I love our society’s fascination with celebrities and especially their downfalls with drug use, affairs and career ending issues, and honestly, I’ve always found it fascinating. People that we have no personal interaction with earn a high priority of our concern because of what? An emotional connection with their show? Adoration for idolized people? Regardless, I’ve reluctantly been hooked to tabloid headlines as much as I try to avoid them. A particular type of media that captured my attention was the E True Hollywood Story, which are one- hour TV specials that give an in depth overview of actors and other celebrities who were once beloved but now face deep and concerning issues. The cinematography, the voice of the narrator and the story telling framework work beautifully to capture interest and establish empathy between viewer and subject.
Here’s an example of beloved child actor Macaulay Culkin. The star that brought us the Home Alone movies and whose scream cemented a fond memory during our childhoods.
But what happened to this famous child actor? He’s fallen out of the public eye. His money from his child acting endeavors have been lost. Want to find out what led to the demise of this perfect kid, E True Hollywood stories gives you the answers:
In my repurposing project, I chose to imagine a hollywood scandal never talked about: The Teletubbies dramatic fall from grace. In my essay, I looked at Tinky Winky’s “journal entries” and analyzed his psychological and economic response to being framed as a homosexual, losing a fortune of money and living now as a large television set in a living room (his TV in his belly is the only thing valuable now). Wouldn’t a True Hollywood story be a good fit for a remediation of this satirical analysis? I’d try to create the same emotional connection with the audience, while at the same time laying the framework for his demise and WHY it happened.
What about the way True Hollywood makes stories is interesting that you think you would want to replicate? Tabloid sounds like a fun and attention-grabbing way to remediate your project.