Gods like us
Subtitle: on movie stardom and modern fame
By: Ty Burr
Publisher: Pantheon; Pantheon Books
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 413
ISBN-13: 9780307377661
Subjects: SOCIAL SCIENCE / Popular Culture; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Media Studies; Celebrities in mass media; Popular culture; PERFORMING ARTS / Film & Video / History & Criticism; Fame; History
Description: "How--and why--do we focus on those individuals we come to call stars? How does stardom both reflect and mask the person behind it? How have the image of stardom and our stars' images changed over the past hundred years? What does celebrity mean if people can become famous simply for being famous? Ty Burr answers these questions in this lively, wonderfully anecdotal history of stardom--both its blessings and its curses, for the star and the stargazer alike. From Florence Lawrence, Mary Pickford, and Charlie Chaplin, to Archie Leach (a.k.a. Cary Grant), Ruby Stevens (a.k.a. Barbara Stanwyck), and Marion Morrison (a.k.a. John Wayne), to Jim Belushi, Tom Cruise, and Julia Roberts, to such no-cal stars of today as the Kardashians and the new online celebrity (i.e., you and me), Burr takes us on a brilliantly insightful and entertaining journey through the modern fame game at its flashiest, its most indulgent, occasionally its most tragic and, ultimately, its most culturally revealing"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.