‘The bigger your brand the harder you fall’ – the curse of silence in fame
I went to see The Artist last week and I am not ashamed to say that it made me a little teary. It wasn’t because the ending was tragic or that the characters ended up destitute and alone – in fact the story unfolds to become quite the opposite.
What upset me was the main characters utter belief in his on screen persona and the devastation it causes him when this is taken away. Would you really (spoiler alert) burn your house down and attempt suicide if fame was taken away from you? What kind of psyche is at work that would make someone react in such an extreme manner?
It led me to thinking about people in the public eye in general. When do famous people stop playing a part or reading the lines in a role and actually believe they are a brand? Is there some sort of seismic shift in their brain that takes them from actor and actress, singer or comedian to global brand, hero worshipped and iconised by all sundry as something much more than the mere mortal?
I sometimes feel flicking through Heat Magazine whilst waiting for a train (I would never buy a copy) or noticing that Katie Price is on the cover of OK for a record eighteen months running that fame appears to be the one mental illness which they can’t section you for. Surely it can’t be healthy for a person to become totally self-obsessed and regard everything they do or say to be part of their brand as if it’s a physical tangible omnipresence?
I then ended up thinking about how every one of us presents ourselves as a certain type of person each and every day of our lives. In many ways we all have our own ‘brand’ which we feel defines our individuality and keeps us special. In the quest for staying uniquely human we like to believe we are all ‘one offs’ and the clothes we wear, food we eat and hairstyles we adopt tell the world a certain something about us.
But unlike (and I hate this word) ‘celebrities’ most of us have our egos kept in check. We have our friends and family to tell us that we are ‘getting our brands wrong’ that perhaps ‘your hair suited you shorter, or ‘maybe red isn’t your colour.’ So as Joe Public we all plod along merrily enough perhaps discovering along the way personal little idiosyncrasies we like to hold dear as it feeds that secret voice that says ‘this is who I am – this is what I represent.’
The first ‘It Girls’
In many ways we have always needed people to lead, to become a brand we believe in and to represent something we stand for. From Cleopatra to Churchill, Elizabeth I to Napoleon, these people were the original ‘It Girls and Boys’ who elicited the support of a nation behind them. A strong personality has always been a character trait that the general public latches onto and ultimately demands more from.
We still to this day look for cultural icons that define an era and who can show us the right way to dress and behave as if we don’t have our own brains and free will to follow. Media ultimately perpetuates the myth that they are perfect and many of us buy into their brand wanting to emulate their pronounced sense of sophistication and style. The way the Duchess of Cambridge is already continually courted as the new Diana has a spooky sense of déjà vu about it.
Yet what happens when the ‘mirror cracks’ so to speak. The times when people (after all we are only human and ultimately fallible) betray their brands and do something out of character. The press comes down of them like a ton of bricks. They are ‘misleading the youth of today!’ They were supposed to be ‘role models’ ‘We looked up to them! Believed in them! Worshipped them!’ How utterly pathetic and banal of us as a species.
‘Silence – you are no longer a brand!’
Clara Bow - the original 'It Girl'
The truth it would seem to me looking back at the fame game is that the ‘Bigger your brand the harder you fall’.
Taking the Artist and its subject of transition from silent movies to talkies there is some notable resonance to what happened out there in the real world at this time.
Many of the silent cinematic icons failed to make the transition from silence to sound. The sumptuous Clara Bow, the quintessential ‘It Girl’ of the twenties was deemed ill-suited to the new medium due to her strong Brooklyn accent. By 1944 she had attempted suicide stating that she would prefer death to a public life and after many spells in and out of psychiatric units was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Film historian Leonard Maltin said “You think of Greta Garbo, Lillian Gish, all these great names, great actresses, Clara Bow was more popular in terms of Box-office dollars, in terms of consistently bringing audiences into the theatres, she was right on top.
Despite this fact in 1999 the American Film Institute left her outside of their 100 years 100 star list and Louise Brooks another largely forgotten silent star remonstrated on film historian Kevin Brownlow in the sixties for not even mentioning Bow in his book on silent films – ‘The Parades gone By…’ She did this in an admirably self-depreciating manner playing down her own acting career.
Louise Brooks was somewhat less passive
“You brush off Clara Bow”, she wrote to Brownlow, “for some old nothing like Brooks…Clara made three pictures that will never be surpassed: Dancing Mothers, Mantrap and It”.
Unlike Bow though Brooks was known to be strongly independent, and unliked by Hollywood’s elite for not always being the submissive woman expected of her. Despite having a voice perfectly suited for talkies when asked to record sound retakes for The Canary Murder Case (1929) she flatly refused. Hollywood blacklisted her for her defiance and in a final act of independence she decidedly ended her own acting career in 1938.
She flirted with a comeback, but by 1946, Brooks was a sales girl at Saks Fifth Avenue making $40 a week. She went on to become an accomplished painter and writer and published several novels, including her own biography Lulu in Hollywood.
Sisters under the skin – Two Hollywood Broads who believed in their brand.
Joan Crawford
One star who always believed in her brand and saw a smoother transition from the silent era was Joan Crawford. Reminiscent of the Peppy Miller character in the Artist Crawford found fame as a feminine flapper in films like ‘Our Dancing Daughters’ but was quick to move with the times and adapt to ‘rags to riches’ stories which saw her rise through the ranks to become one of the highest paid women in America.
Crawford was the ultimate studio product. In her ascent to fame the studio even staged a competition for fans to give her a new screen name deciding that Lucille Fay LeSueur sounded too much like ‘sewer’. They may have had a point there but in the ultimate act of public ownership Joan devoured her name and brand like a consummate professional and kept up the glamorous façade until her dying day.
Joan understood the power that her fans held for her brand. She courted their attention and would tirelessly sign autographs for hours on end and respond personally to every piece of fan mail she received. For the last five years of her life she effectively retired from the public eye deciding unflattering photographs evidenced that she no longer resembled the Crawford which had been constructed.
Joan Crawford harnessed fan power for her brand
Despite that lonely ending it was a persona and brand that served her well. Joan reinvented herself as much as she could throughout a film career spanning six decades, and after the acting parts dried up she was spokesperson and ambassador for Pepsi Cola throughout the sixties.
Sadly though in perhaps the ultimate example of brand savaging to happen to someone after their death Crawford’s adopted daughter Christina wrote a tell all biography ‘Mommie Dearest’ with claims of child abuse at the hands of Joan.
Many of Joan’s friends and family hit out at the book claiming inaccurate dates and downright lies were in evidence throughout. Nevertheless the damage was done to Joan’s carefully crafted image and was further fuelled by a 1979 film version with Faye Dunaway painting the star as a cruel caricature. ‘Brand Joan’ is forever sullied by that and unfortunately she never had the chance to defend herself against the critics – death it would seem then is the ultimate silencer.
‘Bette Davis – we love you’
In contrast Bette Davis – one of Joan’s contemporaries (and private nemesis if all is to be believed) is someone who would get the last laugh against her own daughters cruel tell all book ‘My Mothers Keeper’ and manage to hold onto her own unique brand until the last breath left her body,
Her popularity saw her crowned the ‘Fourth Warner Brother’, score a record number of Oscar nominations and win two best actress Oscar Awards throughout the thirties and forties.
By the sixties though work was waning and in September 1962, Davis placed an advertisement in Variety under the heading of “Situations wanted—women artists”, which read, “Mother of three—10, 11 & 15—divorcee, American. Thirty year’s experience as an actress in Motion Pictures. Mobile still and more affable than rumour would have it. Wants steady employment in Hollywood. (Has had Broadway).”
Davis knew her brand and stuck to it
Davis said that she intended it as a joke and despite some criticism from people in the industry for the stunt she sustained her acting career right up until the very last possible moment acting in films even after a stroke and double mastectomy (and refused to give up smoking!).
Her daughter BD Hyman having thought that such serious illness would mean a hasty demise agreed to push forward on publishing a tell all book documenting some of Davises less delightful behaviour. Leaping back to life like Lazarus and astounding the Doctors Bette was apoplectic with rage and her Daughters betrayal.
Hitting the talk show circuit with her own book detailing a miraculous recovery and surmising a career as ‘Brand Bette’ for over sixty five years it was the ultimate opportunity to discredit her Daughters spiteful words.
In an open letter to BD Hyman from her book Bette gave the following reading on television.
“Dear Hyman, I am now utterly confused as to who you are or what your way of life is. Your book is a glaring lack of loyalty and thanks for the very privileged life I feel you have been given. If my memory serves me right, I’ve been your keeper all these many years. I am continuing to do so, as my name has made your book about me a success.”
Davis disinherited not only her daughter, but her grandchildren from Hyman’s marriage. As a brand Bette was fearless and the personally penned epitaph on her tombstone reads ‘She did it the hard way’.
The sound of silence
So what relevance does this have for real life brands? Products that look to sell themselves to a consumer and be at the top of an increasingly competitive ladder?
Well it seems that just like the fame game some brands get it right for a long time then come up against something unimaginable. Some products do fantastically well for ages, but all too often get complacent and find themselves falling from ivory towers only to shatter, turn to dust and be forgotten about.
I suppose it’s all about survival of the fittest. When it comes to fame only the strongest, most hard working celebrities will make their voices heard and it seems the same is true when it comes to brands. Those that don’t move with the times, reinvent themselves or fail to respond to negative publicity and opinion continually run the risk of ending up on the cutting room floor.
There is always someone a little bit younger and hungrier. Audiences love to see the new, the daring the bold and adventurous. The Beckhams of today will become the Pickfairs of tomorrow and silence comes to us all in the end whatever brand or person we represent. Whilst we are still around though the least we can do is make a little noise and be entertaining. As for the quiet romantic that resides in us there is always Clara.