ABSTRACT
During the first decades of the twentieth century, theories devoted to the shaping of human subjectivity flourished: Virginia Woolf marked 1910 as a turning point in human character, T.S. Eliot declared his radical vision of “impersonality,” and the entertainment industry-and popular culture more widely-was newly concerning itself with “personality,” particularly in the spectacular and carefully contrived birth of the movie star. Warren Susman has argued that human character was undergoing revision during the first decade of the century: character, the old ideal of a former age, was transforming into something flashier and more engaging. “Personality,” with its emphasis on charm, poise and likeability, became the watch-word of the modern age, bolstered by the publication of self-improvement manuals, the emergence of fan magazines such as Photoplay (first published in 1911), and the new industry of motion pictures. Charm, magnetism, and fascination quickly emerged as the desirable traits of the twentieth century, replacing such fogeyish terms as “virtue” and “strength of character.” “Character,” in the old morally-freighted sense, was practically declared outmoded. In this climate of refurbished human character was created a potent mix of public fascination and an almost magical potential to transform human form into something better, light-infused, and enduring.
