CL Benjamin

Well, this Benjamin fellow sure seems to have quite an opinion about "art." To begin with, I was struck with his perception of actors and filming them. He says "The feeling of strangeness that overcomes the actor before the camera, as Pirandello describes I, is basically of the same kind as the estrangement felt before one's own image in the mirror. But now the reflected image has become separable, transportable. And where is it transported? Before the public. Never for a moment does the screen actor cease to be conscious of this fact. While facing the camera he knows that ultimately he will face the public, the consumers who constitute the market" (pg 27).

I found these few sentences especially interesting. We undeveloped live in a time of ceaseless knowledge. Because of the readily available ability to know whatever we want about whatever subject we want, we have become a culture fascinated by celebrity and anyone involved with it. In the golden era of films, movie stars were simply movie stars and were primarily associated with the roles they played in the movies. They were aware that they were "facing the camera" and that they were facing "the public, they consumers who constitute the market," but not every aspect of their lives were became public property as it is now.

We are a society addicted to gossip and information. We are voyeuristic, capable and happy to watch others for our entertainment. Some people are willing to put every part of their lives on display for the public, and we are more than happy to watch. This phenomenon is perfectly illustrated by the example of the television show "My Fair Brady." I have only seen an episode or two, but I recently heard they are doing a third installment in the series. I find this to be an even better (and perhaps postmodernic?) example, because the two met on a reality show, then chronicled their relationship through their very own spin off series. I wonder if this is what Benjamin meant when he said that "never a moment does the screen actor cease to be conscious of this fact"?

But we can not blame this all on the reality television stars and their producers. Our society craves information all the time, and with the advent of the internet, it is possible to know anything about anyone. Gone are the days of simple tabloid magazines, we can now log online and find out instantly the sex of Brittany's new baby- maybe even before her own relatives do. Our technology has become so fast that information is starting to come before the event actually happens, such as election results. This is definitely postmodernic.

It seems quaint now to think of "screen actors" as artists who "not only offer (their) labor but also (their) whole self, (their) heart and soul" to their craft. We see actors as "celebrities" now, and are far more interested in what is going on off screen in their lives than their ability to act. I wonder what Benjamin would think about Paris Hilton's latest movie?