Velvet Goldmine and Audience Relationships

To sum up this reading would be a massive undertaking, as much of it was an introduction to how to interpret stars in relation to our culture. The reading really made me think about modern day stars and our culture-- especially in regard to production and consumption, as stars today are not only "stars" or "celebrities," but they are million and billion dollar brands (rather than actual people).

Velvet Goldmine is an extraordinarily interesting movie, especially in regard to what it claims about stars, and especially what it depicts in terms of audience-star relationships. The relationship between Arthur (Christian Bale) and his relationship with Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is certainly one of the most interesting, if not the most interesting, relationship in the film. Dyer explains this relationship in terms of "Stars as a phenomenon of consumption" and claims that the audience, or fans themselves, are the people who are most important in determining star contexts. Dyer writes that there are four categories of a star/audience relationship which are:

1. Emotional Affinity- where the "audience feels a loose attachment to a particular protagonist." This is certainly true in Velvet Goldmine, as Arthur is more than loosely attached to Brian Slade, he is close to infatuated with Slade.

2. Self-Identification- this is probably the most important for Arthur in regard to his relationship with Brian Slade. Arthur is clearly going through difficulties within his psyche, which are clearly made more difficult by his conservative parents and conservative society that he lives in. However, Brian Slade's ability to stand up to the conservative London and proclaim his bisexuality and his lack of fear to stand up to those who oppose his point of view really resonates with Arthur. Slade is more than just a role model for Arthur, Arthur feels literally and spiritually interconnected with Slade (or at least the character and star persona that he portrays).

3. Imitation- which is "the star acting as some sort of model for the audience." Brian Slade is clearly not only a role model for Arthurs, but is also a role model within society. He clearly stands up for sexual freedom, and creates (or at least helps start) the sexual revolution in London.

4. Projection- one step beyond imitation exists projection, which is "the point at which the process becomes more than a simple mimicking of clothing, hairstyle, kissing, and the like." Arthur not only physically imitates Brian Slade (by dressing as him and acting on his bisexual and homosexual impulses) but also projects himself in Slade's image. He imagines himself with Slade and imagines himself with Slade's identity and personality (i.e. when he dreams of telling off his parents, even though in all actuality, he would never be as outspoken as Slade is).

While Todd Haynes is clearly saying much more about the "star" than just about audience relations to the star, this is one of the most important aspects of the film.

Questions for class:

1. Who do we think is the most important or most influential star of our generation? Why? And how does this star fit into the consumption and production categories that Dyer lays out for us?

2. Dyer speaks a little bit about stars as being (or not being) politically influential. Do stars really have that much influence over our society?

3. Ideology is clearly important in terms of how stars are interpreted and who becomes a star. What ideologies are most important in Velvet Goldmine? Which ideologies do we think are the most important in contemporary Hollywood?