The Star System Section One My Top

The Star System section One my Top

Jeremiah Banks research Paper Project: The Star System Section One My topic for my research paper project is “The Star System” or the Hollywood star systems as some professionals call it. The basis of my topic is how stars and celebrities are used as a marketing and advertising ploy to obtain better customer and fan base for a specific film or show. Specifically I want to see whether the enlisting of a certain celebrity inside a film or show can help the ratings or viewership. Moreover I wanted to gain further knowledge on this topic as a whole. What I wanted to understand specifically was what the planning process is to select a celebrity or incoming star that is chosen for a film.

It poses the question as to whether they are chosen because of their fan bases or are chosen off of pure talent. I was drawn to this topic because of the slight controversial discussion we had in class about star power in films. Throughout the class we each had a different perspective opinion on how we felt about star power in films. Some felt that it was good that star power be involved in films and others felt that it gets in the way talented filmmakers who because they are not Hollywood enough don’t get the opportunity to have their film shown to the masses because of mainstream Hollywood constantly production of movies through star power instead of the merit of the film or show itself. Speaking personally I feel that star power and “The Star System” is needed because it insures that the film that I am paying my money to see will be a movie that I will enjoy watching.

I almost obsessively support a certain variety of actors, actresses, directors, and producers because I’ve seen their work and have enjoyed it so much that I will follow any and all their work. In addition to that since I study the field of media and films, it angers me when I think that I have waste my time and money to see a movie filled with a failed attempt of brainless and dim-witted humor. More specifically I will focus on the method in which the “The Star System” is used by networks and studios. Section Two My understanding of my topic has changed slightly because before I read the text book and had the discussion in class I wasn’t aware that “The Star System” was called the “The Star System.” I was aware of celebrities and other upcoming stars promoting their projects, films, or shows but I wasn’t aware the system had an official name by which professional used.

So far from my topic I have found out that networks and studios use “The Star System” in different ways and that it is tweaked so that they, the studios and networks, get the most money out of the stars or celebrities before the show gets hot and they have to renegotiate contracts. In addition I also learned that it is not limited to the networks or the studios: celebrities are now also using their star power to obtain positions of office in politics. Some questions that are being raised about this system are: Why is it, “The Star System” relied on so greatly? Will “The Star System” always be in use? Do the networks or studios feel that they are using manipulation to control their audiences with this system?

By using this established system, do the networks and studios feel that their product or projects lack enough talent to stand on its own merit? My sources are informative and give a lot of knowledge and alternative perspectives to the subject matter in which I am researching. I feel that if I could possibly interview someone in the business about that aspect of star power daily, to see whether or not it is the driving forces in films and network shows or just a luxury that they misuse for their selfish gain. The amount of research is sufficient for this paper but a personal dialogue is always the best in cases and for in-depth research. Overall the sources that I have agree with each other on the basis of the method of “The Star System” but one talk about Disney’s method and the other is about how “The Star System” is now branching off into politics.

One of my issues is finding a third source other than the imdb website. I intended to use scholarly sources mainly to research and write my paper and I was going to go imdb.com if I needed to accent my summary of the articles I read. I eventually found my last source from a scholarly database and it was how television is moving towards the Hollywood star system but the article was conflicting in its views. First it stated that television was going there and that television as we know it is about to change drastically. However then it back off and say that television is still holding true to its nature.

Overall the paper has been relatively easy, because I’ve been following the format closely to make sure that I am in line with the way it should be written, so that I don’t steer off on a tangent about how film has changed the world, but I can’t help but feel if I hadn’t lost my flash drive that I probably would have been done this entire report, but I’m progressing very well so far. Section Three Let’s imagine that you are a top ranked anchor on a national new network. You’ve just wrapped up your eleven o’clock broadcast of the news and your station manager call you into a room with the director of the station. Your heart is beating at one hundred beats per minute, and he delivers you the news that you have just been replaced.

At that moment, you’re thinking about the time and effort that you have given your job and trying to conceive how could this happen when things, to you, felt like they were perfect. The only question that rightfully appears in your mind is, why and by whom? Then your replacement walks through the door, and it’s Katie Couric. Ironically you feel honored to be replaced by a seasoned journalist and beautiful woman but at the same time puzzled as to why you were just replaced. At which point it would set in that the industry is really changing and The Hollywood Star system really about to take over.

My first source was from the prospective of a television network, Disney, and how its uses The Star System to create new tween or teen stars for their network to benefit them. The technique that Disney uses in actuality is an old Hollywood technique; however Disney seems to have tweaked it slightly. The old Hollywood System is to take a star raise them up to have a successful career and make money from their fame. However, Disney does it a little differently; they tweak it. The tweak I’m speaking of more specifically is pure intelligence from a business perspective.

What Disney does is to take unknown or little known partial celebrities and gives them a show that targets the most lucrative market in television, the tweens and teens. These markets of tweens are old enough to choose their own viewing content but young enough to still be manipulated. Disney takes advantage of this by producing hip and cool kids in their shows that embody what a tween or teen hopes to be. Speaking more specifically about the technique and how Disney benefits from it the most, is the contractual agreement. This agreement allows and gives Disney full control of the career of the upcoming star as well as the products that are created in the process of the star’s rise to fame.

Nevertheless, The kicker is that Disney knows that the stars will eventually grow out of their roles and move on to high school, which isn’t their audience, once they have you locked in, they record more than sixty-five episodes of the series that the star is in. For those who may not know, sixty-five episodes of a series is a lot and exceeds the norm to record for a series because a season is a standard twelve to thirteen episodes. Yet that is not the primary reason. Why do they record so many episodes? Well, according to the article, which is from Fortune Magazine, “Once a show is a hit, producers and stars can renegotiate deals, and cost can balloon.†So since they already have you down for about two seasons of work when it’s time for contract renegotiations, Disney is not in a place where they really need or require you, the upcoming star, to continue the series.

It’s the ultimate insurance plan or liability for Disney and it contradicts the notion that an upcoming star may believe that after having a good season he or she can renegotiate their contract with Disney and get more money as if he or she is in a position to call the shots. The article dealings with how television networks use The Star System helps me and readers understand that work behind the programming to say. Though my first source was about how television networks use The Star System, my second source is about the growing number of celebrities entering politics and how The Star System is beginning to take affect the world of politics. The article really gets into the controversy that surrounds celebrity politics and how some critics believe that because they are celebrities that they are not the individuals for the jobs.

It speaks about how more celebrities are going into and taking an interest into politics. The critics believe that celebrities lack the experience necessary to fill the positions and because they obtained that position not on the merit of their political talents but because of their celebrity status, that carry the influence of the people stating according to the piece, Celebrities in Politics, that “The phenomenon underscores the growing shallowness of the nation's political discourse. The intrusion of show business into politics has led to a lowering of standards in which flashy production values and catchy messages have replaced serious discussion of the issues.†However, others in support and favor of this new trend believe that because of the star status of these stars it allows the public to become more involved in the political process and how it works.

The supporters say, according to the piece, Celebrities in Politics that “Because of the immense attention they get from the media and the public, celebrities can draw attention to certain issues and causes better than politicians can.†The supporters seeing the potential of bringing about new leaders to change the existence of the old see that celebrities bring the effective leadership qualities of charisma and confidence to politics. Then the article goes in the foundation the celebrity politics tracing its roots to the beginning of the 20th century. The rise of mass media had begun to take effect through radio, television, and movies having a great influence in the lives of the American people.

This influence gave spark to the first celebrity, George Murphy, to be elected into a major political office of the senate in 1964. From that first star turned elected official succession more celebrities followed suit after that and one of the most notable one was when Ronald Regan was elected as governor of California and then President shortly after. The article moves on to begin to bring it too modern times of how celebrities are increasing becoming more interested in elected offices and most recently obtaining them. Speaking more specifically, the article relates to the accomplishment that governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger has achieved by obtaining political office. The article comes to a close with the prediction that the number of celebrity officials will continue to grow and that we can expect to see more celebrity candidates in the coming years.

Merging the overall idea of my first and second sources, my third source is about how the medium of broadcast news is beginning to adapting to the new trend of rely on The Star System that is used in Hollywood by bringing stars to their networks to gain more rating from viewers. What’s happening now is the network’s pursuit of star anchors to sell and market the shows better to the American public. In the article the author believes that news executives are playing "let's make a deal" with anchors and celebrities they anticipate will give them a specialized brand. A media critic from Fordham University says, “It's very much the box-office concept come to television.” The article identifies that the execs are looking for top talent and they are not keeping their vision on journalist.

However they are sticking to their morals and remembering that the news, not the person reporting it, is the star. Walter Isaacson, a head of CNN Newsgroup is quotes in the article saying: “I never quite understood why it had to be an either/or proposition. I felt that you could have news as the star, and strong personalities that were trusted journalists that people wanted to watch.” Isaacson believes that it’s possible that you can have both in the realm of broadcast news. The article then sheds some light on the monetary amount the stars receive from their shows eluding to the large amount of money that they receive in the millions to do these shows.

Such news is surprising to some who believe that no one persons or persons is worth that much money and that maybe the money could be put to other uses. Conversely it’s the viewership that these stars carry that allows for them to have fat checks because of the amount of viewers that tune in during their shows. For example, if Larry King were to leave CNN the backlash from his departure would avalanche down to cuts in staff which would ultimately weigh down on the economy. So though the money he’s being paid to might be extreme to most what he brings to the network is worth the money. Some journalists are worried that news is changing into profit driven market. Geneva Overholser, a professor at the University of Missouri says, “I’m much more worried about the fact that we have replaced responsible journalism, as our main product, with pleasing investors.” She also thinks that, “That's a much bigger issue than Katie Couric making big bucks." Though Geneva has concerns about the amount of money being paid to journalist now she realizes that the problem seems to only be with women making more when the broadcast networks have been overpaying men for decades. The article sums up taking light to the fact that because you have a recognizable face on the screen doesn’t mean that the show will succeed anchors go from network to network and are making lots of money because they carry viewership but in reality it’s the content that people tune to see and the personality is the icing on the cake because they are household names.

Rick Kaplan, a former president of CNN’s US division, said referring to Connie Chung “You don't have to introduce Connie Chung to America - they know exactly who she is." Section Four Concluding my research for this paper I composed a couple questions that I would want the reader to think about as it relates to The Hollywood Star System. My first question was Do you believe that the star system is good for entertainment medium as a whole? And my second question is do you think it’s fair to others in the industry? My general observation is that it helps the audience understand the genre of a show so that they can more easily specify their viewing tastes. In my Introduction to Media Class, my professor lectured on how audiences want to have specialty programs tailored to their hobby because they want to watch only that and not a mixture of programs on a specific network.

My sources were easy to understand but hard to find because of my subject matter. I believe that I did have to look up a word or two but overall the terminologies in the summaries were words that I could understand. I believe that since doing this paper I have opened my eyes and conscience to the stars that are cast in the shows and the quality of the shows that I watch. However, I will admit that The Star System, in my eyes, is beginning to carry less weight because recent movies that are being put out by filmmakers are flopping in the theaters because the films are not very good and the actors or actresses are not giving their best work. Works Cited Wheat, Alynda and Julia Boorstin. “Disney's 'tween machine.” MasterFILE Premier. 29 September 2003. Allegany College of Maryland. 22 September 2009. “Celebrities in Politics.” Issues & Controversies On File: Issues & Controversies. Facts on File News Services, 13 Aug. 2004. Allegany College of Maryland. Web 22 Oct. 2009.

Works Cited

• Wheat, Alynda and Julia Boorstin. “Disney's 'tween machine.” MasterFILE Premier. 29 September 2003. Allegany College of Maryland. 22 September 2009.
• “Celebrities in Politics.” Issues & Controversies On File: Issues & Controversies. Facts on File News Services, 13 Aug. 2004. Allegany College of Maryland. Web 22 Oct. 2009.
• Campbell, Kim. TV news moves toward Hollywood star system. Academic Search Complete. Christian Science Monitor, Vol. 94 Issue 43 p1, 25 January 2002. Allegany College of Maryland. 17 September 2009.