Richard Dyer’s‘Star Theory’

Richard Dyer believed that celebrities are ideas and are constructed by institutions to make money. These “Stars” are built up and made to target a specific group of people. Dyer says:

“Stars are commodities that are produced by institutions”.

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

“Stars represent and embody certain ideologies”

Dyer states that a star is an image not a real person. They are an image presented to an audience. Because of this construction it means we as an audience have expectations of them that they might not be able to meet.

A ‘Character’ is made when constructing a star which allows them to be known above other stars.

Dyer believed there are three things that makes a persona star:

Audiences and institutions

Constructions

Hegemony

Star Theory

Beyoncé is a good example of a ‘Star’ because she has many characteristics that turn her into a role model for a lot of people.

When people think of Beyoncé, they think she is:

Beautiful

A performer

Confident

Has a nice figure

Good personality

Is Charitable

Good at singing and dancing

A person who has lots of fans

She is also seen as a star to people because her fans call her “Queen B” this shows her as a strong and independent woman and makes her an idol for many young girls.

Beyoncé

According to Dyer stars are made to make money for an institution. Audiences will consume what they believe is the ideal person because they look up to and want to be like the star.

The institution creating this ‘star’ modifies the stars image around the target audience. They do this so the star is based on what the audience want. Or what the institution believes the audience wants.

Audiences and Institutions

Dyer believed that a star is built for an audience and is not an actual person. He stated that a persona is created for the audience to identify so they can stand out from the rest of people who are stars. A star is built specifically with someone's signature to them which will differentiate them from other stars.

An example of this is Lady Gaga. Her look is used to surprise people. Her outgoing look makes her memorable to her audience. It is unlikely that will be how she dresses all the time, when she is at home or not in the spotlight.

Constructions

The definition of ‘Hegemony’ is “Leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others.”

This means that we relate to a star because they have a feature we admire.

This admiration then develops into idolization. This idolization however is sometimes negative because people try and replicate the actions of their role model which sometimes is not the best behaviour or attitude to replicate.

Hegemony