Ambivalent Si(gh)tings: Stardom and Silent Film in Mexican America

This essay examines the conception of Hollywood stardom within the US Mexican press of the silent era, presenting a case study of Hollywood's transnational reception while proposing a reconsideration of the conception of Mexican in silent film. Critics and fans selectively Mexicanized Hollywood via stars like Ramón Novarro, framing them as positive emissaries of the nation. Nonetheless, journalists persistently reminded readers that their own aspirations of stardom were futile, discouraging them from migrating to Hollywood. The tensions evident in this distance between ordinary readers and exceptional stars hinged precisely upon stratifications within concurrent conceptions of the transnational Mexican community: gender, race, and class.