Dr McKenna in Rocky's Philadelphia
“Sometimes research is just ... well... fun!
And this first part of my BA/Leverhulme funded project on Stardom in the Post Studio Era has been very enjoyable."
Dr Mark McKenna, Associate Professor of Film and Media Industries at University of Staffordshire describes the research project.
"The project examines the role of star brand narratives and how those narratives influence the popular perception of particular stars, as well as the agency of the stars in that process. Using Sylvester Stallone as a case study, the project seeks to challenge the widespread belief that film stars achieved autonomy with the decline of the Hollywood studio system from the 1960s onwards. And to do this, the project contrasts an audience research study with fans of Stallone, with archival research to be conducted next year at the Margaret Herrick Library, at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, California."
"The project is divided into two, testing Richard Dyer's thesis that stardom is both a phenomenon of production and a phenomenon of consumption. My visit to Philadelphia was to explore the idea of consumption and to try and understand what fans get from visiting the famous 'Rocky Steps' and what they take from the inspirational parallels between the character and Sylvester Stallone's (studio-fabricated) biography.
As part of this visit, I got to run in the Rocky Run, a Rocky-branded half marathon that capitalizes on the pilgrimage fans continue to make to those iconic steps, almost 50 years after the film's release."
"It was great to see thousands of people descend onto Philadelphia to run in the ‘Rocky Run’ and to talk to them about what inspired them to make that journey, but it’s important to recognise that the narrative that they are responding too, is a studio construction that cast Stallone as a working class everyman and from which he has continued to benefit”.
McKenna adds that scrutiny of these kinds of narratives is a fundamental part of what he teaches here at Staffs, and that it’s important to understand the value that narratives of this kind continue to have in the marketplace. “In a period where working class voices are increasingly being marginalised in the creative industries, it is significant to see a star benefiting from his perceived underdog origins."