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Artefacts, Authenticity, and Digital Idols: The Classical After-Image in Contemporary Hollywood Stardom

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Locating Classical Receptions on Screen

Part of the book series: The New Antiquity ((NANT))

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Abstract

The ‘gods and goddesses’ of the screen were framed by apparently casual references to classical art and mythology in their publicity working to divinise them in popular discourse to increase their desirability as well as differentiate them as particular mythic types. Illuminating a number of striking case-studies through textual analysis of films, advertising images, and film fan-magazines, this chapter explores how these classical echoes have shaped Hollywood stardom from the early twentieth century to the digital age and stars such as Colin Farrell, Matthew McConnaughey, and Anne Hathaway. This chapter thus pursues the echoes, and afterimages, of antiquity that continue to resonate in film stardom.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Cook (2005).

  2. 2.

    Michelakis and Wyke (2013).

  3. 3.

    See, for example, Winkler (2009) and Lant (1993: 86–112).

  4. 4.

    See Williams (2013).

  5. 5.

    See Decordova (1990).

  6. 6.

    For the popularity of the myth of Pygmalion in cinema see James (2011, rev. 2014) and her chapter in this collection.

  7. 7.

    Dyer (1991: 57–59).

  8. 8.

    Ellis (2007: 90–97).

  9. 9.

    Jameson (1991: 19–20).

  10. 10.

    Donnell (1915: 101–5).

  11. 11.

    Anonymous (1918: 23).

  12. 12.

    Waterbury (1928: 34–36, 92). For further discussion see Williams (2013: 1–3).

  13. 13.

    Quirk (1928: 29).

  14. 14.

    See Fischer (2003).

  15. 15.

    Parsons (1931: 30–31, 62).

  16. 16.

    Fidler (1934: 52–53, 74).

  17. 17.

    Winckelmann (2006: 341).

  18. 18.

    ‘The Belvedere Hermes’, Vatican Museum website, http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/x-Schede/MPCs/MPCs_Sala02_04.html#top (accessed 12/2/2016).

  19. 19.

    Anonymous (1933: 80).

  20. 20.

    Lowenthal (2015: 241).

  21. 21.

    Lowenthal (2015: 243).

  22. 22.

    Lowenthal (2015: 244), citing Malraux (1953: 635).

  23. 23.

    Anonymous (1912: 561–62).

  24. 24.

    Williams (2013b: 131–47).

  25. 25.

    See Ellis (2007).

  26. 26.

    For more on the influence of the Pygmalion myth on photography and early cinema, see Nead (2007: 58–82).

  27. 27.

    I discuss this film in greater detail in Williams (2018: 203–38).

  28. 28.

    Prieto (2005: 10).

  29. 29.

    See British Museum catalogue: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=460442&partId=1&searchText=alexander+great+sculpture&page=1 (accessed 15/2/2016).

  30. 30.

    Lane Fox (2004: 155).

  31. 31.

    Braudy (1986: 19).

  32. 32.

    Cyrino (2010: 172–73), Cyrino cites Kelly (2005: 200).

  33. 33.

    Boym (2001: xiii–xiv).

  34. 34.

    Braudy (1986: 195).

  35. 35.

    The Graham Norton Show, broadcast BBC 1 (31/10/2014).

  36. 36.

    Williams (2009: 39–48).

  37. 37.

    Thanks to Prof. Catherine Constable for conversation on McConaughey’s image, and for drawing my attention to stills from this advertising campaign. Thanks also to Rachael Todd and Samuel Moles in my MA class for further discussion of the star’s imagery.

  38. 38.

    See Nead’s discussion of Pygmalionism (2007: 60–61).

  39. 39.

    Wills (1997: 19, 24).

  40. 40.

    See Tatum’s Instagram feed: https://www.instagram.com/p/kN7lsnACGn/. Date of post: 10/2/2014.

  41. 41.

    The image was uploaded to Michelle Wintersteen’s ‘Devotissimo Suo’ travel blog, posted September, 17 (2013): http://mwintstravel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/day-22-holy-moly-have-we-really-been.html (accessed 18/2/2016).

  42. 42.

    See Williams (2013: 76–81).

  43. 43.

    A prominent example of the subversion of the image of Venus in terms of both gender and disability is Marc Quinn’s sculpture ‘Alison Lapper Pregnant’. See Prettejohn (2006: 227–49).

  44. 44.

    Vogue (2012: 312); see also Green (2012): http://www.vogue.com/865290/leap-of-faith-anne-hathaway/ (accessed 19/2/2016).

  45. 45.

    This image is not included in the magazine itself but is widely available online, attributed to Leibovitz and Vogue, for example: https://pleasurephoto.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/anne-hathaway-by-annie-leibovitz-208374988.jpg (accessed 29/8/2017).

  46. 46.

    See Dyer (1997).

  47. 47.

    Vanity Fair (2000) April issue.

  48. 48.

    Wilson (1931: 24–25).

  49. 49.

    Lowenthal (2015: 383).

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the students of my MA and BA modules for discussion on some of the stars and themes explored in this chapter. Many thanks also to Anastasia Bakogianni and Ricardo Apostol.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    Michael Williams

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  1. Michael Williams
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Correspondence to Michael Williams .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. George School, Newtown, PA, USA

    Ricardo Apostol

  2. Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand

    Anastasia Bakogianni

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Williams, M. (2018). Artefacts, Authenticity, and Digital Idols: The Classical After-Image in Contemporary Hollywood Stardom. In: Apostol, R., Bakogianni, A. (eds) Locating Classical Receptions on Screen. The New Antiquity. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96457-7_5

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