Doubling in Kim Novak: how a rebellious sex symbol was constructed and received in 1950s America

Introduction

Kim Novak, “a blonde with an hourglass figure, husky voice and expressive eyes”, is an eminent name in 1950s America known for her distinctive screen presence (Feinberg, 2021, p. 48). Under contract to Columbia from 1954 to 1962, with Harry Cohn being a “tyrant who had manipulated Novak had also chosen her parts carefully” (Kashner & MacNair, 2002, p. 214), Kim starred in various movies and cemented her place in filmic history in Vertigo (1958) (Lippe, 2011). Yet after Cohn died in 1958, the projects assigned to her became banal (Kashner & MacNair, 2002).

From 1954 the beginning to 1958 the peak of her stardom, the construction and reception of her star image can be closely resonated with Richard Dyer. Therefore, drawing upon his theory, this essay aims to explore Kim’s star image from 1954 to 1958; it is argued that she presents a doubling profile intermingled in private and public spaces, amid the changing feminism trend in American society. Specifically, a perspective of contemporary young female audience will be highlighted, showing that in a productive yet critical way, they digested and amplified her “Lavender Blonde” profile as sexual and mysterious.

Dyer’s theory of stardom

In his 2004 book Heavenly Bodies: Film Stars and Society, Dyer defined star image as manufactured in two stages -- firstly, the real person will be packaged with state-managed public appearances, thus the persona contains what Karl Marx called “congealed labor”; secondly, it can be superimposed with other labor to produce the subsequent commodity, a film, in where the stars’ screen roles can add layers to that image (Dyer, 2004).

In addition, Dyer (2004) explicated that the “individual” is a way of perceiving human as a discrete entity, each of whom possesses an “irreducible core”; stars articulate both the promises and the challenges that individuality performs, while the coherence within yields the “reality” of the stars. As individuals, stars also embody relationships with society. Stars are exploited by industrial machines, which exhibits the division of private and public spaces. Particularly, studios have to consider audience receptions of the star image for better monetary value (Dyer, 2004).

Kim Novak’s Star image

As a lush and bewitching screen goddess (Haley, 1963), Novak can be firstly identified with carnality, or as Truffaut (1983, p.247) put it, a “passive, animal quality”. Notably, Technicolor spectacularly contributed to 1950s filmmaking; just as extolled in Martin Scorsese, “She was born for the color in ’50s films,” Novak shined brightly in the filmic world (Feinberg, 2021).

Comparatively, Vincent Barnett (2007) and Richard Lippe (2011) pointed out that rather than a studio-constructed sex symbol, she formulates a more complex persona. Barnett (2007, p.203) supposed that she epitomizes the cool externally/passionate internally contrast often in a “wife/sex kitten dichotomy”. Correspondingly, since many of her films were cryptically challenging the patriarchal structure, Hantke (2015) interpreted that Novak's doubling can hint at the ideological tensions within the milieu of late 1950s America when women began to seek expression to their worth in an oppressive culture. As for her controversial personal life, she was reported to have a secret love with Sammy Davis Jr., a black actor, and fought with Cohn for her right to love (Kashner, 2013).

Equivalently, the studio system was fading partly as a consequence of competition with television at that time, thus following the changing cultural imagination in post-war Hollywood, transforming from its classic to its post-classic period, she enacted a star that emerged from the male gaze but struggled to discover new oils for development.

In summary, as Lippe (2011) put it, the star image of Novak, combining the glamour of classical cinema with the anxiety rooted in post-WWII culture, observes the renegotiation of femininity by emitting dual charisma of both conventional as erotic, desirable and rebellious as outwardly more authentic or natural. Kim Novak could be seen as a direct challenge to the conventional view of women as nurtures and her persona thus became much more problematic to male desire.

Analysis of Novak’s image

In the early twentieth century, Sigmund Freud accented the division of mentality into consciousness and unconsciousness (Freud, 1927) and the tenets of dual human psyche began to be actively represented in 1950s Hollywood films (Brode, 1992). Accordingly, Barnett (2007) concluded that in three of Novak’s films she played explicit doubles, and in six others she portrayed implied binaries. Considering the repeated clue, doubling is possibly the most seminal feature that permeates through her career, which is saliently emphasized by her appearances in Vertigoand coverages from Life.

Appearances in Vertigo

Costume, Hair, and Makeup comprised interconnected departments in the package-unit system of film production, intending to achieve narrative coherence and more importantly, establish star images (King, 1985; McLean, 2016). Specifically, one of the most frequent patterns in Hitchcock’s films is the blonde/brunette opposition, exemplified prominently in Vertigo (Walker, 2005). Madeleine is blonde as enigmatic and aristocratic, while the brunette Judy is unworldly and maternal as an “insecure commoner” (Haskell, 1974). It is well established that the two roles played by Novak form many intersections with her star persona, or as Lippe (2011) saw it, the movie utilizes her image, which connotes both the upper-class socialite and the vulnerable girl, to construct its narrative.

Indeed, coiffure is regarded as crucial in demarcating individuality (Biddle-Perry, 2018), while Dyer (2004) mentioned that stars also register the doubts accompanying it. Plots showing Scottie shaping Judy’s hairstyle can be seen as commenting on the star system operations; further, here the presentation was produced within the industry to seek for a marketable persona (Gaines, 1990; Walker, 2005). The aura of otherness did make her a more individual commodity, yet a less individual person.

Life magazine

Compared to the overt double signals in motion art, photo collections give a more concealed presentation through trifles. Life, known for its photojournalism, was once one of the most popular magazines in America (Renn, 2017). A cover story about Novak from a 1956 issue can be closely linked to the private/public oppositions aforementioned.

For instance, the picture shows Novak sits with a distant facial expression in the center of the frame, as two agents fervidly discuss her career, out of focus in the foreground (McCombe, 1956). “I was being treated like a commodity…I only knew I didn’t like it”, she commented on the picture (Cosgrove, 2021). With the conspicuous focal length discrepancy, the individual/social contrast is vividly demonstrated; just as Dyer (2004) indicated, stars work for the studios but the goods they produce seem divorced from them, which senses the commodification. Additionally, a photo showing her trying on mink but preferring casual dress suggests the predilection on naturalness over artifice; her bursting into tears after being assigned as a costar displays her instinctual desires by the ID/ego contrast.

According to Dyer (2004), values like “naturalness” and “ID” are more privileged, implying that stars function in terms of the inner core. Conversely, what worth noting is that although Life tends to favor the private side, the story offers both dimensions for viewers, which could arguably stimulate stronger reception. However, even with the declaration of the inner self, the irony is that the star phenomenon takes place in mass media where destructively invades them. For example, for the cover picture, Novak is presented more ostensibly, wearing a lavender knitted sweater and gloves, holding a lavender decorative umbrella, which closely follows the publicity tactic that she is a “Lavender Blonde”.

Audience’s reception of the image

Along with the image construction, the reception of it among contemporary young females should be marked. The choice of audience is inspired firstly by Hitchcock (1995)’s statement that heroine must be primarily attracted to the female audience; secondly, by two posters showcasing her best-known endorsements for LUX soap and No-Cal soda (“Lux Soap Ad”, 2021; “No-Cal Ad”, 2019). The fact that these products are mainly targeted at young female consumers indicates that their digestion of her persona might worth attention.

Plus, it is well documented that fan magazines, such as Photoplay and Screenland as pioneers, focus mostly on a young, female audience (Slide, 2010; Stacey, 1994; Stamp, 2020). Surveying the general coverage of Kim, her mysterious beauty can be viewed as first and foremost underscored by this group. In particular, they seem most curious about her “Lavender” label, while little reviews concerning her rebellious side are generated or they are quite surface (James, 1955). This is perhaps due to her extremely outstanding appearances can be appealing to young females and the feminist perception was only at an early age; plus, those might be largely camouflaged by the massive publicity. Specifically, The girl with the lavender life (Scullin, 1956) amplified the “Lavender” text by describing how her life is surrounded by lavender and telling her personal experience about lavender perfumes. Having sensed the ardor, the studio further vivified it by assigning her homologous roles that engage with supernaturalness.

The reciprocal process is aligned with Dyer’s theory on audience reception. However, what he overlooked is that fan magazines can be a problematic site in studying it. Taking the ground of “the medium is the message” and considering the limited communication channel in the 1950s, it is not hard to imagine that studios can exert influence on fan magazine discourses. Coupled with it, what he also ignored is that each persona is followed by certain hidden meanings, sometimes invented by the audience, that might deviate from the track. As King (1985) points out, screen persona can confine stars in a way that cannot be controlled. Of course, chances are studios are willing to see more mutations which they also deem beneficial to the notability (may further foreground the manufacture demanded by the promotional machinery).

Conclusion

To sum up, this article employed the theoretical framework of Dyer to deconstruct the star persona of Kim Novak from 1954-1958. Inserted with features from Freud’s psychoanalysis, her classical screen roles allow her image to appear dual attributes, being both sexual and unaffected, both compliant and subversive. The fact that one single person (or image) can internalize two incompatible qualities assumably dissolve the unsolvable political conflicts between the conventional view on female as the second sex and new independent femininity. The contemporary young female audiences mostly perceive that image in a shallow manner, potentially underlining the immaturity of feminist culture.

Born from conceptions of both “pure” feminine beauty and “immoral” female sexuality, Novak’s persona obey alluring sexuality, whereas can be seen as rebellious towards the patriarchal society in 1950s America, thus she “had an edge, an aloofness that hinted at deep wells of undiscovered emotional potential” (Barnett, 2007, p.96).

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