Star theory is all about why we pay to watch films.
Reasons range from the film’s director, genre to the actors and trailers. To understand star theory, I will be talking about two key theories.
Christine Gledhill
A film theorist who was fundamental in the development of star theory, her study showed that stars can be defined four key points.
Stars as capital values, constructs, deviant and cultural value.
As capital values film stars will make more film than films without stars, they add monetary values to the film which reduces the risk of loss.
As construct film star are very much involved with their constructed image. According to Gledhill the audience are curious about the ‘real’ person as well as the ‘reel’ star.
As deviant, film stars are famous for their extraordinary lives, in media we hear about Hollywood stars breaking rules of behaviour. Which helps us identify (relate) to them.
For example, Christian Bale who was arrested for assaulting his own mother, he was also caught on tape verbally abusing the crew members whilst filming terminator.
As cultural values, stars can mould our way of thinking what is right and wrong, or how we should look and act.
Richard Dyers
He states that film stars can be defined in 4 elements
Promotion, publicity, films, and criticism and commentary
Promotionally, stars can be plucked from obscurity, this may give us details about their personal relationships and ideologies.
Publicly we see stars on newspapers, magazines, interviews, and many different media platforms.
In films we see them in their assigned characters and roles, they are attracted to roles that draw out or emphasise their star qualities. For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger who is a famous star whose films heavily rely on his star qualities.
Lastly, the essential ‘currency’ of the value of stars. Critics often argue that a star is best defined by positioning them in between ‘ordinary’ and ‘extraordinary’. In other words they are ordinary like everyone else but their talent in singing or acting is what makes them extraordinary.
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