Core post 5

I have seen bits and pieces of A Star is Born in other classes, and the parallels it draws from Garland’s own life are quite extraordinary. It directly relates to how her image was consistently constructed by the MGM studios and her own personal struggles with her appearance, her relationships, and her substance abuse problems—just portrayed between her character and her character’s husband. Garland’s own persona was consistently projected through the characters that she portrayed, and she allowed her personal history to be heard through the lyrics of her songs. But I think Garland was most appreciated for her authenticity—she had just a great emotional intensity and people were able to relate to the universality of her characters.
Garland’s authenticity can be most appreciated in the scene where she is singing late at night in a bar with her friends in the jazz band. As Dyer states, “She burns right through lyrics, delivering, instead, their pure emotional substance” (149). It is at this point that we realize the true “star quality” that she has, as she delivers a completely not manufactured performance. There is no audience (known to her) and she is able to completely give herself to her singing, truly conveying the emotions of both her and her character. Also, the fact that it is done in one take makes the entire scene seem so intimate and so personal—making it even easier to connect to Garland at this point. The entire scene is absolutely captivating as Garland seemingly loses herself in the music and the performance. Viewers can relate to the sincerity of her performance and its strong connection to her every day life.
On a completely different note, I just think it is such a strange commonality between Garland’s films that she is force to dress completely asexually. In her earlier films she was costumed as a young, innocent girl—like the plain gingham dress in The Wizard of Oz. Then, she is made to look almost boyish with her short hair style and pantsuit type outfits. Garland had major personal issues with her weight and appearance—and no wonder why. MGM made her look like the ugly, gender-ambiguous little sister to many of her beautiful co-stars, who she definitely out shined in talent. While this may be one of the reasons why she was so widely appreciate by members of the gay community, it very much desexualized her.
So my questions are: is part of our connection to Garland related to her de-sexualization? Would she have been as popular if she had had more of a sexual persona? Do you think that the insecurities that she had, which were conveyed in her performances, were self-imposed or ultimately created by the studio system?