Imagine it all the rules you were raised to follow, all the beliefs and norms, everything conventional, shattered. Now imagine It Clara Bow, the It Girl. The epitome of the avant-garde woman, the archetype of the flapper, was Americas new, young movie actress of the 1920s. Modern women of the day took heed to Bows fresh style and, in turn, yielded danger to the conventional America. Yet Bows contagious and popular attitude came with its weaknesses – dealing with fame and the motion picture industry in the 1920s. Despite this ultimate downfall, Claras flair reformed the youth and motion pictures of her time.
Dubbed by Fitzgerald as the quintessence of what the term flapper signifies, Clara Bow served as the model for all flappers. A flapper was the new woman; attractive, sassy, worldly-wise, and briefly clad. The flapper took on an impish and tomboyish, at lead for their time, attitude. They danced on tables, rendering the recklessness of the new youth. But modern women proved to be a danger for the conventionalism of America. They influenced the change on womens rights, what was considered moral, and what was considered appropriate for women.
These issues had previously been for making a timid woman; upon the coming of the modern woman, these issues made for a modernist female. Clara Bows fame did not leave her nature tainted, in a sense. She did not become spoiled or uppity. She remained rather self-less and ignorant to fame and those in its power. Her impudent attitude never faltered; she continued to live as the chewing-gum-smacking eight-grade drop-out kid, unaware of convention. Hey psychological welfare, though, was greatly affected.
She was institutionalized, slit her wrists and throat, and eventually became the embodiment of an actress-gone-bad; booze, men, gambling, drugs, and insomnia. Claras experience with the motion picture industry gives us a picture of what it was like in the 1920s. It was new and intriguing, enticing and corrupt. The motion picture industry underpaid Bow, which is almost inconceivable today. The environment of Hollywood now pays actors and actresses corpulent amounts of money… but that may be the only change. The star-maker environment is still as enticing and corrupt as yesterdays.
Actors and actresses are corrupted indefinitely, leading to drugs, alcohol, and other harmful behaviors. The Hollywood of the 1920s and the Hollywood of today can be seen as virtually identical. Clara Bow was the It Girl that the young women of the 1920s strived to emanate. Her vibrant and reckless youth transformed the women of her time, throwing jeopardy at Americas prior conventional issues. Claras positive attitude went untouched by fame, yet her mentality suffered by the hands of it. Still, her innovativeness shaped Hollywood, then and now.
