It was rather fascinating to read about the progression and development of celebrity culture. It’s difficult to imagine a world in which celebrities don’t exist, especially when it comes to movies. Movies were another part of the evolution of entertainment, so, much like all things new, there would obviously be a period of time in which movies would not be considered mainstream. In the case of movies, it was accepted first by the lower working class and then later accepted by the middle and upper classes as movies became less political. Movies, much like now, were a form of escapism. However, back then, the fantasy was a middle-class lifestyle, a hope of advancing in society through hard work and dedication. The picture players didn’t become celebrities until people began to inquire about their personal lives. Once they began to gain traction, they began to show glimpses of the players lifestyles through publicity photos. However, since the majority of the populace was of either middle and lower class, they wanted to appeal to them, painting the movie stars as similar to the members of the audience. The publicity photos showed the players doing mundane household tasks, as if to say that they did not look down on doing such tasks and to emphasize that they did not live the glamorous lifestyles that many assumed they did. The American Dream was ingrained into American culture through both celebrities and movies, the dream that one’s blood, sweat, and tears would lead you to a prosperous life. Both the celebrities own rags-to-riches stories and the stories in the movies spread hope for the American Dream.
When comparing the image of the celebrity from then and now, the contrast is quite jarring. First, during the beginnings of celebrity, the players remained anonymous in order to disassociate from the movies they acted in when the movies were still considered distasteful to the middle and upper class. However, they became known to the public in order to appeal to the higher class, to prove to them that the players were respectable individuals. Once the higher classes embraced movies, the players became full-fledged celebrities as their audiences began to inquire about them. Nowadays, the appeal of the relatable middle class celebrity no longer lasts, and celebrities are worshiped as idols, a level of success and wealth that people strive for. Celebrities and celebrity gossip have become a form of entertainment in themselves, and it is their acts of frontierism that people turn to for escape.