Josie Andrews 412 Midterm Projects Main Menu Introduction The Ideological Function of Stars: Contradictions and Promises of Individualism. Prompt Analysis Little Women (George Cukor 1933) Tomboyism: Negotiating and Celebrating a Strong, Sprited Woman in the Great Depression Sylvia Scarlett (George Cukor, 1936) "Woman of the Year" (George Stevens, 1942) Bibliography CATCH ME IF YOU CAN The Contradictions and Promises of Individualism in the Films of Katharine Hepburn 1933-1942

Conclusion

28637
This book explores how Katherine Hepburn’s star image and films from 1933 to 1942  articulate within and between contradictory texts that construct ideas about personhood and what it means to be human in society.  As Dyer explained in his seminal work on star image, our constant attempt to identify and negotiate authenticity in the star image and to lay claim to what the star is really like is because we want to understand our own self, and we therefore only want in stars differences that we also want.

With her aristocratic mannerisms, assertiveness and high spirits, Katharine Hepburn was the quintessential witty career woman of the silver screen in the 1930s and 1940s. From the author Jo to the actress Sylvester to Tracy Lord and Tess Harding, Kate played Kate--or at least, the Kate image she wanted us to see. When those images reaffirmed our culturally positive image of Kate on and off the screen, Kate's star image soared, and she received public and critical acclaim. When those images clashed with what the studios or we could choose to identify with, such as her thinly veiled, homoerotic on-screen images in Sylvia Scarlett, Hepburn became a box office poison.  Indomitable, Kate was one of the rare stars who understood that she needed to completely introduce a new Katharine Hepburn that was still independent and feisty but recognized her flaws and weakness, overcoming them to secure true love (the dominant heterosexual value). The result: a smash hit.

In 2003, at the age of 96, Hepburn died in her beloved Fenwick, Connecticut home, overlooking the Atlantic ocean. She had appeared in forty films in sixty years and received four Academy Awards. The American Film Institute recognized her as the "greatest female star of all time."  Hepburn never married again and had no children. But, she did have several long relationships with both men and women, including her almost forty year relationship with Spencer Tracy and her long-term relationship with Laura Harding. Although asked about her sexuality in light of her long-term relationships with several women and her masculine mannerisms, Hepburn never publicly disclosed to anyone if she was bisexual, responding to one press inquiry about her personal life, “Catch me if you can.” Of course, no one ever did, and no one will ever “really” know Katharine Hepburn. Yet, we all know her star image, and her mix of glamour, independence and freedom continues to shine brightly for generations of young women long after her death.

This page has paths:

  1. "Woman of the Year" (George Stevens, 1942) Josephine Andrews

Contents of this path:

  1. Bibliography