Of the selected readings and screenings for this week, I found the two articles by Janet Staiger and Richard deCordova the most fascinating and thought provoking because they intended to dive beneath surface facts to deeply evaluate how the concept of stars arose. In the beginning of "Seeing Stars," Staiger states that she is interested in "the effect that a detailed chronology and knowledge of history... can have on the representation of events and their significance" (Staiger 2). I, too, have been fascinated by how the perception of history and events can be skewed by acknowledging only one side of a story or only one fact.
She says that in film history, it is commonly stated and accepted that in 1910 Carl Laemmle's promotion of Florence Lawrence was the first instance and a direct example of the beginning of the star system. However, she proposes that we look into more than one instance of actors being promoted in the time, and also draw from the history of the theater to better understand why the star system emerged in film, rather than simply citing one fact. This particularly struck me, because I have felt that film history often uses one example to perhaps unfairly or inaccurately represent a revolutionary time in film history. For example, even at USC there are conflicting accounts of the "Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat" film by the Lumiére Brothers. Some professors cite that audiences screamed and ran out of the theater, while other primary source texts in classes have reflected that audiences actually were quite skilled at understanding visual text and were not frightened. I see this as a similar example of how a failure to examine all the facts can create a false remembrance of history.
Both Staiger and deCordova's articles help to construct a fuller picture of the historical climate and transitions that led to the star system. Staiger explains the theater's transition from stock system, to star system (1820s), to combination system (1870s), to syndication (1890s) contributed to the structuring of the film system and explains why some companies like Biograph were slower to adopt the star system (they could tell it would lead to paying higher fees for actors, for example). Her research also shows that throughout 1909-1910, there were various stars getting a spotlight, not just Florence Lawrence. Kalem was advertised on lobby display cards, Turner participated in a personal appearance, and Edison promoted an appearance by Morin. Richard deCordova seeks to more accurately categorize the transition from the early focus on the scientific and technical wonder of film to the star system. He breaks down the phenomenon into a three step process. Early on, the discourse on acting moved away from terms like "posing" to "acting," and therefore established film actors as relevant just like stage actors. In the period of the 1910s, he recognizes an audience interested in "the picture personality," a time where audiences recognized their favorite stars but knew nothing other than their screen personas. Finally, he recognizes the emergence of a true star system around 1914. He defines a star as an actor with a public screen persona as well as an open, publicly known personal life.
These two articles exemplify the importance of thorough research to understand the phenomenon of the star and how it emerged in early motion pictures. It is not as easy as citing Florence Lawrence's recognition in 1910 as the beginning of the star system, but rather involves the history of the theater, the advertisement of a handful of other screen personalities occurring at the same time as Florence Lawrence, and may not have been fully realized until 1914. Slowing down to analyze history and surrounding cultural context is an important practice and can serve us even as we digest media today. We cannot always take facts at face value or assume their complete accuracy, as we have seen over the past several years, especially in our political news. Engaging an understanding of historical context will always help develop a more complete understanding of an issue.
Giuliana Petrocelli (Core Response 1)
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