Richard Dyer Star TheoryRepresentation Theory

The Idea that icons and celebrities are constructed by institutions for financial reasons and are built to target a specific audience or group of people. Dyers theory is broken down into 3 sections: Audience and institutions- make money, control weight/image Construction- a persona is created for the audience to identify with Hegemony (cultural beliefs)

Dyer states: “Stars are commodities that are produced by institutions” “A star is constructed image represented across a range of media and

mediums” “Stars represents and embody certain ideologies”

Dyer’s Theory..

For Example:

Beyoncé

Attractive

Style/fashion

Married someone famous

TV appearances

Confident

Ambitious

Happy Personality

Powerful lyrics

Constructions

The star is built for an audience and is not an actual person, a persona is created for the audience to identify with and so stars can differentiate between different stars and why they are like them or not. The star is built specifically with someone's signature to them that differentiates them from other stars e.g. Lady Gaga

Hegemony(leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others)- we relate to the star because they have a feature that we admire or share with them. Develops idolization. Some people might try to replicate what they like about the star. However could be negative as some take drugs etc.

‘A star is an image not a real person that is constructed (as any other aspect of friction is) out of a range of materials (e.g.

advertising magazines etc as well as film and music)’