Story.

When all is said and done, the story makes the star. The Journey of a thousand leagues gives them the adventure, ordeal, the mettle of a tested battle. And it is within our grasp once again. The cameras, equipment and computers available now to the filmmaker are creative, inexpensive and flexible. The early cameras were no more than a box with a lense, requiring a sunny day to get exposure on film with an ASA of 8. And as Chaplin once said for writing a movie scene, ‘Give me a pretty girl and a policeman.’ Drama ensues.

So as the Stars plummet to earth, the Creator may once again become a King of storytelling. Forget the Stars. Concept is key. Heed the Call to Adventure. Accept the Ordeal.

Return with Your Reward.