PR Industry (Post #3)

I remember learning about a certain actress (I believe it was Mary Pickford, but don’t hold me to that) who died a very untimely death right before her film was supposed to come out in the 1940’s. The public was shocked by this tragedy and massive amounts of people flooded into the theatres to see her movie. However, the studio was merely pulling a fast one on the public and later announced Mary had actually survived her “accident” and was alive. Of course, Mary never got into an accident this was the studio’s rather sick way of hyping up her film. This just reminds me that the PR stunts we see going on today have been going on for decades, albeit they are a little less messed up at this point.

The reading talks about how these days rather than famous people being the stars of industry, they are the stars of the media. From what I’ve learned the stars of the first quarter of the 20^th century were industry giants like Andrew Carnegie and Rockefeller and now they are people like Tom Cruise and Will Smith. Of course, the advent of the different forms of media in the mid and late 20^th century caused this change, but it is a fascinating dynamic nonetheless.

The reading also makes you realize how extensive the job of a PR man in Hollywood has become. The agent has to market his/her client to all media forms not just the one they are known for. Movie stars must be integrated into TV commercials, consumer products, and even music. This job especially applies to sports stars, because their true careers are limited by their physical capacities. Thus, when they are done with their craft, it’s important that their PR agent has sculpted out a fine career for them either on TV, in film, or in music.

It is interesting to read about the career of Marilyn Monroe. For example, Monroe was obviously marketed as the sex symbol. It is up to not just the actress, but also the agent to help pick roles as well as marketing opportunities that can market this image further to the public.

How does one go about picking this role?

Does the role even have to match their personal identity?

What does one do when their current persona gets fractured?