Socialist Stars in the GDR

IN 1964, THE EAST GERMAN fan magazine Filmspiegel asked its readers, “Haben wir keine Stars?” (Don't we have any stars?) to which it answered, “‘Ja’ sagen die einen—‘Nein’ die anderen.” And then it offered, “Vielleicht hangt diese Meinungsverschiedenheit allein schon mit dem Wort ‘Star’ zusammen” (“Yes,” say some—“No,” say others. … Perhaps this difference of opinion has to do with the very word “star” itself). The star concept was seen as antithetical to socialist values and rooted instead in capitalist concepts of individualism, glamor, consumption, and scandal. However, by the early 1960s, it became clear that the state-owned East German film industry, DEFA, was in competition with western cinemas and could not ignore the important social, cultural, and political potential of having national star images: the domestic and international validation of an East German socialist culture, an appeal to public desire through the performance of individualized life experiences, or the embodiment of types such as the beloved rebel. From an official standpoint, a socialist star would offer an engaging performance of the “all-around” socialist personality.

What did the “all-around” socialist personality look like, and how did she behave? By way of example, I look at Jutta Hoffmann (b. 1941), whose screen characters portrayed a problem for East German women: “the issue of her potential inner liberation and the difficulty of finding happiness.” In particular, Hoffmann's figures lived and functioned in a state where women found their roles in public life vastly expanded under socialism. This expansion came without the necessary fundamental changes to gendered hierarchical practices in the public sphere, or to private practices in matters of love, desire, and family. Stars like Jutta Hoffmann were expected to exemplify the gender-neutral qualities and characteristics of the “all-around” socialist personality: versatility, ability, accessibility, identification, and the embodiment of the values of work, community, perseverance, and strength. The individual experience exemplified in Hoffmann's performances of intersecting categories of identity challenged the ideology of the well-rounded and fully engaged “socialist personality” without questioning its validity.