I grew up with kings and queens: they were in my story books. I grew up with the government: they were in my parents’ conversations. I grew up with the church: they were in white and black robes, always in front. I grew up with filmstars: they were in the heavens.
Few people like hierarchies. Kings and queens will do in fairy tales, but a life lived in a privileged bubble breeds resentment and scorn; prime ministers and their cabinets may have power, but are mistrusted and blamed for all that’s wrong with the world; bishops and prelates occupy holy spaces but are easy targets for the “hypocrite” arrow. Filmstars…scandal at worst, but that adds to the allure.
The constellation of filmstars outshines the more worldly forms of power and presence. The audience vote will always score them astronomically more than any other form of hierarchy; moreover the great majority of that audience will choose the life of an actor over that of any other position of power. Kings and queens may be watched on occasions, but who would want such a fabricated life? Presidents may be elected by popular support, but who would want that job? Pope and bishops may bring forth a genuflection, but how many take the cloth?
Filmstars offer glamour, not power. It is they, not royalty that bring out the lustre of the red carpet at the première. It is they whom people want to be near, see or be told about. Filmstars are larger than life: they appear in a medium which is larger than life, the big screen. Up there their presence amplifies meaning: the lines, expressions and actions they deliver are honed to the degree that they demand attention. Ironically, life on the screen seems more real than our own.
Like kings and queens, filmstars have a retinue of hundreds. Next time you watch a movie, stay until the final credit has rolled. Do not try to count the names… too many. The driver of the truck which carried the “Filming in progress” signs, the director… all are included in distilling every shot which makes up the final cut. On the bottom rung on this ladder to the stars are the extras. Though that term may seem demeaning, they do get paid, but their names are not included in the credits – just as well for those who watched Gandhi (1982) as they might still be in a cinema somewhere, reading the names of the 300,000 in the funeral scene. 295,440 were not paid: they volunteered to the loudhailers, wanting to be part of the glamour (six kilometres of celluloid for that scene, two minutes of which made the final cut). The others, some of whom were involved in further scenes, were paid R10 a day.
Nowadays the use of computer-generated images results in less need for extras, though James Cameron, director of Dunkirk (2020), hired 1,500 to create greater authenticity in the scenes on the beaches where the soldiers stood waiting for life or death. There is some demand, though, and a search on the internet comes up with many agencies advertising for extras. “Famestreet” tops the list, with promises of “Get spotted” as a tagline. Doubtless there are some who are taken by this fantasy and may have been reading sites which tell them that a panoply of filmstars, Stallone, Zellweger et al. were once just “extras”.
The thing about stars and their position in the hierarchy of the film world is that their power does not need to be exercised in order to be felt. It comes naturally: their retinue is not resenting, plotting or shirking – they take on the roles they play as professionals – it pays them to do so. The main actors may earn enormously more than those in the retinue, but it is they who provide the glamour and sell the movie. They are the face of the film which has been finished by the work done behind the scenes.
Would the removal of the title ‘filmstar’ serve any purpose, were an antipathy towards hierarchies to have its way? It is unlikely as live streaming is already splintering the focus of viewers and filmstars no longer have such popular following, but they serve as an example of how power can be exercised without any effort to do so, by bringing those who watch into the experiences they may believe life offers.
