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From Grace Kelly to Julia Roberts to Leonardo DiCaprio, movie stars and their star power used to dominate Hollywood. Fans used to keep up with their favorite celebrities doing promotions for their latest flick in newspaper articles, magazines, or talk shows. These days, social media was non-existent. So, if fans wanted a glimpse of a certain actor, they would have to go to their local movie theater and pay to see a star’s recent work. To put it simply, the main reason people used to go to the theaters is because of a celebrity. Nowadays, that really isn’t the case anymore. Thanks to the internet, people no longer have to leave the comfort of their homes to see a celebrity. Instead, people can pull up an actor’s social media page on their cellphone without ever having to leave their bed. Due to this shift, the idea of a celebrity and how people view them isn’t really special anymore.
The Definition Of A Celebrity Before The Internet
In the traditional sense, a celebrity is someone who has unique talents in entertaining, whether it be in acting, in singing, or sometimes both. Due to their knacks, the general public adored these people because they were able to entertain people with talents that not many people had. This caused film studios in Hollywood to employ actors for their marketability because these actors had star power.
What Exactly Is Star Power?
In many cases, star power refers to whether or not a movie star is able to guarantee box-office success simply with their presence within the film. This concept is better known as a “bankable star” (( Frankel, Daniel. “Survey Says: Hanks Hollywood’s Most Bankable Star.” EOnline. 14 Jun 1999. )). Although the concept in this article is a bit similar, star power in this article is more focused on whether a celebrity has enough charm and is likable enough to get people to watch any of their works. In other words, bankable stars are more about box-office success, while star power is more about the personality of a celebrity.
For example, many romantic comedies from the 90s heavily relied on star power to get people crowding the box offices at theaters. Hugh Grant is a prime example of what star power is. Grant dominated the romantic comedy scene in the 90s and early 2000s featuring in Bridget Jones’s Diary, Love Actually, Notting Hill, and many more. Many teenagers and adults garnered a crush on Grant from his good looks and charm in these films. This crush that thousands of people had on him helped propelled Grant’s star power in the romantic comedy genre.
Is Star Power Still As Popular Today?
These days, the concept of star power—especially within the romantic comedy genre—is a rarity. In fact, the romantic comedy genre is not as popular as it once was. Before Hollywood had made a plethora of romantic comedies featuring the same actors. The romantic comedy genre is producing films that feature different actors (which is a great thing that Hollywood is diversifying their cast lists) like Happiest Season. In addition, the concept of genres in film is slowly being pushed to the background as franchises, such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), are being put front and center. However, while casting and film franchises play a part in why star power is a dying film industry concept, they are not the main reasons. Instead, social media takes the crown for why star power is no longer a popular concept.
How Is Social Media Impacting Star Power?
In the age of the internet, it comes as no surprise that the general population has become oversaturated with the knowledge that they have of celebrities and their personal lives. But, unfortunately, this vast amount of knowledge is slowly killing the concept of star power in the film industry. Before, what the general public knew about celebrities and their personal lives was limited to public outings caught by the paparazzi and interviews that these celebrities have been in. This limited knowledge is what star power relies on.
In addition, star power was dependent on mysteriousness. Simply, this mysteriousness of star power celebrities attracted the general public to see the works these celebrities have been in because they want to see more of them in any aspect that they could. Nowadays, thanks largely to social media and stan culture, the general public knows more about celebrities and what goes on in their personal lives. As a result, the mysteriousness of these celebrities is practically non-existent. Sure, we do have a good handful of celebrities who stray away from sharing every moment of their lives. However, the general public’s exposure to them is more readily available than before. Bearing this in mind, our definition of what a celebrity is has changed.
The Definition Of A Celebrity Today
Even though some still define a celebrity as someone with unique talents, it is clear that defining a celebrity isn’t the same as before. These days, a celebrity has basically become someone readily available to their fanbase all the time.
Who Is An Example Of A Readily Available Celebrity?
One of the first celebrities that came to my mind is Shay Mitchell. Mitchell is best known for her role as Emily Fields in the hit Freeform television series Pretty Little Liars. Despite being in various television and film works — her latest work being the English voice of Alexandra Trese of Netflix’s Philippine anime-influenced show Trese — Mitchell has made herself quite available to her fanbase by frequently posting on her social media pages.
The page in which her fans can see more of her personality is her TikTok account. On this account, fans can see Mitchell following popular trends on the platform to her humor and even to TikToks featuring her child.
Today’s Celebrities And Talent
There is still one aspect of social media that has forever changed the way in which we define celebrities: Just about anyone can become a celebrity, and we have seen it happen. In an article written by Christina Ramsay for Newsworthy, Ramsay discusses how casting agencies no longer care about pure craft alone.
Instead, they care about social media following. (( Ramsay, Christina. “Trading Talent for Followers? Social Spells Trouble for Trained Actors.” Newsworthy. 20 May 2019. )). Considering the growing popularity of streaming services, it makes sense that a person’s following carries more weight than their lack of acting training.
From Social Media To Casting Gigs
Liza Koshy is perhaps the best example of someone who went from starting their career on social media to joining works featuring traditional celebrities. Koshy started her career on the social media platform Vine before transitioning to YouTube. Thanks to her following on those platforms, Koshy was able to land a role in the 2020 Netflix film Work It that stared Sabrina Carpenter and Jordan Fisher.
Will The Idea Of A Celebrity Ever Be Special Again?
Because social media has dominated our everyday lives, it seems highly unlikely that the idea of celebrity will ever return to the glitz and glamour that it was once before. Perhaps it is a good thing that the idea of a celebrity will never be special again. With how more people are joining the industry, it shows that anyone can reach the traditional level of stardom.