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The Legend of Hollywood
The Beginning of Hollywood Celebrity Culture
Way back in the early days of Hollywood, the idea of celebrities and stardom was just beginning to take hold. While movie-making was becoming more and more of a big business, it wasn’t until the golden age of Hollywood in the 20th century that the legend of Hollywood truly started to take shape.
The Golden Age of Hollywood
During Hollywood’s “Golden Age,” movie studios were producing an average of 400 films a year. This began the era of endless stardom and celebrity fanaticism, cementing Hollywood as the unabated cultural capital of the world.
Fan magazines like Photoplay and Modern Screen began the collection, compilation, and distribution of photos, news, and gossip concerning the biggest stars of the time. Actors were no longer just performing art or craft, they were also emblems of popularity and widespread reputation.
The Star System
The studio from where an actor originated played a crucial part in shaping the character profile of these stars. Movie stars became the tool for massive advertising offered by movie studios, in line with what is now called the “Star System.”
“Hollywood ascribed to its gods and their offerings the balance of its inclination and virtue,” Joe Morgenstern wrote. Indeed, there was something exciting and almost magical, the hint that the stars of Hollywood could divine for themselves a superior morality, more romantic storyline, loveliness, taller muscle form, wealth or nobility.
Creating a Legend
As the celebrity obsession sharpens in the late 1930s, Hollywood insiders developed new imagination and introduced new artistic tricks helping to plant little falsehoods and myths about those worshipped by millions of Hollywood and non-Hollywood enthusiasts.
Creating Buzz and Hype
Within Hollywood, films drives by risky, unpredictable, inflated individualities known for their influence disorder, affairs and unlawful coupling—like the marriages and divorces of Elizabeth Taylor or Cary Grant—became breeding grounds for additional media attention, status-boosting public performances and additional fiscal incentives, spawning even more stardom legends.
Still, when it comes to brand-naming merchandises, in a time long before viral hype, celebrities got it amazingly simple: their influence and cachet over the American buying public was strong, and they were called on to attest to the labels used in these daily pursuits. It’s said that Champagne was with well-known recognition and relative appreciation poured for the first time not in a Parisian champagne glass, but into the glasses of actresses onstage across America.
Conclusion
In summary, through the years built upon marking heuristics to grow American admirers and their love for a culture recognized for nostalgia, prosperity and star-powered charisma, Hollywood was granted only the advantages of the entrenched glamorous fantasies boasting wealth, vivacity, energy, contentment and perfection. Millions figured on these idealized intellect circumstances, fictions and epilogues, happy endings substituted the flaws of everyday reality. This mixture decades later has assented to what many have come calling as truly iconic people in the world, reaffirming that in a world of information, transparent disclosure and minimalistic principles, so the fantasy-packed period of glittering hero-level box office legends still dwells in happiness in millions of passionate souls.
