Richard Dyer developed the star theory to explain how celebrities are constructed through the media. The theory has two key points: 1) celebrities must seem both ordinary and extraordinary at the same time, and 2) they must be both present and absent simultaneously. The Smiths exemplified this through retaining their ordinary Manchester image in songs while also cultivating extraordinary fame. Britney Spears also fits the theory by seeming both innocent and controversial through her changing public persona and reliance on scandals to stay relevant. The document discusses how understanding star theory can help shape the image and audience of a music video.

1. RICHARD DYER’S STAR THEORY

2. WHAT IS DYER’S STAR THEORY?
The ‘Star’ theory is a theory created by Richard Dyer,
who was a British media theorist.
It is about the creation of a ‘Star or in other words
celebrity, through the media. Stars really heavily on
subsidiary media like magazines, the internet and TV
features as well as their main focus such roles in major
films or bestselling albums in order to help construct an
image of themselves. Stars are manufactured by
institutions with the goal of financial gain. These
institutions prey on audiences to feed into the image of a
star and make money for them and the star.

3. DYER ALSO SAYS THAT STARS ARE BASED ON TWO
KEY POINTS…
THE STAR MUST BE EQUALLY ORDINARY
AND EXTRAORDINARY AT THE SAME TIME,
THE STAR MUST EQUALLY BE PRESENT AND
ABSENT AT THE SAME TIME.

4. THE SMITHS
One band that can relate to Dyer’s Star Theory is The Smiths. The Smiths are a rock band who were
formed in Manchester in 1982. Despite the Smiths incredible success they still retained the image of a
band from Manchester, with Morrisey – the lead singer – singing about Manchester in their songs.
For example Morrisey sings in their song Suffer, Oh Manchester so much to answer for’. Then in the
song The Headmasters Ritual he sings ‘Belligerent gouls run Manchester schools’. The fact that they
still retained their Manchester image through their songs and their attitude despite their rising popularity
it showed their ordinary side. However they were also known as extraordinary through their growing
fame and the indie style they established through their clothes and their sounds.
This aligns The Smiths with the first key point of the Star Theory due to the fact they remained ordinary
and extraordinary.

5. BRITNEY SPEARS
• Britney can also relate to Star Theory as she can be
seen in two ways. Firstly Britney is an iconic artist who
was known for being innocent pop songs and then
developed into singing more explicit pop songs like ’If
You Seek Amy’. As well as this she has caused a lot of
controversy over the years. For example Britney and
Madonna sang and danced to “Like a Virgin” on stage
at the 2003 MTV VMAs with Christina Aguilara.
Madonna and Britney paused for a kiss and the world
replayed the video over and over again. They also
included the completely stone-faced Justin
Timberlake’s reaction, who was Britney’s ex. This shows
how stars like Britney rely on controversy and
constantly changing up their images to stay relevant

6. I can adopt this into my music video as we can use the
image which Britney Spears has to influence my video,
making it feel more like a music video and remain relevant
attracting a similar audience to those who watch Britneys
videos. However I could also go about the route of using
an opposite image and style in my video to Britney Spears
– such as Lana Del Rays style – to attract a completely
different audience to my music video
HOW CAN I USE DYER’S STAR THEORY?