Richard Dyer's "Star Theory" argues that pop stars are constructed entities meant to generate financial gain for their managers. The document applies this theory to Rihanna, discussing how her image and persona have been shaped over time through her management, relationships, fashion, and lifestyle portrayed in media to appeal to wider audiences and transform her from a "pop performer" to a global "pop star" brand. Her changing appearances and increasingly explicit and rebellious persona were constructed to meet audience expectations and hegemonic ideals about femininity.

1. Richard
Dyers
‘Star
Theory’
ihanna
Applied to…

2. Richard Dyers ‘Star Theory’
Richard Dyers ‘Star Theory’ meets the idea that pop stars are
manufactured and constructed in order to generate a financial
gain. Furthermore, he also believes that stars are constructed to
represent ‘real’ people that are experiencing ‘real’ emotions. They
are constructed by their managers in order to serve a specific
purpose, whether that be through their music or their personal
predicaments. They are there to make money out of their
audience, who thrive off the interesting elements of the celebrities
life and music therefore buying their records and usually
becoming a dedicated, life long fan.

3. Dyers theory can be broken down into 5
sections:
1. The making of a star
2. Constructions
3. Audience and institutions
4. Hegemony (cultural
beliefs)
5. Character and
personality

4. The making of a star
While pop star Rihanna became big when she
first entered the industry, the ingenious
management skills of Jay-Z meant that she could
globalise as her persona which has gone from
being a ‘good girl’ to a ‘bad girl’. Along with
this, her famous relationship with rapper Chris
Brown and the drama that transpired between
them caused many people to not take into
consideration her music for a short while and be
more concerned about her personal life.
Through appearing in magazines Rihanna has also
been able to transform from a ‘pop performer’
to a ‘pop star’ as they revealed information
about her personal life as well as the famous
outfits she wears to premiers and parties e.g.
The Grammy’s. Rihanna also has her own
clothing line with ‘River Island’ and cosmetics
line ‘Mac’, which has attracted a larger audience
for her.

5. Constructions
Rihanna’s image can perhaps be seen as constructed
due to her changing from a ‘good girl’ to rebellious one.
Her tattoos support her persona and show that she has
been constructed in some way in order to meet her
audiences expectations. Alternatively, her presence can
be considered slightly iconic as when she shaved her
hair or dyed it red, it instantly began trending and still is,
even now. As well as this, Rihanna’s unique selling
point is her crazy personality and her seductiveness.
This has meant that she’s been able to appeal to a
wider range of people. By having a unique selling point
it means that more people are likely to engage with you.
In Rihanna’s case it was not necessarily her music but
the things she did in her personal life, such as
relationships and fashion statements. Also, Rihanna
being from Barbados can be used as a unique selling
point as more people want to have the opportunity to
interview her to find out about her background and
culture etc.

6. Audience and institutions
Rihanna’s purpose is to appeal to young adults/teenagers,
whilst her more explicit content appeals to those who are
older. It can be argued whether she is completely shaped by
her record label or whether she has her own input into her
appearance. Nevertheless, she was created in order to make
considerable amounts of money. It is clear to see where
Rihanna has been shaped, when looking back at when she
first entered the music industry, she was a shy girl who gained
a fan base from her originality at the time. Her first few songs
were very cultural. However, throughout the years she started
to show her rebellious side, releasing songs such as ‘S&M’.
Once her management saw that this facade was appealing to
people, they used it to their advantage. This is where her
songs began to have a more sexual nature to them and had
more to do with partying, drugs and sex in comparison to her
initial love songs. However, Rihanna still was satisfying her
initial fan base by releasing songs such as ‘man down’ and ‘no
love allowed’.

7. Hegemony
The fact that she is adventurous and unique with
her hair styles enhances her star quality. Many
females changed their hair to match the way that
Rihanna styles her. Also, her fans also find replica’s
of her clothing to match what she wears on
occasions or simply wear shirts with her face on
them.
Rihanna frequently updates her Twitter page and
Instagram of pictures of herself participating in
illegal activities. She also uses profanities which her
followers tend to pick up on and then use
themselves. For Rihanna, twitter has become a
huge part of her image, this is because she also
frequently has arguments and confrontations with
other artists on the site. In this day and age, many
people base their life choices etc. on what they see
in the media. This can be related to Rihanna as she
is the type of individual to be very open about what
she does and how she conducts her lifestyle.

8. Character and personality
Throughout her career, Rihanna’s character
and personality has changed and therefore
she can be seen to be ‘constructed’. Her
position within the female music industry is
a very dominant one and she is well-known
worldwide. When Rihanna first started her
career her physique was much more
curvaceous, but as she became more
established as an artist she was constructed
to become thinner and give off more sex
appeal. This was to show her audience
‘what women are supposed to look like.’
Rihanna's personality also changed from
her innocence to ‘good girl gone bad’
throughout the years, this too was apart of
her conforming to hegemony as her
personality made some people see her as
more beautiful and dangerous.