2. Who is Dyer?
• Richard Dyer was born in 1945, he is an
English academic who specialises in cinema.
• He was born in Leeds and raised in the
suburbs of London.
• Throughout his career he has taught courses
on race and ethnicity, film, stardom,
Hollywood, Italian cinema and representation.
3. Star Theory
• Dyer developed the idea that viewers’
perception on a film is directly influenced by
the perception of those who star in it. He also
claimed that publicity materials and reviews
determine the way that the audiences feel
about the film.
• Dyer is quoted in saying “A star is an image,
not a real person that is constructed out of a
range of materials”
4. • There are others who agree with this theory,
those that agree say that stars are now
manufactured by the music industry to serve a
purpose (the purpose being to make money
out of audiences)
• This is why there are lots of ‘photocopied’ boy
bands, who look the same and have the same
style music
5. What he did
• Dyer analysed critics’ writing, magazines and
their advertising of films. He did this to
explore the significance of stardom.
