2. Richard Dyer’s star theory.
Richards star theory is that celebrities are constructed by institutions for financial gain and are
designed around what the audience want and what will attract the most fans to that celebrity.
Richard Dyer’s theory can be broken into segments, these are stars as constructions; Richard states
that “A star is an image not a real person, that is constructed out of a range of materials” – these
materials would be advertising, magazines, films and music. He says that it helps if a celebrity has an
image and if this image has a unique selling point (USP); this is because fans will remember that
celebrity because of their image and they would want to copy it. Another segment is audience and
industry; Richard says that stars are manufactured by the music industry to serve a purpose, this
purpose is to gain money from the audience. He says that record companies shape their stars into
something that will attract audiences and will make them liked by the public, he quotes that “stars
are commodities produced and consumed on the strength of their meanings”. Another segment is
ideology and culture; Richard says that we relate to the star because they have something that we
admire and that we can relate to and this is what makes the star idols to the audience as we feel
like we share something in common with them. The last segment is character and personality; Dyer
believes that stars are presented as 'real' human beings and that they are representations of the
contradictions as well as reinforced ideas that we see in the music industry. He also argues that by
seeing a stars lifestyle through the internet, magazines and newspapers will make us feel closer to
them as we feel as though we know them.
3. MILEY CYRUS
Miley Cyrus is an American actress and singer. In 2006, she was
established as a teen idol with the success of the Disney programme,
Hannah Montana where Miley played the role of Miley Stewart and
Hannah Montana. She began to develop an adult image and a
more mainstream pop sound. This change in her image resulted in
releasing the highly successful single Party in the USA which went on
to become her highest peaking single on the Billboard Hot 100 ever.
She then further adapted to a mature image with the release of the
film The Last Song and her third studio album, Can’t Be Tamed. The
album included more dance elements than her other albums, and
her performances featured a more sexual theme. She then featured
in the film LOL which included themes of teenage rebellion and her
character using drugs and drinking.
4. MILEY CYRUS – Stars as constructions/
audience and industry
Miley Cyrus began her career as Hannah Montana, she
targeted her music to young children, mainly girls. Hannah
Montana had an iconic image of long blonde hair with
sparkly clothing. Miley was developed into the image of
Hannah Montana because her record label thought that this
was the best way to attract a wider fan base and this was
proved right when the programme and her albums were
successful. As Miley was growing up, her image dramatically
changed and she matured almost instantly, she dropped the
Hannah Montana character and disassociated herself from
Disney. She was developed into a teenage rebellion. At the
beginning of her career she was an idol for many young girls
as she was sweet and innocent but suddenly she became a
“sex symbol” and wasn’t the role model that most young girls
would look up to. She then dramatically changed her image
and changed her long brown hair to short blonde hair and
carried on with the punk image; her record label and
management shaped Miley into this new fashion icon for
teenagers and people of her age, this allowed her to attract
a new, current audience and to keep her fame updated so
it would last longer.
5. MILEY CYRUS – Ideology and culture/
character and personality
Miley Cyrus constantly tweets about her adopting dogs,
she encourages her followers to follow in her steps and
save homeless dogs and give them homes. She is a big
advocate for homeless dogs and promotes adoption by
plastering twitter with pictures of herself and her newly
adopted pets; this is creating a star persona for Miley as
she is conveying her ideas and opinions on things other
than her music.
Miley has been shaped and developed her image
throughout her life and every change is due to the fact
that times are changing and she needs to fit in with what
the audience expects and what they want to see. Her
personality has changed from being a sweet, innocent
Miley, who led a double life as Hannah Montana, to being
this sex symbol and a teenage rebellion then ending up
becoming a punk idol who creates trends and keeps up
with the latest fashion. Although she has changed her
appearance and her personality, she has always been the
typical pop star which is thin and beautiful, this allowed her
to keep the audience interested in her.
6. Reflection.
I will use Richard Dyer’s theory to create my own star image for my artist because now
that I have researched it I know how important it is to develop my artists image so that
they keep up with the times and they stay updated. It’s important to get the star image
right for my artist so that I can attract the right audience and fans to my artist. In order for
them to make an impact on the industry, my artist will have to be different than all of the
current artists so that they stand out from them and are recognisable. It is important that
my artist is shaped into the star that audiences want to see and expect to see because
that way they would be interested in them and so they will be successful. My artist will
have to have a unique selling point (USP) so that they start a new trend, like the Bieber
haircut, which will allow them to make a mark on the industry which would make them
remembered and therefore successful.
7. Reflection.
I will use Richard Dyer’s theory to create my own star image for my artist because now
that I have researched it I know how important it is to develop my artists image so that
they keep up with the times and they stay updated. It’s important to get the star image
right for my artist so that I can attract the right audience and fans to my artist. In order for
them to make an impact on the industry, my artist will have to be different than all of the
current artists so that they stand out from them and are recognisable. It is important that
my artist is shaped into the star that audiences want to see and expect to see because
that way they would be interested in them and so they will be successful. My artist will
have to have a unique selling point (USP) so that they start a new trend, like the Bieber
haircut, which will allow them to make a mark on the industry which would make them
remembered and therefore successful.
