The Year In Pictures (2007) - Vanity Fair

This Vanity Fair "2007: The Year in Photos" shows actors/comedians/musicians Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx with beautiful singer Beyonce in a shared picture for their 2007 movie Dreamgirls. As many people already know, Eddie Murphy is the least successful out of the three when it comes to his music career. With one notable song called "Party All The Time" in 1985 that was written and produced by Rick James. He began his career as a very successful comedian turned actor, and it was all down hill from there. Similarly, Jamie Foxx shared the same career path. However, Jamie Foxx ended up winning an Oscar for his roll as Ray charles in the 2004 movie Ray. Beyonce Knowles has also had a great deal of success in her career, winning five grammy awards in 2004 alone.

So the question you might be asking is, why is Eddie Murphy there? He never played a serious roll before, and his 2002 movie The Adventures of Pluto Nash cost $120 million dollars to make and it only grossed about $7 million dollars total. I believe that the same way Harold Innis said that ideas move from the periphery to the center, when the idea sells out, it moves back out to the periphery. For example, when a new actor or comedian first hits it big, he is coming from the periphery, because he is fresh and new, and he is moving into the center.


However, if the enterainer loses his control of the fame and "freshness" he will sell out and remain in the center for a while. This is precisely what happened to Eddie Murphy. He made a few movies which did very well in the theaters. Yet, later on Eddie was pulled over by a police officer with a transvestite prostitute in his car. When asked why the prostitute was in his car, he replied "I'm married with three children. I'm not going to be out there screwing hookers off the street or anything like that. I'm just being a nice guy... I was being a good Samaritan. It's not the first hooker I've helped out. I've seen hookers on corners... and I'll pull over... and they'll go, Oh you're Eddie Murphy, oh my God, and I'll empty my wallet out to help"... (NNDB)



Shortly after that Eddie Murphy disappeared from the entertainment scene for a while and only appearing as a voice actor in the animated movie Shrek. This was basically his move away from the center and back in the periphery. This way, it is possible to make a comeback. An entertainer must move back to the periphery so that he can come back with a fresh look and attitude in order to be accepted back by the public. Therefore, the promotional picture for the movie Dreamgirls above is the perfect comeback for Eddie Murphy with a "matured" character, and rocking the same old smile.

Sevigny, Alexandre. "Minerva's Owl." Communication Studies 1A03. Hamilton, Ontario, Canada: McMaster University Custom Courseware Production Services, 2004. 1-16.