US Weekly Kills Me Inside

This is something I wrote for a Film Studies class this term. The topic for the week was the Hollywood Star system.

Film Studies
Week 3 Response

For a long time, my attitude toward movie stars and their legions of devoted worshippers has been one of unwavering disgust. Every time I catch myself glancing at the gossip rags at the grocery store checkout, I can almost feel a few brain cells committing suicide in protest at the sleazy pandering of the filthy rich. “Look at me! Look at me! Love me or hate me, but just talk to your friends about me!” I get bewildered when I see someone actually buy, actually hand over perfectly good money for, this cover to cover advertising.

This week’s unit on the stars of the screen brought to the surface a piece of knowledge I usually keep buried deep down inside of me. Celebrity gossip is an effective marketing strategy. Capitalism makes me feel so dirty sometimes. Why does business have to be so shameless? Reading about the studios’ tactic of setting up dates between stars just to photograph and sell them reminded me of the reason the E! Network exists. It creates “buzz”. I hate that.

Like it or not, though, celebrity smut is here to stay. Let’s face it: movie stars are products. A cool trailer only gets a movie so far. Pretty much everyone knows all the best parts are in the commercial anyway. We all went to There’s Something About Mary. We learned a valuable lesson that day. Sometimes things are best left to the imagination. Stars are what really keep us coming. That’s what people are lining up to see. I’m pretty sure that after the American people spent a collective $80,197,993 (movieweb.com) to see Jack Black in Nacho Libre we can close the case on that.