Starsuckers

The documentary tells how celebrity culture is put together. The work divides that into five separate parts. The first is how children are taught that being famous is something to want. The second is how television and the press reinforce it. The third is why human attention runs that way. The fourth is the press becoming dependent on celebrity coverage. The fifth is the thing turning round: celebrities and their handlers now steer the press. To show that, the film sold made up celebrity stories to British newspapers, and the papers printed them. Max Clifford and Nick Davies are among those who speak. Chris Atkins’s film, a hundred and three minutes long, was completed in 2009.