On this week's cover of Entertainment Weekly, there is a picture of Katherine Heigl posing as if she is praying as she announces that she is leaving the hit show Grey's Anatomy that has perpetuated to stardom. The announcement does not come as a surprise, there has always been tension b/t Heigl and the showrunners and she has been absent most of this current season due to the adoption of her daughter. The image in the magazine represents Heigl as being angelic, completely innocent in the situation. This was her decision so she could spend more time with her child. It is as if she is saying, you can't blame me, i'm so perfect because i'm praying on the cover of a magazine. Heigl's reputation, however, is highly contradictory to the star persona she tries so hard to project.
What is interesting is how despite having a negative reputation (bad mouthing costars, publicly criticizing her own show), Heigl still manages to put out a positive star image. She is flourishing as the current reigning queen of romantic comedies and has proven she can open a film, which is all studio execs really care about. But in pursuing her film career, she has badmouthed her own show and criticized those involved in order to get more time away. Perhaps she feels entitled to do so because of her success in features, but as is constantly seen in celebrity behavior, entitlement gets you nowhere.
I work at ABC and though I can't reveal any details about Heigl's departure, i can tell you that what really happened is far different than what Heigl and EW are trying to portray. Heigl's feelings of entitlement in leaving the show are in no way justified, as her movies probably would not have been as successful without her being on one of the most popular shows on TV, a show that gave her an Emmy. Her contrasting star images (that of being sweet, innocent, and pretty vs. being horrible to work with) can only go on for so long before one wins out. Most young starlets have plenty of drama in their lives, but those who last are the ones who retain the good image. Heigl can only go on pretending for so long when it is so obvious that the image she is trying to hard to portray is not the truth.
The studios may not construct images for stars anymore, but through Heigl one can see how in today's world of celebrity, stars construct images for themselves. But due to the ever increasing glare of the spotlight and paparazzi, it is becoming harder and harder to maintain a public image that is not really true to who you are.
What is interesting is how despite having a negative reputation (bad mouthing costars, publicly criticizing her own show), Heigl still manages to put out a positive star image. She is flourishing as the current reigning queen of romantic comedies and has proven she can open a film, which is all studio execs really care about. But in pursuing her film career, she has badmouthed her own show and criticized those involved in order to get more time away. Perhaps she feels entitled to do so because of her success in features, but as is constantly seen in celebrity behavior, entitlement gets you nowhere.
I work at ABC and though I can't reveal any details about Heigl's departure, i can tell you that what really happened is far different than what Heigl and EW are trying to portray. Heigl's feelings of entitlement in leaving the show are in no way justified, as her movies probably would not have been as successful without her being on one of the most popular shows on TV, a show that gave her an Emmy. Her contrasting star images (that of being sweet, innocent, and pretty vs. being horrible to work with) can only go on for so long before one wins out. Most young starlets have plenty of drama in their lives, but those who last are the ones who retain the good image. Heigl can only go on pretending for so long when it is so obvious that the image she is trying to hard to portray is not the truth.
The studios may not construct images for stars anymore, but through Heigl one can see how in today's world of celebrity, stars construct images for themselves. But due to the ever increasing glare of the spotlight and paparazzi, it is becoming harder and harder to maintain a public image that is not really true to who you are.
1 comment:
That's interesting info. Thanks!
Regardless of what the true hollywood story is behind her decision, it's also interesting that she and her managers/publicists are using motherhood as the route to shoring up her image - what better reasons for a woman to quit her job? Her "choice" mirrors discussions in media around middle and upper middle class college educated women "choosing" to leave their jobs to become full-time, stay at home moms.
As Eva noted in her blog post on Sandra Bullock below, Bullock's demanding work schedule is being blamed for the disintegration of her marriage and the unhappiness of the children she is mothering. So Heigl and her publicists are smart to ride the wave of public support for women who leave careers to stay at home with their children.
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