The Vanity of Celebrity Fame: "Sunset Boulevard" and Celebrity Reality Shows

Sunset Boulevard and Double Indemnity, are just two out of the many incredible films directed by renowned director Billy Wilder. The two films which were released six years apart, (Double Indemnity- 1944, and Sunset Boulevard- 1950) are uniquely similar, in that both films share many of the same aspects, idea’s, and similar in narration, as one another. Both of these extravagantly, directed films are indeed classics. The films, both tell an intriguing story of spiritual loneliness of a female character, and how they use their power, money, and provocativeness, to “lure” the male character. We see the life of a once innocent (male) character, who is being hurtled towards his own self destruction, the character is “supposedly” unaware, of his own self harm through his seemingly ‘good/beneficial’ decisions that he makes.

Hollywood is a very powerful modern day institution, where a star's image can characterize, shape and circulate societal myths and ideologies. The construction of a star's image as a commodity of their societal myths and ideologies has the extraordinary power to exert messages so that even the smallest details become significant yet not overtly obvious. How a star's image is produced and then consumed can justify a society's relationship with that image and therefore aid in explaining the social construction of what society deems as their 'reality'. A star's image is created through a range of representations churned out by Hollywood. Capitalism from the commercialization of these images has made Hollywood the dominant force it is

In this film. Norma Desmond is obsessed with herself and she seems that she is the best actor to ever live. She doesn't get any help from he butler Max, who sends her fake fan letters to please her addiction. Her addiction is very important in the film because it shoes that she neglects what she truly is and not what she could be. When Joe steps in the scene, she regains that passion and love for someone and she actually starts being herself. Towards the end of the film you see Norma's true side, she attempted to kill herself on New Years but Max was able to call the police and save her. Joe then hears about the tragic news and heads over to see if Norma is okay, we see Norma depressed and sad about her actual life and Joe see's his impact on Norma's life. Through the film you think everything is okay between Joe and Norma but Joe is trying to find a way to get out. In the end is surprising

The film Sunset Boulevard (1950), directed by Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond exemplified a Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) by being demanding, intense and unstable. These behaviors that are consistent with the elements of abnormality include suffering, social discomfort, dangerousness, and irrationality and unpredictability. The first element that is consistent with Norma Desmond’s character is suffering. Desmond being one of the greatest movie stars in history suffers as she experiences the fall from stardom. She also suffers from identity disturbance as she reaches an unstable self-image notion. In one scene when Desmond recognizes for a moment about her age, she claims, “Look at me. Look at my hands, look at my face, look under my

Chris Hedges’ “American Psychosis” is one author’s explanation behind the perceived degradation of America, attributing this decay mostly to a nationwide engrossment in the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Hedges further purports that the American government itself is behind making famous people front-and-center at all times, so that the populace has no chance to focus on the nation’s actual problems. He suggests that this reality TV state-of-mind turns life into a “world of unadulterated competition” where our attention-craving society discards the losers “like Styrofoam boxes that held junk food”. Those ‘excess’ human beings who cannot keep up with the endless quest for notoriety, he contends, end up unemployed, imprisoned, or homeless, because the only worth humans have in the modern world is their ability to make headlines. The final piece of his article is dedicated to fomenting some kind of vengeful revolution against celebrity culture, in which the public purges itself of inconsequential distractions so that they can once again separate illusion from reality.

The more masculine Norma Jean becomes, the more she leaves her husband behind. Norma Jean is independent and unable to cope with her husband’s constant presence. Norma Jean is a good wife when her husband comes home from work, but, now that he is always home she has become a different person. Norma Jean was able to put on an illusion of being a great wife because she only had to do it for a short while. She is very content with being alone and not being bound to her husband, “Norma Jean has never complained about his travelling; she has never made hurt remarks, like calling his truck a ‘widow maker’” (Mason 570). Norma Jean does not complain about her husband being gone because she prefers it over the latter. Norma Jean even rejects her wifely duties, “When [Mabel] visits, she inspects the closets and then the plants, informing Norma Jean when a plant is droopy…She also notices if Norma Jean’s laundry is piling up” (Mason 572). This quote symbolizes Norma Jean’s unwillingness to fall into a permanent role as a wife. She neglects her womanly duties and it is her mother that tells her when it’s time to do things. Now that Leroy is home, Norma Jeans starts extracurricular activities to not be with her husband, “Something is happening. Norma Jean is going to night school…now she is taking an adult-education course in composition at Paducah Community College. She spends her evenings

Again, the audience is not presented with a perfect copy of such a personality in the character of Norma Desmond; her “appeal” is arguable, considering her hefty age of fifty, and her deception is not exclusive to her victim, but has cast a much heavier net upon herself. However, Norma is still manipulative in the sense that she uses the appeal of her wealth to keep Joe under her control. In this way, she strips him of his pride and manhood by taking him on as her dependent, and eventually into her “boy toy” (for lack of a better term) by inducing his guilt with her suicidal threats. Whether or not she deserves the audience’s pity is no matter—Norma fits her role as the femme fatale since she uses Joe entirely for her own purposes, and eventually brings him to his very literal demise.

Bordo’s observations begin with the world of celebrity and its powerful influence upon those who are followers of every nuance pertaining to fame, fashion, and fortune. She illustrates the negative and ruthless manner

The first chapter of “Empire of Illusion” by Chris Hedges address the issue of celebrity culture and how media has created an illusion for life. Throughout the chapter, Chris Hedges makes many assumptions about the average person’s ability to read and think deeply about issues.

Celebrities seem to have it all: money, attention, the looks, connections, etc. In Station Eleven, Handel focuses on the privacy aspect of fame. Superstars quickly have everything exposed, whether it is true or not. Respect is no longer taken into account, only the greed for gossip, a good headline, or a juicy picture.

This picture is a perfect portrayal of celebrity culture in today’s era. The desire to be virtually ‘connected’ and share everything in one’s life is the new trend. And this has resulted from the constant competition from the new community of ‘microcelebrities’, which is based on achieving fame through broadcasting oneself through media. One of the demeaning aspect of the picture is the lack of genuineness and enforcement of stylish lifestyle on the audience which makes it loose the emotional quotient.

Have you ever wondered what influences us to behave the way we do? Look a certain way? Or even looked for an explanation to what causes us to apply a certain perspective regarding personal and controversial issues? One of the answers to these questions may revolve around the influence we absorb from celebrities. A definitive term for celebrity is an iconic figure to a category or group who has achieved success in one or multiple aspects of their lives. As a result, these individuals have drawn in publicity and fame. Over the years with the advances in media and other forms of communication, celebrities have become topics of discussion worldwide, rather if it’s at school, with colleagues or at the dinner table, it is fair to say that

Celebrities are everywhere in the news, the latest gossip appears in the weekly magazines without fail. Whether they be an actor, athlete, dancer, designer, model, singer or just rich; there is someone out there who is watching that person like a hawk, not letting a single breath go unnoticed. Such is the life of the rich and famous, under the incessant gaze of journalists and the paparazzi. Lives that many people take a great interest in and admire to the point where others would liken this great interest and admiration to a cult-like worship of celebrities. This is a brief description of what I think to be celebrity culture.

A star’s image is a concept carefully molded by the celebrity himself or herself with the aid of many factors such as audience reception and current ideological trends. Star image, by definition, given by O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, is “the qualities, ideals, and values that a star represents, based on their films and other performances, and on media information circulated about them” (430). A change of star image encompasses the sum of everything we, as in the audience, affiliate with that star. That means changing the star’s body of work, promotion, publicity, and audience practices. These factors put together is also known as star text (Professor Josh Jackson, September 8, 2016, University of California, Berkeley). Jennifer Lawrence had a particular star text before she took on the role of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games and was instead known for her role of Ree Dolly in Winter’s Bone. This new role launched Lawrence into a different star text she was previously known for. Though it seemed like the change is solely based on her landing an already popular role, the change in her star text is still calculated in order for her to maintain a certain image that landed her at the top of the celebrity social ladder. This careful manipulation of a celebrity’s image as she takes on a role that guaranteed a big impact on her acting career demonstrates how a star’s image is important when it comes to maintaining what the celebrity, and everyone who is working with that

These promote not only the products, but also the moods, attitudes, and a sense of what is and is not important. Mass media makes a possible impression of celebrity. However without movies, magazines, and news media to reach across people all over the world people could not become famous. In fact, only political and business leaders, as well as the few notorious outlaws,