Affirming the American Dream via the Sports /Film Star

Abstract

FROM BABE RUTH TO MICHAEL JORDAN: AFFIRMING THE AMERICAN DREAM VIA THE SPORTS /FILM STAR Its drama, its personalities and its worldwide appealmeans sport is the new Hollywood- Bell and Campbell (1999: 22) Celebrity is a crucial aspect of contemporary culture and one to which both sport and film make a substantial contribution. In film, the 'star image' that has developed around individual actors is a multifaceted, complicated and sometimes contradictory phenomenon composed of the roles they have played, their carefully orchestrated public appearances and the depictions of the creation of a star's image, as well as the actual individual around whom this image has evolved. However, arguably what is most significant about individual stars is the manner through which they express facets of living in today's society, including the nature of labour in the capitalist world (Dyer, 1986: 7-8). Stars are particularly important in...