Pretty People: Movie Stars of the 1990s

289 Pages·2012·3.796 MB·English

by  Anna Everett, Murray Pomerance, Mary Beth Haralovich, Toby Miller, Linda Williams, Laura Isabel Serna, Tara McPherson, Mia Mask, Melvin Donalson, Cynthia Fuchs

Pretty People
S T A R
✩★✩★✩★✩★✩★✩★✩★✩★✩★✩★
AMERICAN CULTURE / AMERICAN CINEMA
D E C A D E S
Each volume in the series Star Decades: American Culture/American Cinema pre -
sents original essays analyzing the movie star against the background of contempo-
rary American cultural history. As icon, as mediated personality, and as object of
audience fascination and desire, the Hollywood star remains the model for celebrity
in modern culture and represents a paradoxical combination of achievement, talent,
ability, luck, authenticity, superficiality, and ordinariness. In all of the volumes, star-
dom is studied as an effect of, and influence on, the particular historical and indus-

trial contexts that enabled a star to be “discovered,” to be featured in films, to be
promoted and publicized, and ultimately to become a recognizable and admired—
even sometimes notorious—feature of the cultural landscape. Understanding when,
how, and why a star “makes it,” dazzling for a brief moment or enduring across
decades, is especially relevant given the ongoing importance of mediated celebrity in
an increasingly visualized world. We hope that our approach produces at least some
of the surprises and delight for our readers that stars themselves do.
ADRIENNE L. McLEAN AND MURRAY POMERANCE
SERIES EDITORS
Jennifer M. Bean, ed., Flickers of Desire: Movie Stars of the 1910s
Patrice Petro, ed., Idols of Modernity: Movie Stars of the 1920s
Adrienne L. McLean, ed., Glamour in a Golden Age: Movie Stars of the 1930s
Sean Griffin, ed., What Dreams Were Made Of: Movie Stars of the 1940s
R. Barton Palmer, ed., Larger Than Life: Movie Stars of the 1950s
Pamela R. Wojcik, ed., New Constellations: Movie Stars of the 1960s
James Morrison, ed., Hollywood Reborn: Movie Stars of the 1970s
Robert Eberwein, ed., Acting for America: Movie Stars of the 1980s
Anna Everett, ed., Pretty People: Movie Stars of the 1990s
Murray Pomerance, ed., Shining in Shadows: Movie Stars of the 2000s
Pretty
People
Movie Stars of the
1990
s
✩★✩★✩★✩★✩★✩★✩★✩★✩★✩★
EDITED BY
ANNA EVERETT
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY, AND LONDON
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Pretty people : Movie stars of the 1990s / edited by Anna Everett.
p. cm. — (Star decades : American culture / American cinema)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–8135–5244–6 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978–0–8135–5245–3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978–0–8135–5325–2 (e-book)
1. Motion picture actors and actresses—United States—Biography. I. Everett, Anna,
1954– .
PN1998.2.P75 2012
791.4302'80922—dc23
2011023339
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British
Library.
This collection copyright © 2012 by Rutgers, The State University
Individual chapters copyright © 2012 in the names of their authors
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
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Visit our Web site: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu
Manufactured in the United States of America
For my darling mother, Lena. RIP

C O N T E N T S
✩★✩★✩★✩★✩★✩★✩★✩★✩★✩★
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Stardom in the 1990s 1
ANNA EVERETT
1 Arnold Schwarzenegger: Corporeal Charisma 19
LINDA RUTH WILLIAMS
2 Jodie Foster: Feminist Hero? 43
KAREN HOLLINGER
3 Denzel Washington:A Revisionist Black Masculinity 65
MELVIN DONALSON
4 Julia Roberts: Cultural Phenomenon 85
R. BARTON PALMER
5 Leonardo DiCaprio: King of the “World” 103
MURRAY POMERANCE
6 Antonio Banderas,Andy Garcia, and Edward James Olmos:
Stardom, Masculinity, and “Latinidades” 123
LAURA ISABEL SERNA
7 Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise:The Box Office and “True Masculinity” 144
MARY BETH HARALOVICH
8 Angela Bassett and Halle Berry:African American Leading Ladies 166
MIA MASK
9 Michael Douglas:An Ordinary Man 189
DONNA PEBERDY
10 Pierce Brosnan: Licensed to Sell 206
TRACEY HOOVER AND TOBY MILLER
11 Johnny Depp and Keanu Reeves: Hollywood and the Iconoclasts 225
ANNA EVERETT
In the Wings 249
ANNA EVERETT
Works Cited 255
Contributors 265
Index 269

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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Collaborative productions are often marked by remarkable and inspiring
creativity as well as trying experiences. This volume is no exception. I am
very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with my talented and ded-
icated co-authors, whose remarkable creativity through trying times
inspired me during each phase of this volume’s completion. I am honored
to acknowledge the amazing work of my collaborators: Melvin Donalson,
Mary Beth Haralovich, Karen Hollinger, Tracey Hoover, Mia Mask, Toby
Miller, R. Barton Palmer, Donna Peb erdy, Murray Pomerance, Laura Isabel
Serna, and Linda Ruth Williams. Thank you all so much; I remain in your
debt. I also want to express my deepest gratitude to Adrienne L. McLean,
Murray Pomerance, and Leslie Mitchner, whose incredible patience and
faithful support were indispensable throughout this book’s circuitous jour-
ney from start to finish. Working with the three of you has been an un-
forgettably rewarding intellectual and professional experience. I will always
be grateful for the invitation to participate in this important series. In addi-
tion, I thank the editorial team at Rutgers University Press for the care
taken with making this volume a beautifully artistic production. I must add
that my work on this volume would have been diminished greatly without
a major contribution from my research assistant, Andrew Flanagan—thank
you. I am also grateful for the support of my colleagues at the University of
California, Santa Barbara, especially the faculty, staff, and students in the
Department of Film and Media Studies. I want to extend a special word of
thanks to the smart and engaged students in my new Stars in the Media
class for their enthusiasm and feedback that helped so much during the
final stages of this book. Last, but certainly not least, I am delighted to
acknowledge the unwavering support and assistance of Aldon L. Nielsen for
his personal, intellectual, and professional generosity and constancy.
While this was a team effort by many smart and devoted people, I must
take responsibility for any shortcomings that may be associated with this
volume, which I certainly hope are few and far between.
ix