My first entry

Devin Lewis

Blog Entry #1

Weeks: 1 and 2

 

As we began our term, we started learning about what a star was. Not only what they were but how they came about, what made them what they are in a sense. We learned that stars follow a certain system that helped them get noticed in the world of film and cinema called the star system. There were many ways that helped the stars gain notoriety in the industry and this was from doing interviews and events, to some women actresses being pin-ups and in different magazines that gave them publicity. One of the ways the star system helped the actors and actress gain the public’s eye in and this was done by having the stars create their own personas. Personas was basically how the stars were seen by the pubic, this also create a certain vibe that they would have. During this the film industry wanted their stars to have a persona so it could balance out from their regular lives; this is  because if a star was able keep up the same image as their roles in the films they’re in it would let the audience know what they would be getting out of the film. This left the ability for the actors and actresses to be able to have the consistency in their personal lives and their acting lives, it kept them more intertwined with their personas that they created. And as we learned about the purpose of personas, we used the classic example of Marilyn Monroe and her persona of being the sexy blond type. With this we dove into the history of Marilyn Monroe because she was a very important figure in the film industry because she was one of the earliest female actress who helped further the roles of women in the film industry.  And there was many for stars to get a jump start like I mentioned early, and for Monroe she used her jump start to help build her persona as well. Monroe started her career by being a Pin-up model and from there she was the first cover model for Playboy; so her persona was in a sense  was more provocative because she posed nude and did other publicity events that made her be seen as a sex symbol. This was done by Monroe being able to use her body in a way of advantage that helped her gain notoriety. But as Monroe moved on to the movie scenes she took up the persona of the dumb blonde type in her career. For these weeks we had to watch the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and this movie helped her show how she can play the dumb blonde type because she was a spouse who went on a trip with a friend and then she started to cheat on her soon to be husband because of other men and their wealth. This helped prove to use that Marilyn Monroe was able to play the dumb blonde in this era.

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