Full title is: "Let's Stop Pretending Getting a Star on the Walk of Fame Is a Real" and it's googable now at Google.com, and it's bound to raise some eyebrows here and there, pro and con. Your POV?
Let's Stop Pretending Getting a Star on the Walk of Fame Is a Real Honor
It's a time-honored tradition, makes for great photo opps, fits nicely into marketing and PR campaigns, and it's fun. Everyone in Hollywood knows the backstory to the Walk of Fame, how the events are part of the Hollywood tourism industry and are paid... Full Article at The Wrap
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It's a time-honored tradition, makes for great photo opps, fits nicely into marketing and PR campaigns, and it's fun. Everyone in Hollywood knows the backstory to the Walk of Fame, how the events are part of the Hollywood tourism industry and are paid... Full Article at The Wrap
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Kerry Lauerman
Joan Walsh
Salon.com
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For over 50 years, the Hollywood Walk of Fame has been handing out
stars to stars, from Joanne Woodward in 1960 -- she was the first
so-called :honoree" -- to Charlie Chaplin and Dennis Hopper and Bill
Maher and Penelope Cruz. It's a time-honored tradition,
makes for great photo opps, fits nicely into marketing campaigns and
PR efforts, and it's fun. Who doesn't love to read a good news story,
with accompanying photo, about the lastest "winner" of a Hollywood
Walk of Fame star? It's as American as apple pie now.
But one enterprising entertainment reporter in Los Angeles, Barbara
Munker, working for the German News Agency (dpa) overseas but
based in California, has had the guts to tell the truth about the Walk
of Fame stars, and her story was published overseas last year. But not
one newwspaper in North America dared run her article. Go figure.
What Munker did in her 1000-word story was tell the truth -- that each
stars on the Walk of Fame is a paid publicity gimmick in which the
studios work hand in hand with the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to
create another layer of the Hollywood myth. And this myth this time?
That the stars who get a star on the Walk of Fame were ''awarded'' the
honor for their work in films, and they are "honorees" merely picking
up the awards that handed out every two weeks for a total of 24 to 30
such PR events each year.
Not one newspaper in North America has ever printed the backstory to
the Walk of Fame, even though they all have had access to Munker's
myth-busting article for over a year now.
Why the silence? I once asked Roger Ebert -- American's favorite film
critic and mine, too -- and he told me that everyone knows the Walk of
Fame stars are
paid publicity gimmicks and it's no big deal. Ebert told me a more
important media wake-up call would be about the annual multi-million
dollar ad campaigns by studios to win Oscar
awards. That needs to be stopped, he said.
''The Walk of Fame thing? Who cares?'' he told me.
[DISCLOSURE: I just learned this week, in the course of writing this
article, that
my Facebook pal Roger Ebert, above, was, according to the Walk of Fame
website, "inducted to the Walk of Fame on June 23, 2005." Roger, who
paid for your star? Fess up! And why did you go along with the
charade, if charade it is? Maybe it's not a charade. If so, enlighten
me.]
Well, Barbara Munker cared enough to write her English-language
article for the Deutsche Press-Agentur (dpa) headlined "Hollywood Walk
of Fame celebrates 50 years." It was published in newspapers
worldwide, except in North America, in May 9, 2010.
From Russell Crowe to James Cameron, the "honors" keep coming and
coming. Even producers can get a star now. One of these days you will
that some savvy hollywood PR maven has been so ''honored'' on the
star-studded sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard.
Yes, getting a star is an honor of sorts, let's be clear, newspaper
and online news sites editors: each star is bought and paid for by the
studios or the stars themselves, and ordered up 12 months in advance
to gently and gingerly co-incide with the release of a new movie or
retrospective. And paid for to the tune of $30,000 each.
Does the general public in America know this? They do not know this.
The movie-going public has been led to believe by
cooperating news agencies that work hand in hand with the Hollywood
studios and PR mavens that each new star is an award which the awardee
was awarded by a committee of judges who awards such the bi-monthly --
and soon to be weekly? -- awards. But the the awards are not awards,
and the public needs to know this. Or maybe the public doesn't need to
know this. The less they know the better, some feel. I feel it's good
to know the truth.
The truth is, as Munker reported last year, a bit cloudier.
"It all began 50 years ago with the award of the first star on the
famous street. For five decades the names of Hollywood's most
prominent people have been eternalized in the star-studded sidewalk.
[In 2009] the honor went to James Cameron, director of the
blockbusters 'Avatar' and 'Titanic'. His ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow, who
in 2010 became the first woman to win the best director Oscar award,
hasn't yet been honored. All she has to do is call, said Ana Martinez
of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. For more than 20 years Martinez,
whose nickname is Stargirl, has been in charge of arranging the star
award ceremonies."
The dpa story goes on: "A call alone, of course, is not all it takes,
Martinez said. Every year in June a five-member committee meets to
select about two dozen recipients out of a pool of about 300
recommendations. The actors, actresses and other prominent Hollywood
personalities who are selected receive their star in the following
year. Anyone can nominate his or her favorite candidate, said
Martinez. Usually, fans or film studios do the nominating. What's
required is that the person selected agrees and that US$25,000 is paid
to the chamber. [The fee is now $30,000.] Film studios hope the
appearance of their stars at a Walk of Fame ceremony coincides with
the release of a film they are in. Then the fee is only a drop in the
film's advertising bucket."
The Walk of Fame was undergoing a $4-million refurbishment in 2010 to
remove footprints and scuffs, Munker reported, adding that there's
more to come: "More than 300 stars are still blank, but they will get
an owner in the coming years."
When I recently asked a well-read, middle-aged woman in Seattle if she
was aware that the Walk of Fame "awards" were paid publicity gimmicks
coinciding with new film
releases, she replied: "No, I didn't know that. I never heard of that
before. I hesitate to believe you, as I remember the
"good old days" -- when stars really were stars -- and I shudder to think
that all my "heroes" and "heroines" were paying upfront money to get
''noticed'' on the Walk of Fame. But it makes sense that this
has "morphed" into a marketing operation. Still, as a lifelong movie
fan, I find it hard to believe, that these events are PR gimmicks and
paid for by the studios. I just don't want to believe it. I guess I'm
just an eternal Polyanna, and I wnt to believe that Hollywood wouldn't
pull the wool over our eyes this way."
Hollywood's Walk of Fame is not the only game in town now. It has
spawned copycats.
Nashville copied the idea six years ago and now runs the Music City
Walk of Fame there for country music stars. They also get a star, and
the accomodating news media report the "awards" in the same way it
reports the Hollywood Walk of Fame "awards" -- along with sales-magnet
wire service photos that go worldwide on the very day the "award"
ceremony is held.
Here's the Nashville lowdown: "The cost of a Walk of Fame ceremony is
$7,500. If selected, the fee
is due eight weeks prior to the induction ceremony. The money will be
used to pay for the creation and installation of the star, as well as
maintenance of the Walk of Fame and as a contribution to the Music
City charitable foundation. It is understood that the
cost of installing a star in the Music City Walk of Fame, upon
approval, is $7,500. A $50 processing fee must accompany the
nomination form."
So what's next? A Rock and Roll Walk of Fame with sidewalk stars paid for by
music labels? A Musuem of Modern Art Walk of Fame "honoring" famous artists with
stars outside the building in Manhattan? And a Sports Walk of Fame on
some sidewalk somewhere
"honoring" sportsmen and sportswomen with stars paid for by their
endorsement sponsors or teams?
It could get out of hand.
I want to make it clear here that I love movies, and I love Hollywood
and I love the Walk of Fame there. What I am pointing out here is how
the news media mis-reports and disinforms the public by reporting and
photographing Walki of Fame ceremonies as if they were real honors and
awards, when in fact, they are all arranged way in advance as part of
future marketing campaigns and that the stars themselves ''pretend''
that are being given an ''award'' by the Walk of Fame committee of
judges when in fact,they know very well that the entire ''event'' --
and photo opp -- is merely a time-honored publicity gimmick that
serves a purpose and is fun to boot!
So my beef here is not with the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce or the
studios, but with the American news media which refuses to print the
truth about the sidewalk stars.
When I asked a top editor at the New York Times, who is an associate
editor for standards [in reporting], about this issue, he replied:
"This issue does not come up very often at the Times. When it does, I
think our readers understand that it's a publicity stunt."
When I asked the same question to a top editor at the Associated
Press, he told me: ''You’ve made an interesting point about how the
media reports the Walk of Fame ceremonies. If your facts are correct,
you’re exactly right that we should add that context [that the star
ceremony is a publicity stunt]. I’ll pass along to the AP’s
entertainment editor."
When I asked a well-educated psychiatrist working in Chicago if he was
aware that the Walk of Fame stars are paid publicity stunts, he said:
"No, i didn't know thjs, but I am not surprised and it is certainly
believable. The nly surprise to me is that they don't pay more than
$30,000!"
Ever the analytical shrink, he added: "Here we probably have to
distinguish between te ethical and moral issues. Ethical would be the
professional standards in the film industry, which probably aren't too
high, so it may be ethical for their profession. But for the ethics of
journalists, you are right, news outlets should be upfront with
readers as that German news agency was. Should the news media have
looked into this long ago? Morals would be our own personal beliefs,
and if the movie stars can live with that and sleep well, that is up
to them. So, to me, the ethical challenge here is for American
reporters and journalists: are they living up to their ethical
standards? Do the ethical standards need to be raised for Hollywood
and can journalists help get that done?"
When I asked a veteran book publisher in Manhattan if he was aware
that the Walk of Fame
stars were paid for in advance and part of savvy movie marketing
campaigns, he said he knew., sure. Everyone knows this, he told,
adding: "It's become a part of the American social psyche, so it's
accepted and no one cares. If you want to think about something
annoying, think about this: In America, when someone wins an election
for a political position, they are given a budget and can hire anyone
they want to work for them. The higher the position, the more
positions they are required to fill. They can hire family, friends,
and have probably had pets on their payrolls -- totally unqualified
people (and animals) who change everytime a politician leaves office
or is voted out. Billions of dollars exist to fund this unmonitored
system of American politics. If something should piss you off, this
should be it -- not stars on a sidewalk in Los Angeles that people
step on each and every day."
Let me give Ana Martinez at the Hollywood Walk of Fame the last word.
when I queried her about all this, she politely told me by email: "It
is a special honor, and
nominees are voted on in an annual meeting. See walkoffame.com for
more info. Recipients at times do tie in the star dedication to
projects they want to promote, and sometimes they are done at a time
that is best for their schedule. Career anniveraries and birthdays as
well."
So should the media step up to the plate and report each Walk of Fame
ceremony for the
paid PR stunt that it is? Or should we just let the media continue
fawning over our culture of celebrities, without any footnotes or
caveats to readers?
Would love to hear responses, pro and con.
''I spent a few years trying to raise money from private sources, to get stars for some deserving stars I know. I thought it would be easy, but it was a difficult sell.
As soon as it was revealed it's just a paid PR thing to benefit the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, interest would evaporate. The stars themselves were disinterested in putting up the money, and I lost interest myself, eventually....''
''I thought everyone knew this.''
''It's not just entertainment....the whole mainstream media is nothing but a propaganda tool for the Corporatocracy that runs the government. Japan or the USSA...same thing.
If you want some interesting alternative news try Russia Today. A cruel irony to be sure.....''
"To be chosen for the Walk of Fame is an honor. The costs associated with the manufacture and placement of the star are paid for by someone -- a studio, network, publisher, record company, etc. Everyone knows that. But stars are not for sale. "
1. I replied:
"@Roger, thanks Roger for your comment and feedback. It IS an honor, I agree, and your 2005 star WAS an honor and you deserved it for all you have done for Hollywood, even if they didn't always like all your reviews. My beef is not really w...ith the sidewalk stars themselves but with how the AP and Reuters wire services report the awarding of the stars and the ceremony AS IF....as if it was a prize one receives, like the Pulitzer or the National Book Awards or even a Golden Globe (haha), and why the USA media does not report that the Walk of Fame thing is a PR gimmick (re, tradition) for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to work hand in hand with the movie business to create some good old fashiioned happy positiivve PR, even it the entire ceremony, yours in 2005 too, is faked. I mean for Bill Maher to go on the larry king show last year and say how honored he was to get a star and he knew full welll that his studio paid for the star and nomintged his name 12 months in advance, well, Roger, I calling Bill Maher a big fat liar....and his credibility as a truth teller is now down the drain, in my home, that is....of course, where i live, there are no drains, so no biggie....but Yes, the stars on the sidewalk are COOL and i love it, yes, but i just wish the meda would report the truth of the stars and how they are handed out and WHO pays for them to the tune of 30K each star. Do you tink Ms Cruz really got a star the week before Pirates oopened? it was all arragned 12 months in advance by her marketing squad...it's a great PR idea, again, i am PR man, i love it, I just want media to report back styory of how the stars are all paid for, even Dennis Hoppers star, RIP man, was paid for. there is a diferfence between an award and a paid PR gimmick. yes or no? ....Cheers, love ya....
2. Then I added to Roger:
Danny Bloom to @Roger just one question: I agree the sidewalk stars are NOT for sale, per se. But if Penelope Cruz's studio nominated her 12 months in advance of the opening of Pirates 4 and agreed to fork over the 30 K if she was selected by the committee of 6 judges of the Hwood Chamber of Commerce, and NOT ALL nominees GET a star, that's true, isn't is still correct to say, in danny bloomese, that the sidewalk stars ARE FOR SALE? re: compared to say the Pulitzers or the Nobles or the Golden Globes (sic)....? and...i am just asking...
''I don't think anyone would be surprised to learn that Roger Ebert has an ego, and is not immune to enjoying the stroking that a star on the walk of fame confers. Hypocritical? Maybe. Human? Most certainly. I never thought about it much before, I don't know who or what group decided that someone should get one, even less had I wondered who paid for it. I find it pretty funny if it is the stars themselves. The joke is, once again, on the gullible, manipulated public. ''
''Two a month? That seems like a lot. How long is that sidewalk??
I didn't realize he'd gotten one before that correspondence, that's pretty funny. And bullshit, of course you can "buy" a star. And yes, he does deserve one, he is a part of the culture, but then again, what defines "the culture." Should Hedda Hopper be there? How about Sam Goldwyn? Or the guy that invented Technicolor etc... where do draw that line? How inclusive should it be?
So, as in so many other seemingly one-sided issues, it turns out to be a multi-linear thing.''
''yes, but they risk muddying the effect, don't they? killing their goose, er, sidewalk. ''
''Has it always been this way?''
''What is the current rate of sidewalk star awards? Has this accelerated over the years? Did it start out as more of a true honor and then get muddied over the years to what's it's now become? I don't think most people really give a shit anymore about stars on the walk of fame, except, as you say, the media seems to, and thus the added exposure. ''