ABSTRACT
The attraction of fame is a built-in part of the American dream. The age of celebrities began with the development of the American movies and the appearance of Hollywood as the star capital of the world. A celebrity must rise to the demands made on the symbol. He must be prepared for a life that is in many ways a contradiction of old-fashioned ideas about privacy and integrity. This chapter presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is concerned with how one becomes a public image through participation in dramatic encounters. It is concerned with the troubles the celebrity meets when he loses touch with his image or violates some feature of it. The book also examines the kinds of images it is possible to have and how the image can change. Finally, it is concerned with the meaning of the phenomenon of images in a changing society.
