I don't believe most of the public understands what fame really is, how it works, and what it means to be famous. Clive James' documentary explores how fame operates at a deeper if not more cynical level. It's not just about people becoming household names; their personas become bigger than even themselves. There is a misunderstood culture about fame, and James tries to open the curtain so-to-speak and let the stranger and more enigmatic aspects of fame come to light. Most of what James reveals about "fame" is not flattering, and it's not always the fault of the famous.
James uses two iconic figures in the introduction to begin his thesis: Elvis Presley and Elizabeth Taylor. Shortly after Elvis' death, some people claimed "Elvis sightings", believing he wasn't dead after all but was roaming the world, a bit like Jacob Marley from "A Christmas Carol".
Elizabeth Taylor towards the end of the 1980's was not starring in movies anymore. She was famous simply for being Elizabeth Taylor. In other words, famous for being famous. It's one thing to admire someone's work as an actress but quite another when the public elevates someone to where they are nearly a demigod in the eyes of the public. She played Queen Cleopatra, and was seen as a kind of queen of culture.
Before circa 1920 people were famous for their deeds, having won great military victories, or making some breakthrough in science or the arts. Then film, originally thought to be used only to document short episodes of peoples' lives, became an entertainment medium, possibly the most powerful in the world.
Suddenly actors, few of which had ever been famous on stage, became famous on screen. Audiences fell in love with the people they saw in the movie theaters. But what were they falling love with? I think James' point is that people became enthralled with an illusion. It's interesting to note that Rudolph Valentino who had captured the hearts of women under 40 was in fact a gay man in reality. Mary Pickford always played in films in which she was a lost young woman. From nearly the beginning of her film career was she was married but that fact was kept from the public.
Each episode is by decade, from the 1920's through the 1980's. And with each succeeding decade, the reality of fame becomes broader and more complex. Girls of the 1960's didn't just enjoy listening to the song recordings of the Beatles; they would fall to their knees and worship them.
Television actors became famous in a different way. Viewers thought the characters they played on television were them. Even newspapers and magazines referred to those people by the name of their fictional character: "Kojack gets divorced." How could Kojack played by Telly Sevalas get divorced in real life? Kojack is a fictional character! And many people were often surprised to find out that Henry Wrinkler, who played the Fonz on "Happy Days" couldn't ride a motorcycle! The actors were coming a fictionalized version of themselves.
James points out that John F. Kennedy became the first president who looked like a movie star. And then in the climax of the series, a movie actor, not a particularly exceptional actor, got the chance to play the role of his life. Ronald Reagan, unlike Kennedy who had been a war hero in real life, became President of the United States, Why? Because he understood how to be in front of the camera. Reagan had very little knowledge of current events but he knew how to communicate as actors must do onscreen. And he looked good in a denim jacket on a horse, even though in real life he hated riding horses!
Movie fame had caught up to the Presidency with dire results. Two years after his presidency, the US entered a Recession. His successor, George H. W. Bush, took all the blame for the US's economic woes as the result of horrid economic policies put in place by Reagan. But Reagan was too famous to be criticized. So the less likeable Bush was slaughtered in his reelection campaign in 1992. Fame gives and fame takes away.
James uses two iconic figures in the introduction to begin his thesis: Elvis Presley and Elizabeth Taylor. Shortly after Elvis' death, some people claimed "Elvis sightings", believing he wasn't dead after all but was roaming the world, a bit like Jacob Marley from "A Christmas Carol".
Elizabeth Taylor towards the end of the 1980's was not starring in movies anymore. She was famous simply for being Elizabeth Taylor. In other words, famous for being famous. It's one thing to admire someone's work as an actress but quite another when the public elevates someone to where they are nearly a demigod in the eyes of the public. She played Queen Cleopatra, and was seen as a kind of queen of culture.
Before circa 1920 people were famous for their deeds, having won great military victories, or making some breakthrough in science or the arts. Then film, originally thought to be used only to document short episodes of peoples' lives, became an entertainment medium, possibly the most powerful in the world.
Suddenly actors, few of which had ever been famous on stage, became famous on screen. Audiences fell in love with the people they saw in the movie theaters. But what were they falling love with? I think James' point is that people became enthralled with an illusion. It's interesting to note that Rudolph Valentino who had captured the hearts of women under 40 was in fact a gay man in reality. Mary Pickford always played in films in which she was a lost young woman. From nearly the beginning of her film career was she was married but that fact was kept from the public.
Each episode is by decade, from the 1920's through the 1980's. And with each succeeding decade, the reality of fame becomes broader and more complex. Girls of the 1960's didn't just enjoy listening to the song recordings of the Beatles; they would fall to their knees and worship them.
Television actors became famous in a different way. Viewers thought the characters they played on television were them. Even newspapers and magazines referred to those people by the name of their fictional character: "Kojack gets divorced." How could Kojack played by Telly Sevalas get divorced in real life? Kojack is a fictional character! And many people were often surprised to find out that Henry Wrinkler, who played the Fonz on "Happy Days" couldn't ride a motorcycle! The actors were coming a fictionalized version of themselves.
James points out that John F. Kennedy became the first president who looked like a movie star. And then in the climax of the series, a movie actor, not a particularly exceptional actor, got the chance to play the role of his life. Ronald Reagan, unlike Kennedy who had been a war hero in real life, became President of the United States, Why? Because he understood how to be in front of the camera. Reagan had very little knowledge of current events but he knew how to communicate as actors must do onscreen. And he looked good in a denim jacket on a horse, even though in real life he hated riding horses!
Movie fame had caught up to the Presidency with dire results. Two years after his presidency, the US entered a Recession. His successor, George H. W. Bush, took all the blame for the US's economic woes as the result of horrid economic policies put in place by Reagan. But Reagan was too famous to be criticized. So the less likeable Bush was slaughtered in his reelection campaign in 1992. Fame gives and fame takes away.