Canadian Women Film Directors Database
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Quote:
"I argue that Canada's cultural claiming of [Nell] Shipman is made possible by the nature of her original stardom, which embodied ideals of late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Canadian nationalism. Her 'picture personality' as a wilderness heroine was reified during the tenure of her stardom from 1911 to 1924 and now is available through artifacts of stardom—posters, promotional materials, and the film images themselves—to be plucked out of their original contexts and repurposed to promote a cinematic cultural heritage for the country that claims authenticity as 'God's Country.' By focusing exclusively on Shipman's star image, however, Canada's cultural claims elide complex and contradictory aspects of Shipman's career and politics in order to assert an idealized cinematic national heritage."
-- Amy Shore


Source:
Shore, Amy. "Rediscovering Nell Shipman for Canadian Cultural Heritage." In Celebrity Cultures in Canada, edited by Katja Lee and Lorraine York. Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2016. (p. 21)