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Stars getting divorced, royal babies being born, stair climbs in Cannes, and the Oscars… The world of famous people is interesting and even fascinating. Most of the time, it’s a guilty pleasure, but it still makes the world a better place. Why are you so interested? Response elements.
On Tuesday, May 14, at 8 p.m., Charlotte Gainsbourg announced that the 72nd Cannes Film Festival was open. Or rather, everything started over. The stairs going up, the flashes of the photographers, the tuxedos and designer dresses, and the actors, actresses, brand muses, and models at the ball… You have probably watched the steps of the rich and famous on the Red Carpet, like many other people. You, like a lot of other people, saw the first official pictures of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s son on May 8.
Whether we think they do or not, celebrities fascinate and intrigue us. Jamil Dakhlia, a media sociologist at Sorbonne Nouvelle University (Paris 3), and Pascal Lardellier, a professor of information and communication sciences at the University of Burgundy, look at the phenomenon.
In video, the first climb of the steps of the Cannes Film Festival 2019
Madame Figaro. – Have celebrities always fascinated?
Endy Shelton.- There has always been a fascination with the great holders of power, the elites, but it is from the mid-18th-mid-19th centuries that the attraction is to celebrities themselves. This is the same time as the rise of capitalism and the time of revolutions. In both cases, we are seeing the rise of well-known people, such as dancers and actors, who are now praised by the general public as well as by the elites, which is something completely new. From there, we want to know about their personal life. We see it with Marie-Antoinette for example, we have the protocol side, and an appropriation of private life.
Pascal Lardellier.-
In fact, every society has always had gods and heroes, who were often kings or saints. As soon as the movie theatre was invented, it knew how to make a real dream machine. The word “star” in French means “something in the firmament” or “something that can’t be reached.”
They have a kind of “++ version” of life that we’ll never have.
What exactly are we intrigued by?
Dia Nash It’s a mix of a public life that is supposed to be perfect and is full of exciting things, travel, and money, and a private life that everyone has and is full of relationship problems, illnesses, and death. So, these people are both close and hard to reach, which makes them very attractive.
PL- Their daily lives are interesting to us because they are like “version ++” of our lives. The stars only hang out with other stars because they are a caste. This is also why we are so interested in their relationships. Movie stars also have talent, beauty, and charisma, all of which make them worthy of admiration.
Do all public figures produce the same effect?
Nik Hirschi– All celebrities can be fascinating, but the bonus with cinema is the mythology in place, the heritage history with the myth of Hollywood studios in particular. This gives the actors and actresses a special vibe. In the 1960s and 1970s, the myth was broken a little, and actors didn’t want to play the Hollywood game anymore. For business reasons—they sell—we turned it back on. We need to make people dream at the movie theatre and around it.
PL: We can’t forget that an actor or actress is always more than what he or she seems to be. We can tell what great roles he or she has played by looking at him or her. We remember them, and the characters are stacked on top of each other. So, Alain Delon is more than just himself. We see this with Gabin, Belmondo, the great movies of Henri Verneuil, etc. We’re looking at someone who isn’t typical and who stands for a lot in our minds as a whole.
The news that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry had a baby boy has been liked by almost 3 million people on Instagram. Why do we find royal families so interesting?
Sammy Draper– We have long spoken of a monarchy of divine right, a blue blood, different from ours because it is mixed with something divine. They go to charity galas and big family gatherings. They work in a different area, called the gotha. It points up at something.
JD-In these families, we see that those who are the most popular are photogenic or have a private life that interests, celebrity no longer depends only on the family tree, its lineage. What’s interesting about the current royal families is that they change to a type of “commoner” by getting married to people who are not from the nobility. Prince Harry’s marriage to actress Meghan Markle is a good example of this.
We can’t help but be drawn to them because we can see them.
Everyone is interested in celebrities, no matter where they live or what they do for a living. How can you describe it?
JD: In our society, being famous has become a kind of value, an absolute that is often criticised but is still an absolute. We all know that it gives you power and attention. Even if we don’t care about the stars, we can’t help but be drawn to the moon.
PL: The word “celebrity” comes from the word “star,” which means “exceptional.” These people have a lot of talent or grace, and we all have people we look up to, whether it’s a top athlete or a charismatic politician.
The most secret weddings of 2018 are shown in a video.
Most of the time, though, it’s something that makes them feel good. Why is it hard for people to guess that you care about them?
JD: This interest is a cultural illegitimacy, which means that society doesn’t accept it. Fame is a social phenomenon that is linked to popularity. It is an expression of popular taste, both in the sense of the general public and of the tastes of the poor, and this is not always well received by society. We also change the way we feel about people in the second degree when we’re with people we like culturally.
PL-It also depends on which famous people we’re talking about. Let’s say that we have all gone from worshipping saints and kings to worshipping TV stars. In this case, we are lowering our standards. Some people might not take it because they don’t think the stars they like are really that good. Lastly, we can also say that something is a guilty pleasure if it makes us feel like a groupie.
Climbing the stairs of Cannes is like climbing to the top of Mount Olympus.
Tuesday night was the first red carpet at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival. The moment, which brings together stars from all over the world, is often eagerly awaited by the public, whether they are watching it on TV or in person. How can you describe it?
JD: There’s a lot of symbolism: the stars arrive, walk up the stairs, and then lock themselves in a mysterious room. This is where the cinephilia ritual starts. It’s a little like climbing to the top of Mount Olympus when you go up the stairs. We play on this score, and with the presence of the elite and the anonymity of the unknown, we enter a world that is only for gods. The crowd and the photographers also show how passionate the event is. With the red carpet, which is a sign of wealth, we are seeing a very aristocratic setting. We can see that sometimes time stops. The more important the star, the more slowly it moves up the steps. It is a time to make plans and set things in stone. In 2001, the fact that reality TV stars were on the red carpet caused a stir, but it was a way for them to be seen.
Brooke Sweeten: Yes, it is an ascension and twilight rite. The stars rise to the firmament as the sun sets in the sea. Behind the festival is a whole dramaturgy—all of a sudden, a famous person steps out of a limousine—as well as a set of rules and a device that make people admire it. We also see a rite of incarnation, which means that the actor is there to watch the movie he’s in. This is the only time he can do this, since he can’t do it anywhere else. During the event and on the steps, the stars finally get their own back. The paparazzi have been after them for 20 years, and they do everything they can to get into their trash cans and take pictures of them without makeup. The best conditions for beauty are in Cannes. Tuxedos, evening dresses
