Summary Of The Documentary 'The Stars'

In the Annenberg Learner documentary, The Stars, movie legends such as Julia Roberts and Joan Crawford, as well as film directors like John Waters share those explicit qualities that make a star well – a star. Let’s face it, many of us, at least those who are not afraid to admit it, would leap at the chance of becoming a celebrity. Regrettably, only a few has what it takes, has that star quality, has that certain je ne saie quoi, to make it in the entertainment business. And its usually those unknown qualities that make us ordinary people aspire a life in superstardom. I wont deny it; I was secretly thrilled to learn that some of these stars like Joan Crawford and Humphrey Bogart who seem so perfect were actually invented and not born. But it is the trick; this invention on how stars are made that got my attention.
Kathleen Turner asserts in her narration, “The launch of a stars career signals a love affair between the public and a movie persona.
For the public it is an infatuation, but for the star – it is the end of life as they’d known it.” In my opinion, a celebrity is property; they belong to the public. Their lives are no are longer private, they can’t have no secretes. For some, it is more than the bargained for, but others like Joan Crawford, they welcomed it. In my opinion, Crawford is not your quintessential beauty like Audrey Hepburn or Marilyn Monroe; yet, she was feminine, beguiling, and she really was very talented, and those were just the je ne sai quoi element that made her a star. Sidney Guilaroff, who was the head of hairstylist department at MGM said, “each one was an individual they become stars because of their very difference.” No one can argue that Joan Crawford was indeed
different.
Guilaroff also mentions in his segment how people go to the movies to escape their humdrum lives. Perhaps this statement does not apply to everyone; however, those who are not afraid to admit it, it is very true. The lives of the stars are designed to make the common public envious, and to give us a sense of how we should aspire to be. For the women, we are meant to be beautiful, delicate, and graceful. But for the men, being the smooth, cunning tough guy with the romantic will appeal to any woman. And who else embodies all those things, but Humphrey Bogart. Like Crawford, Bogart was not did not posses the conventional features of a good looking man. So it was hardly surprising to learn that a star was taken by the studios and were trained and process.
It would seem to me the documentary is suggesting the stars, particularly that of Hollywood of old were made and not born. This does not surprise me that this is the technique used to create a star. I’ve always felt the woman were overly feminine. I was especially ecstatic when John Waters confirmed my theory when he referred to the women and men as “drag queens” who were overly exaggerating their femininity or masculinity. Nevertheless, it gave me a sense of hope – that perhaps in my ordinary state, in spite of my lack of attractiveness, if given the right tools, I too might be a star.