Stardust

This chapter considers the deep-rooted association of glamour with magic powers. Glamour’s bestowal of mystique on objects, people, and emotions depends on a more fundamental goal of inspiring magical thinking, an aspect of glamour that seeks to preserve the experience of enchantment in a disenchanted world. The Hollywood phenomena of star worship and iconic representation are discussed as secular religious practices that have developed in response to the changing conditions of modernity. The chapter shows how three conventional symbols of divinity—haloes, crowns, and veils—contribute to the idolization of a star and find expression in film music according to its own sonic vocabulary.