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The count had all the Star qualities. Everything about him was ambiguous and open to interpretation. Colorful and vibrant, he stood out from the crowd. People thought he was immortal, just as a star seems neither to age nor to disappear. His words were like his presence, fascinating, diverse, strange, their meaning unclear. Such is the power you can command by transforming yourself into a glittering object. Andy Warhol too obsessed everyone who knew him. He had a distinctive style, those silver wigs, and his face was blank and mysterious. People never knew what he was thinking. Like his paintings, he was pure surface. In the quality of their presence Warhol and Saint-Germain recall the great trompe l'oeil paintings of the seventeenth century, or the prints of M. C. Escher, fascinating mixtures of realism and impossibility, which make people wonder if they are real or imaginary. As a Star you must stand out, and this may involve a certain dramatic flair, of the kind that Dietrich revealed in her appearances at parties. Sometimes, though, a more haunting, dreamlike effect can be created by subtle touches: the way you smoke a cigarette, a vocal inflection, a way of walking. It is often the little things that get under people's skin, and make them imitate you. The lock of hair over Veronica Lake's right eye, Cary Grant's voice, Kennedy's ironic smile. Although these nuances may barely register to the conscious mind, subliminally they can be as attractive as an object with a striking shape or odd color. Unconsciously we are strangely drawn to things that have no meaning beyond their fascinating appearance. Stars make us want to know more about them. You must learn to stir people's curiosity by letting them glimpse something in your private life, something that seems to reveal an element of your personality. Let them fantasize and imagine. A trait that often triggers this reaction is a hint of spirituality, which can be devilishly seductive, like James Dean's interest in Eastern philosophy and the occult. Hints of goodness and big-heartedness can have a similar effect. Stars are like the gods on Mount Olympus, who live for love and play. The things you love, people, hobbies, animals, reveal the kind of moral beauty that people like to see in a Star. Exploit this desire by showing people peeks of your private life, the causes you fight for, the person you are in love with for the moment. Another way to seduce is by making your victims identify with you, giving them a vicarious thrill. This was what Kennedy did in his press conference about Truman. In positioning himself as a young man wronged by an older man, evoking an archetypal generational conflict, he made young people identify with him. The popularity in Hollywood movies of the figure of the disaffected, wronged adolescent helped him here. The key is to represent a type, as Jimmy Stewart represented the quintessential middle-American, Cary Grant the smooth aristocrat. People of your type will gravitate to you, identify with you, share your joy or pain. The attraction must be unconscious, conveyed not in your words but in your pose, your attitude. Now more than ever, people are insecure, and their identities are in flux. Help them fix on a role to play in life and they will flock to identify with you. Simply make your type dramatic, noticeable, and easy to imitate. The power you have in influencing people's sense of self in this manner is insidious and profound. Remember, everyone is a public performer. People never know exactly what you think or feel, they judge you on your appearance. You are an actor. And the most effective actors have an inner distance. Like Dietrich, you can mold your physical presence as if you perceived it from the outside. This inner distance fascinates. You are playful about yourself, always adjusting your image, adapting it to the times. Nothing is more laughable than an image that was fashionable ten years ago but isn't any more. You must always renew your luster or face the worst possible fate: oblivion.