Stars in Our Eyes

3 - 28 September 2007

We'll be stargazing throughout September with a special exhibition of library materials devoted to those with that certain je ne sais quoi. Everything from fan magazines to inquisitive tomes on the subject; it will be a starry night, and day, at the BFI National Library.

"Given that they're often the reason we hand over our hard earned cash at the box office each weekend to watch their latest cinematic role, stars and the systems that create and sustain them, have for a long time been inadequately addressed in film studies. Until Richard Dyer's seminal work ‘Stars' was published in the late 1970s little attention had been paid to the critical understanding of stardom. What had gone before were weighty tomes light on theory yet delving deep into the lives of the most popular stars of the Silver Screen. From lurid biographical accounts of the secret passions of Hollywood's top names to sycophantic tributes to the latest darling of the studios there has always been a fervent interest in stardom, even if the results didn't further the intellectual debate.

Now alongside the less theoretical examinations of stars and the culture that has born them we have a debate, kick-started by Dyer, which grows bigger and more important within film studies each year. As the very nature of stardom shifts from era to era so does the criticism change shape, to reflect the different ways you can answer the not so simple question - what makes a star a star? While still the majority of texts in this relatively new area of film theory are concerned with Hollywood systems and the stars they created, work is emerging that addresses the question of ethnicity and race in terms of stardom. Debate is developing around British and French stars which is of equal importance to the American model, and there is an entirely new field of inquiry into the so-called celebrity culture of today whereby you don't even have to have produced anything of artistic merit to be deemed a star (Paris Hilton springs to mind)."

Excerpt from the introduction to the BFI National Library's new 16+ source guide: Stardom, on general release this September, featuring an all-star cast.  Jim Carrey, James Dean, Jane Fonda, Mel Gibson, Marilyn Monroe, Julia Roberts, and Meryl Streep as you've never seen them before!