With Oscar season upon us, the Hollywood red carpet shenanigans will soon reach thier annual critical mass. Hollywood Blvd. is home to the Kodak Theater (which hosts the Oscars), El Capitan, the Egyptian, and the Chinese; all of which share stake in promoting a form of Hollywood mythology via red carpet entrances to movie premiers and award shows. Just to be clear, I am defining mythology in this case as a set of beliefs about a situation, which are especially exaggerated or fictitious. The whole culture of the Hollywood red carpet promotes a set of traits – specifically beauty, fame, and wealth – which are considered exemplary, authoritative and laudable. I would assert that the importance of these qualities is exaggerated to mythic proportions on the red carpet. I am sure everyone is immediately familiar with this sort of Hollywood pageantry and the mythology associated with it, and it is likely that critics and artists alike have thoroughly covered the territory in some form or another. With that said, it is part of the context of Hollywood Blvd. and may be fruitful grounds to start for an intervention. Here are some interesting points of reference:
On the myth of celebrity authority:
Furedi , Frank. (Professor of sociology at the University of Kent) “The Age of Unreason” (2005)
http://www.frankfuredi.com/articles/unreason-20051118.shtml
On the construction of beauty (with reference to Hollywood and its myth of beauty):
Dyer, Richard. “The Glow of White Women” from the book White (1997)
On unfounded celebrity/infamy:
http://www.worldhistorysite.com/dysfunctionalcelebrity.html
Above Image: Actress Rinko Kikuchi arrives on the red carpet at the SAG Awards (AP/Chris Pizzello)
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