Luxx
oh me, oh my
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2005
- Messages
- 7,284
- Reaction score
- 34
I don't feel like the studio system was that great. It created many beautiful images and notable stars but the way it existed was horrible for performers and creativity. It locked them into long contracts, limited the kind of work they could do and created an atmosphere wherein people could be blackballed for their ideologies and beliefs. Once the patina of glamor is taken away you've got a shipwreck of fake marriages, corporate monopolies and people being forced into doing things they didn't want to do. Plus it was bad for movies in general what with the limitations on the types of films that could be made. We would never have some of the most amazing films ever made if the studio system was still intact. I don't know - I wouldn't really want to go back to the days of that. I love the glamour of the stars of that time though.
I do feel as though more time needs to be spent in the creation of image. The problem is its is now up to the star and their management team to take this approach. They have to want to do this or be smart enough to do it. Will Smith has a great story about how he and his manager sat down and figured out that science fiction themed action movies with computer graphics consistently do well at the box office and that this was something they both felt he could do so he began doing films along this line. That was incredibly savvy as far as I'm concerned. I'm not the biggest Will Smith fan but for the most part he plays to his strengths and has become incredibly successful because of it.
Stars today rarely are aware of what they're best at - or worse yet have an over inflated idea of what that is exactly. The importance of good management is just so crucial - so many celebrities have been ruined because they fired great managers or PR people. Case in point Tom Cruise, who had a very clean cut reputation for years until he fired his publicist Pat Kingsley because she asked him to tone down the Scientology stuff. I think honestly that was one of the most ridiculously dimwitted moves in history.
Not to contradict myself directly but as much as the control level of the studio system was stifling there needs to be a certain level of control that lies outside the hands of the celebrity themselves. Problem is some people don't want any control whatsoever and what happens is you have a star running around saying or doing reprehensible things and their agencies are left running damage control instead of being there from moment one to prevent these incidents from happening. An ounce of prevention is really key.
I do feel as though more time needs to be spent in the creation of image. The problem is its is now up to the star and their management team to take this approach. They have to want to do this or be smart enough to do it. Will Smith has a great story about how he and his manager sat down and figured out that science fiction themed action movies with computer graphics consistently do well at the box office and that this was something they both felt he could do so he began doing films along this line. That was incredibly savvy as far as I'm concerned. I'm not the biggest Will Smith fan but for the most part he plays to his strengths and has become incredibly successful because of it.
Stars today rarely are aware of what they're best at - or worse yet have an over inflated idea of what that is exactly. The importance of good management is just so crucial - so many celebrities have been ruined because they fired great managers or PR people. Case in point Tom Cruise, who had a very clean cut reputation for years until he fired his publicist Pat Kingsley because she asked him to tone down the Scientology stuff. I think honestly that was one of the most ridiculously dimwitted moves in history.
Not to contradict myself directly but as much as the control level of the studio system was stifling there needs to be a certain level of control that lies outside the hands of the celebrity themselves. Problem is some people don't want any control whatsoever and what happens is you have a star running around saying or doing reprehensible things and their agencies are left running damage control instead of being there from moment one to prevent these incidents from happening. An ounce of prevention is really key.