The Committee Celebrity in 2019

While the committee celebrity is undoubtedly a product of the 21^st century, its roots lie in the very beginnings of cinema, with the first stunt doubles. In the days of silent film, stars such as Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd Jr made their fortunes as slapstick acrobats, entertaining people with stunts and pratfalls which other actors would not dare to copy. This approach to action filmmaking hit problems in the talkie era, however, when acting talents other than mime were required to convey the story. How was a director to find talent which could both act and perform stunt work? The problem was one which vexed Michael Kurtiz during the filming of Casablanca, when Ingrid Bergman flatly refused to fling herself head first through a second storey window, and the proposed "Nazi massacre" scene had to be permanently scrapped. It was around this time that the role of the stunt double became a staple of the film industry and once established, it changed everything. Later in the 20^th century, actors such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone were able to build entire careers out of this situation, appearing in multiple films as "action stars", despite stunt men having performed all the scenes which made the films exciting. Around this same period, as Hollywood became less prudish about what it would depict sexually, films with erotic content would often make use of 'body doubles', when actors did not feel comfortable appearing naked on film. In a similar fashion to action films, such scenes would be treated as part of the actor's performance even when they were not actually on camera.

The first step towards a true Committee Celebrity came in early 2016, when the actress Drew Barrymore, for reasons of her own, sent her personal assistant to a radio interview in her place. It so happened that this PA was an aspiring comedian, and used the best of her talent to convey her employer positively. What happened next has struck some as unusual; the witticisms uttered by Barrymore's assistant were happily attributed to Barrymore herself. Those who noted that the words had no connection to the actress found their criticisms ignored. After all, Barrymore's rom-com loving supporters replied, the assistant still represented Barrymore, the way a speechwriter represents the speaker. Like the body doubles that had stood in for Barrymore in her terrible films, there was a collective acceptance that the substitution was valid as long as the celebrity's name was linked to the product. The result was a frenzy of outsourcing in Hollywood, with stars of film, television, and music creating positions for stand-ins in every avenue of public life. The seriousness with which these doubles were taken could be baffling, such as when Jack Nicholson was fined $50,000 after his charity stand-in came to blows with Ben Stiller's representative at a golf tournament in aid of the Make A Wish foundation.

It was only a few years later, in July of 2019, when studio executives realized that the celebrities at the centre of any team of stand-ins was unnecessary. This theory was validated when Toby McGuire managed to win an Oscar after being fired and replaced with a team of 15 people (though McGuire was later re-hired as his own hand model). Not long after, the first film starring a committee celebrity became a hit. This star, a product of the emerging "conceptual theatrics" industry, existed through a team of 27 people, including stuntmen, body doubles, comedians, "lingering gaze specialists" and a multitude of off-screen professionals. This brand, going by the label "Andy Dragis Inc" made The Notorious Crabs a record-breaking summer blockbuster, and went on to become a beloved icon among theatergoers. The new approach was a boon not only to studio executives but also sponsors, who no longer had to worry about being embarrassed by a star photographed in the midst of a drug binge. When it was felt a performer could use a tragic breakdown to give their brand some "edge", someone with suitable experience would be recruited from a downtown crack den and put on the payroll. But the advantages of the committee celebrity have reached farther than the bank accounts of the people at the top, the ordinary lover of cinema has benefited also. Around Hollywood there once existed the cliché of the aspiring actor, waiting tables with a strained enthusiasm, sure that their big break will come any day now. The same applied to the hopeful writer, director and producer, all waiting for their chance, and nearly all of them never getting it. Now most of these no-hopers have been given an opportunity to make their mark on cinema by being absorbed into the brand of a committee celebrity. Where once a little girl might have grown up wanting to be Marilyn Monroe, now she can be her legs. A little boy, idolizing John Wayne, can grow up to be his Bar Brawl Haymaker Consultant. Things have improved so much in such a short time, a demand has been met with a supply, and recognition for achievement has been correctly distributed.