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Articles

Vol. 11 No. 2 (2016): Stardom

Art in the Cage of Its Technological Reproducibility: Understanding Nicolas Cage’s Current Star Persona

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14288/cinephile.v11i2.198098
Submitted
April 23, 2023
Published
2015-12-01

Abstract

Given his “memeification” over the past decade, the time has come to give an accurate appraisal of Nicolas Cage’s star persona. This task is potentially complicated because much of the actor’s recent increase in popularity must be attributed to ironic appreciation rather than sincere admiration. Even as user-created compilation videos and online forums have made Cage’s visage ubiquitous across the Internet, they have done so primarily to mock him. Despite—or perhaps thanks to—such devoted ridicule, the process of dissecting and reproducing his film performances through remixes and online rituals has allowed Cage’s Internet “fans” to elucidate what makes those performances resonant. Rather than burying Cage’s star persona under ironic noise, the actor’s memeification has in fact helped to excavate from his films the immanent sublimity of his performance style.