<\/p>\n
Dear Gossips, <\/p>\n
Now that the Oscars are over, it\u2019s time to autopsy the Oscars. In Variety<\/em>, Daniel D\u2019Addario asks, Why were the movie stars in hiding?<\/em><\/a> While the headline irritated me, D\u2019Addario is actually onto something, particularly in the capital-letter Movie Star department. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n There was a time, not even that long ago, when legendary actors of older generations\u2014the elder statesmen and women of Hollywood\u2014could reliably be counted on to appear at the Oscars. Jack Nicholson was almost always in the front row, even through the 2010s. Amid rumors of declining health, though, he has stopped attending, and nobody from younger generations is picking up his Oscar-attendance baton.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve talked a lot over the last fifteen-ish years about the death the Movie Star, and how few new real stars we\u2019re minting in Hollywood these days. That is a huge reason we\u2019re so excited about Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, they are legit Stars launched overnight out of seemingly nowhere, a reminder that New Stars CAN still be born. New Stars, in capital letters and bright lights, do emerge, but where we used to have crops of them every generation, we now have, let\u2019s call it \u201cpeaks\u201d of them. A peak here and there, a high-water mark achieved with less frequency than before.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And that lack of star power shows during an event like the Oscars. It\u2019s not like they\u2019re not there\u2014both Robert Pattinson and Zendaya, peaks in their cohorts, were at the Oscars. But they skipped the red carpet and weren\u2019t in the audience for cutaways. They did their required appearance as part of promotion for The Drama<\/em> and disappeared. They\u2019re not just there watching the show as Jack Nicholson once did.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t blame them for this. Jack Nicholson was mostly available to the public through his movies, and random appearances at the Oscars and Lakers games. We were not inundated with Jack Nicholson. But if today\u2019s stars aren\u2019t careful, we are inundated, and that quickly turns into overexposure and exhaustion. Look no further than Timothee Chalamet for a very recent case study<\/a> in how fast the worm can turn on even a beloved New Star when overexposed. The social politics of celebrity are different now, with the internet and social media, the New Stars are incentivized to be careful with their appearances.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Zendaya, for instance, has four films and a TV show due out this year. She will be doing a TON of press. It is in her best interest, then, to avoid the cycle of overexposure and exhaustion, to manage her appearances carefully. Not making herself a story on Oscar night, when she is not a nominee, is smart. Maybe it\u2019s why she chose a rather boring dress<\/a>, to better fade into the background once she\u2019s out of the spotlight. She doesn\u2019t even get a real break, as Dune: Part Three<\/em> is launching press today.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Worrying about the depletion of star power at the Oscars is legit, because the New Stars aren\u2019t filling seats like previous generations did. And in this case, I\u2019m not talking about movie theaters and audiences, but the stars being willing to just go to an event like the Oscars for the sole purpose of being an audience member. <\/p>\n The New Stars basically don\u2019t go unless they have a reason\u2014they\u2019re nominated, they\u2019re presenting, or they\u2019re repping a fashion contract (like Hudson Williams and Balenciaga). I don\u2019t agree with calling the Oscars \u201csmall\u201d, because the show can still deliver plenty of magic\u2014look no further than Michael B. Jordan\u2019s winning moment\u2014but there has definitely been a shift in the role Stars play on Oscar night.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And sure, the length and intensity of awards season is a factor, but I think the biggest issue is just one of access. Stars are so much more accessible now than they were thirty years ago, seeing them at the Oscars isn\u2019t that special anymore. With that allure diminished, and with the specter of public backlash ever looming, why risk an appearance that you don\u2019t have to make? For an event like the Oscars, the question is less \u201cwhere are the stars\u201d and more \u201chow do we move forward without them\u201d? Because year-to-year, no single Star is going to \u201csave\u201d the Oscars. The Oscars are on the brink of a totally new era anyway, it\u2019s the perfect time to redefine the event for a new generation of Stars and fans alike.<\/p>\n Live long and gossip,<\/p>\n Sarah<\/p>