Macaulay Culkin and child stardom in the 1990s

Macaulay Culkin was one of the most famous and highly paid child stars in the history of Hollywood cinema. He secured global fame through his leading role in Home Alone (1990), one of the highest-grossing comedies of all time. A major beneficiary of U.S. film industry’s increased investment in family entertainment during the early 1990s, Culkin was the first child star to be paid a million dollars for one movie.  The major Hollywood studios and various other non-media companies, including Coca-Cola, used Culkin’s image and performances, as both “objectified” and “embodied” capital, to sell a variety of products to children. Moreover, through the narratives of his movies, product endorsements and various off-screen activities, Culkin became a “idol of consumption” for nineties pre-teens. While the child star can exercise some agency through their performances, they have limited power over the formation and circulation of their identity and image in a wider context.  Drawing on an array of previously unexamined primary materials, I explore the ways in which Culkin, his father and the U.S. media industry tried to regulate and exploit his star image. Through consideration of press coverage of his career, I demonstrate that the selling of Culkin as “brand” was inseparable from a discussion of childhood and, also, of his peculiar status as child star. In particular, I discuss how representations of, and reactions to, Culkin’s star image drew attention to issues of innocence and knowingness. The chapter concludes with an examination of the rapid decline of Culkin’s Hollywood career, evaluating how his transition into adolescence distanced him from his established image and, thus, eroded his brand value

Mainstream maverick? John Hughes and new Hollywood cinema

My thesis explores debates on the commercial and textual priorities of New Hollywood cinema through examination of the career of John Hughes. I argue that scrutiny of Hughes’ career and the products associated with him expose the inadequacy of established approaches to cinematic authorship and New Hollywood cinema. By mounting a historically grounded investigation of Hughes’ career, his status within the cinema industry, and his work as a commercially successful and agenda-setting filmmaker, I aim to reevaluate existing perspectives on post-1970s mainstream popular U.S. media. Drawing on an extensive array of previously unexamined primary materials, the thesis focuses on Hughes’ shifting status as a “creative producer” within the U.S. film industry, as well as on the construction of the John Hughes “brand” during the 1980s and 1990s. I explore how Hughes secured considerable industrial power by exploiting opportunities presented by expanding ancillary markets and changing production agendas. I argue that established models for conceptualising industrial trends, such as Justin Wyatt’s “high concept”, fail to capture the complexities of Hollywood’s commercial strategies in this period. I conclude that historical research can challenge previous assumptions and contribute to a more detailed and precise understanding of the operations of the U.S. film industry in this period. By scrutinizing the films that Hughes wrote, produced and/or directed, I consider how Hughes’ films are complexly determined industrial productions that are shaped both by a set of radically fluctuating commercial imperatives, as well as by Hollywood’s standardized formats and frameworks. The production of Hollywood cinema may be a collaborative enterprise, but I argue that certain individuals and institutions can exert greater control over aspects of the process. In conclusion, I suggest that such a historical methodology can illuminate not just the work of one particular filmmaker but can shed new light on the broader operations of Hollywood as a commercial culture industry

‘Give People What They Expect’: John Hughes’ Family Films and Seriality in 1990s Hollywood

This article explores serial production strategies and textual seriality in Hollywood cin- ema during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Focusing on John Hughes’ ‘high concept’ family comedies, it examines how Hughes exploited the commercial opportunities offered by serial approaches to both production and film narrative. This article first considers why Hughes’ production set-up enabled him to standardise his movies and respond quickly to audience demand. The analysis then explores how the Home Alone films (1990–97), Dennis the Menace (1993) and Baby’s Day Out (1994) balanced demands for textual repetition and novelty

“Hollywood” Hulk Hogan: Stardom, Synergy and Field Migration

During the late 1980s, World Wrestling Federation star Hulk Hogan embarked on a career as a Hollywood movie star, through roles in several modestly-budgeted films produced by New Line Cinema. Building on recent examinations of “celebrity migration” between fields and studies of “promotional culture”, we explore how Hogan’s celebrity persona adapted to various economies and structures of fame in a changing media marketplace. This article explores how Hogan negotiated of codes and conventions of different popular cultural fields and media subfields. By doing so, we identify key tensions in the wrestler’s celebrity image during the late 1980s and early 1990s and reflect on the difficulties celebrities face when trying to become film stars

Measurement of cortisol in saliva: a comparison of measurement error within and between international academic-research laboratories

Objective: Hundreds of scientific publications are produced annually that involve the measurement of cortisol in saliva. Intra- and inter-laboratory variation in salivary cortisol results has the potential to contribute to cross- study inconsistencies in findings, and the perception that salivary cortisol results are unreliable. This study rigor- ously estimates sources of measurement variability in the assay of salivary cortisol within and between established international academic-based laboratories that specialize in saliva analyses. One hundred young adults (Mean age: 23.10 years; 62 females) donated 2 mL of whole saliva by passive drool. Each sample was split into multiple- 100 µL aliquots and immediately frozen. One aliquot of each of the 100 participants’ saliva was transported to academic laboratories (N = 9) in the United States, Canada, UK, and Germany and assayed for cortisol by the same commercially available immunoassay. Results: 1.76% of the variance in salivary cortisol levels was attributable to differences between duplicate assays of the same sample within laboratories, 7.93% of the variance was associated with differences between laboratories, and 90.31% to differences between samples. In established-qualified laboratories, measurement error of salivary cortisol is minimal, and inter-laboratory differences in measurement are unlikely to have a major influence on the determined values

BHPR research: qualitative1. Complex reasoning determines patients' perception of outcome following foot surgery in rheumatoid arhtritis

Background: Foot surgery is common in patients with RA but research into surgical outcomes is limited and conceptually flawed as current outcome measures lack face validity: to date no one has asked patients what is important to them. This study aimed to determine which factors are important to patients when evaluating the success of foot surgery in RA Methods: Semi structured interviews of RA patients who had undergone foot surgery were conducted and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis of interviews was conducted to explore issues that were important to patients. Results: 11 RA patients (9 ♂, mean age 59, dis dur = 22yrs, mean of 3 yrs post op) with mixed experiences of foot surgery were interviewed. Patients interpreted outcome in respect to a multitude of factors, frequently positive change in one aspect contrasted with negative opinions about another. Overall, four major themes emerged. Function: Functional ability & participation in valued activities were very important to patients. Walking ability was a key concern but patients interpreted levels of activity in light of other aspects of their disease, reflecting on change in functional ability more than overall level. Positive feelings of improved mobility were often moderated by negative self perception ("I mean, I still walk like a waddling duck”). Appearance: Appearance was important to almost all patients but perhaps the most complex theme of all. Physical appearance, foot shape, and footwear were closely interlinked, yet patients saw these as distinct separate concepts. Patients need to legitimize these feelings was clear and they frequently entered into a defensive repertoire ("it's not cosmetic surgery; it's something that's more important than that, you know?”). Clinician opinion: Surgeons' post operative evaluation of the procedure was very influential. The impact of this appraisal continued to affect patients' lasting impression irrespective of how the outcome compared to their initial goals ("when he'd done it ... he said that hasn't worked as good as he'd wanted to ... but the pain has gone”). Pain: Whilst pain was important to almost all patients, it appeared to be less important than the other themes. Pain was predominately raised when it influenced other themes, such as function; many still felt the need to legitimize their foot pain in order for health professionals to take it seriously ("in the end I went to my GP because it had happened a few times and I went to an orthopaedic surgeon who was quite dismissive of it, it was like what are you complaining about”). Conclusions: Patients interpret the outcome of foot surgery using a multitude of interrelated factors, particularly functional ability, appearance and surgeons' appraisal of the procedure. While pain was often noted, this appeared less important than other factors in the overall outcome of the surgery. Future research into foot surgery should incorporate the complexity of how patients determine their outcome Disclosure statement: All authors have declared no conflicts of interes