Richard Dyer Star Theory

The Theory

• Dyers theory states that in order to be a star you have to conform to certain ideologies.

• Icons and celebrities are constructed by institutions for financial reasons and are built to target a specific audience so that they can make money.

• This is the artists job.

• The idea is…To be a leader and make people follow you. (audiences)

What he states…

• “Stars are commodities that are produced by institutions”

• “A star is a constructed image, represented across a range of media mediums”

• “Stars represent and embody certain ideology”

• “They are given themselves a persona to appeal to the public”

Breaking up the theory

The Theory can be broken up into 3 sections…

• Audience and Institution

• Construction

• Hegemony (cultural beliefs)

Audience and Institution

• Stars are made to make money.

• Audiences want to consume what they think/are made to believe are the ideal.

• The institution then modify the stars image around the target audience.For example: X-Factor contestants are made to; -lose weight, get nicer teeth, better hair and skin, and are basically transformed into the audiences ‘ideal’.

• X-Factor want the full package – The personality, performance and the looks – as this makes a star.

Construction• The star is built for an audience and is not an

actual person, a persona is created for the audience to identify with.

• This is so that they can differentiate between other stars.

Lady GaGa puts on a

persona and separates

herself from the rest by

wearing wacky outfits like this.

Hegemony (Leadership/dominance)

• We relate to the celebrity because they have a feature that we admire or share with them – this develops from admiration or idolisation.

• Some audiences attempt to replicate what they like about the star. For example: the perfect figure or fashion sense.

• To be a star they have to be this all the time.

• They are to be looked up to, for us to follow and for us to understand life in the sense that this is what we should be.

• They usually have a USP. (Unique Selling Point)

Richard Dyer

“A star is an image, not a real person, that is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials

(eg. Magazines, music, films)”

-1979