They Once Had Faces

Something has happened within the last few decades of making movies. Somehow all the stars of today's feature films look somewhat generic. Who knows exactly when it got started. Generally speaking, the actors and actresses of today, tend to look a lot like each other and seem very interchangeable. Most are twenty-somethings who would look more at home on a university campus than on the silver screen as a "movie star". Most of them seem to be transplanted TV actors from television "soaps" (now more generically called "daytime dramas") or nighttime dramas.

Once upon a time genuine movie stars had faces and made their home in the movies. They didn't merely have a face but a distinct face and personality too. There was no mistaking who was Clark Gable, Humphey Bogart, James Cagney or Cary Grant. Likewise, the top tier of actresses - Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Katharine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, or Bette Davis - could not be mistaken for anyone else. They were totally unique and irreplaceable. They were stars! It was only when you went to the "B" level movies that the actors started looking more average and generic and less like movie stars. Today practically all actors look average and generic.

No matter when the trend began to happen toward the kinds of faces we have in the ranks of our lead actors - whether it was in the 1950's, the 1960's, or later something - something has been lost. Instead of distinct, strong personalities, the trend has been to elevate mere pretty boys and pretty women to the top rank of star. Instead of stars being larger than life, they've become everyday - almost humdrum - and movies seem a lot less like "Movies" with a capital M.

It could be because we know too much about them these days. They are so thoroughly covered by the media, both their public and private lives, there is no mystery anymore. Maybe it is the people in charge who are the problem. With their fear of failure and their total devotion to the sure thing, they've done more than their share to dilute the movie experience. Rather than display imagination and daring, they rely on market research and focus groups, making everything about movies more homogenized and bland. The faces picked now are the ones that the most focus groups agree upon and whose appearances divert the least from the average ideal of beauty. The result is that the stars are, well, "average" and no longer larger than life. So, along with other factors, the movie experience has become bland despite the special effects getting every more strident to distract you from this.

It doesn't have to stay this way. Casting agents, directors, and producers can look beyond simply filling a part and look toward finding someone special. It is possible to consider the idea of creating a Star, despite the old studio system no longer being in existence. The people involved with this process have to be aware of this idea and committed to it. Only then can the concept of stars, as we remember them being, possible.