The cult of celebrity in the '60s and '70s was really more reserved for movie stars or high socialites. Paparazzi didn't care about Janis Joplin.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
To her audience, Janis Joplin has remained a symbol, artifact and reminder of late Sixties youth culture. Her popularity never derived from her musical ability, but from her capacity to link her fantasies of freedom and immortality with ours.
I think no-one was surprised to hear that Janis Joplin was dead. She seemed to be living up all of her energy that she had to give in just a few years. Now you listen to covers of her songs by various women, and it's pale in comparison.
I'm not bothered by the paparazzi and I don't feel hemmed in, I've never felt that. My youth, mind you, there wasn't quite the same attention to celebrities as there is now, but I've never felt that.
America? They had a good girl singer, Janis Joplin.
Actors didn't use to be celebrities. A hundred years ago, they put the theaters next to the brothels.
Anyone can be a celebrity now; this is not a big deal anymore.
To be honest, I miss the old Hollywood way of having some mystique about the star.
People have always been obsessed by celebrities. There are just more outlets and opportunities to make a living exploiting that obsession nowadays.
The whole ecosystem of celebrity has broken down for writers. If you go back to the '50s, '60s, and '70s, writers were on TV a lot, and they were allowed to misbehave a lot.
What I've learned is that you really don't need to be a celebrity or have money or have the paparazzi following you around to be famous.