“The achievement of star status itself would seem to be based not on talent or good looks any more, but on the risks taken for the camera by a whole host of stuntmen brought in from the fairgrounds and circuses: trick riding, controlled falls, suspended accidents and suicidal exploits, leading, with the coming of ‘live’ transmission, to the ‘confessional’ TV programme, to the so-called reality show, which shades over, at the edges, into the snuff movie.”
