Poll Sug: Complete This Sentence."The Movie Star is a Thing of the Past?!? Try Telling That to _____!"

I think movie stars is a thing of the past in the sense that it wasn't just about money power, box-office grosses driven by one name, media coverage or some social and political relevance stars seemed (more or less genuinely). Edward G. Robinson didn't need Oscar nominations to be a star, not to mention... Marilyn Monroe.

Yesterday's stars were more than actors, they were faces, attitudes, icons, they defined archetypes, mindsets, dreams that are still relevant today. Bogart, Cagney, John Wayne, Astaire and Rogers, Mastroianni, Toshiro Mifune, Lino Ventura, Gabin, it wasn't a Hollywood thing, it was a Cinema thing.

No doubt Tom Cruise and Leo are stars, but when you think of Cruise, you gotta take the worst with the best, when you think of Leo, you also have this image of a forty-something playboy who enjoys his wealth and good locks can have any girl with a snap of fingers, and today, star actresses feels the need to make everything a matter of "men vs. women" (not the same wages, representation etc.) It's like either stars are judged or judges.

I know there were trashy tabloids in the past, drugs and sex in Hollywood and it wasn't was all stardust and dreams. But today, we have the Internet, Instagram and Twitter, fandom has turned into some 'hero worship', one is a feminist, one is a model for some community, just because they're stars, we give them some credit they don't always deserve because we live in an era that worships 'visibility', if you don't exist on the Net, you just don't exist and whatever you say might not matter.

Anyway, I'm not sure where I side exactly in this "star" issue but what I feel is that today, we love stars because we wish we could live like them or be them 'as stars', but for the stars of the past, we wish we could be them, as persons or "characters".

PS: I just saw a film for the first time, 1923' Safety Last, yes, they don't make movies like they used to be, I'm not sure any movie star would pull such stunts as Harold Lloyd did, now, that's one hell of a dedication he showcased in his film. 

Thanks to Peter who referred me to this BBC article: "The 21st Century's 100 Greatest Films," which states, "Some film journalists even think the movie star is a thing of the past." Which one of these currently working actors would you present to the journalists as proof of a modern bonafide movie star? Each made at least five films as the lead role and made a film within the last two years as star or 2nd lead.  Voice over in animated movies counts too.

Discuss it here ( Click Here) after you've had a throw-down with the journalists.

I trimmed a bit like you requested, including the following:

1.) I removed "actresses" because "actors" can, and, except in awards' shows, often is used for both men and women. 

2.) You can shorten it a bit more by omitting "(Click Here)" and just hyperlinking "Discuss it here."

3.)I took out "(I prefer two or three movies within the last five years)" because that's important for people making suggestions on the GS thread to know, but not necessary for someone voting. Perhaps you could post that on this thread in a list of guidelines. If you want to make the intro shorter still, you could also take out "Each made at least five films as the lead role and made a film within the last two years as star or 2nd lead.  Voice over in animated movies counts too." and move those to the list of guidelines, as well, and then direct the voter to the GS thread if they wish to see the guidelines. You could write something like "See the guidelines or discuss it here after you've had a throw-down with the journalists." 

Another way to keep it briefer would be to start with "The BBC article, "The 21st Century's 100 Greatest Films," states, "Some..." and instead acknowledge Peter on this GS thread, either in a new post, or adding it to the original post, or, if you post guidelines, putting it there, perhaps in bold.

I hope this helped. I'm an English instructor and, it's really odd, but I kind of miss editing now that it's summer and I'm not currently teaching, so thanks for giving me a chance to practice editing, lol.