Richard Dyer's Star Theory

1. This theory is the idea that icons and celebrities
are constructed by an institution for financial
reasons and are built to fit a specific target
audience. This suggests the celebrity is not a
person in their own right but s product that is
marketed by the record companies.
This idea can then be broken down into three
sections:
• Audience and Institution
• Constructions
• Hegemony

2. This states that stares are made to make money and for that reason alone. Because of this,
stars are created to target a specific target audience in order to be sellable to the audience.
Audiences want to consume what they believe is the ideal and a star is made to fit that so
that an audience is going to look up to them as an example of how they believe the ideal
should look. An audience will then consume this and the institution will make money, not
on the artist but on the product they have constructed.
An example of this is the X-Factor in which stars are turned away if they do not have the
right look to be a star. Many contestants are sent through based on their looks or
personality rather than on their singing ability. An example of this is Rylan Clarke who was
a contestant on the 9th season of the series. He didn’t have the best voice in the
competition and there were acts who deserved to get through over him. He made it to the
final because he had a desirable personality that an institution would look for in a star. The
audience then responded to this and he made it to the final five contestants.
Other examples of how this is used on the show is each of the contestants being given
make-overs once they reach the live finals. They are edited by the institution so that they
fit the ideal standard for what a star is supposed to look like. This happened with season 11
contestant Paul Akister who was turned away at the judges houses stage the season
before. He returned with a new look, having become closer to what would be seen as the
ideal. He made it through to the live finals. All of this helps to prove Dyer’s star theory.
Audience and Institutions

3. Stars are constructions made by the institutions they are signed to so that they
appeal to a certain target audience.This is done to make them appear as what
the audience identify as the ideal for a star. This is also done to create
distinctions between each of the stars because of their unique character traits.
This helps an audience differentiate between certain stars and help them to
decided weather they like them or not.
An example of this would be Lady Gaga who is known for her unique dress and
music videos.This is a construction done to add something unique to her
character in order to make it easy for the audience to remember her.This has
created a fan following for Gaga but it also caused some criticism towards her
with some labelling this as an attention grabbing stunt. Other celebrities also
have unique attributes that help them to stand out from the crowd such as Nicki
Minaj’s colourful wigs and Amy Winehouse’s beehive hairstyle.
Artists who do not follow this tend to be more forgettable and can easily fall into
the conventional look for what a pop star should look like. An example of this is
Pixie Lott who has no unique factor. She appears as what an audience would
consider is the ideal but she doesn’t have anything trait that helps to distinguish
her from other artists.
Constructions

4. Leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others.
An audience relates to a star because they have a trait that the audience can relate to or
admire.This can develop for admiration to idolisation leading to an audience member
seeing an artist as the ideal and wanting to become like the artist they admire. The artist
has dominance over the audience and they have become the leader of the fandom they
have gained. This could be a negative thing as sometimes stars can be bad role models for
an audience leading to their fans acting in a negative way because of the way the star has
acted.
An example of this could be Miley Cyrus who is known for her outlandish actions that many
people in the media perceive in a negative way. However, those who look up to her as a role
model will see this as the way to act because the person they admire is acting this way.
Also because of an audiences obsession with seeing being slim and beautiful as the ideal,
an audience may try and replicate the ideal set by there role model and end up ill because
of their attempts. A man may also see being in shape as the ideal and try to replicate this
also.
A star is the leader of their own fandom and because of this the star often creates fandom
names as a way to relate to the audience and make them feel like part of a family.
Examples of this include Ariana Grande’s fans being known as Arianators, Justin Bieber’s
fans being known as Belibers and One Direction’s fans being known as Directioners.
Hegemony

5. • Stars are constructed so that an audience can relate to them. They are
made to sell albums and make the institutions money.They are not a real
person but a persona that has been constructed.
• Pop stars personas are made so an audience can relate to them. It helps if
the artist has a USP (unique selling point) so that an audience can copy
off them and create and ideology based on the star.
• Dyer states “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 (e.g. advertising
magazines etc as well as films and music)” – 1979
• Stars are made and groomed to meet the expectations of the viewing
audience.This can be linked to Laura Mulvey’s male gaze theory as the
star is there to be looked at as a desirable person.
• A pop star is an ‘image’ presented to the audience.
TheTheory

6. Because a star is constructed, we are made to have expectations of what
these stars are like.They have the same ideology that the audience keeps
consuming over and over again.
• Boy Bands: boyish, fun loving, attractive (e.g. One Direction,The Vamps,
5 Seconds of Summer, Union J)
• Girl Bands: skinny, giggly, pretty (e.g. Little Mix, The Saturdays, G.R.L.)
• Female Solo Artists: pretty, girly (e.g. Ariana Grande, Beyoncé, Demi
Lovato)
• Male Solo Artists: well groomed (e.g. Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, Pharrel
Williams)
Expectations

7. • Stars create cultural values and attitudes that an audience may also have the
same beliefs e.g. The Jonas Brothers wearing of purity rings or Demi Lovato’s
support of the LGBT community.
• A star may initiate a new fashion trend/hairstyle/clothing that is copied by an
audience e.g. Cheryl Cole’s outfit from the ‘Fight for this Love’ music video or
Amy Winehouse’s beehive hairstyle.
• Stars have an influence on our culture and have the power to shape society's
ideologies because of how they influence an audience. For this reason the
stars need to be a positive influence on the audience.
• The stars are presented as real human beings to the audience even though
they are a construction made by the institution.
• Stars support hegemony/dominant ideology of their time/generation –
glorified versions of us. This I through the use of things such as fandom
names.
• Stars are representations of the contradictions/reinforced ideas of the music
industry.
Ideology and Culture &
Character and Personality

8. Overall what Richard Dyer’s theory tells us is that stars are constructions
created by the institutions they are signed to, as apposed to real human
beings.They are created with the intent of making money. To do this they
must be what is seen as the ideal by the audience so that they can have
hegemony over the audience. Without this the stars would not have the
power they need to sell their music to an audience.The stars become icons
to an audience and can even become role models to some. However, some
stars have a negative impact on the audience because of the way they act,
which will influence an audience to act in the same way.
Stars do what they believe will be best to sell music which means they
usually conform to conventions found in other successful acts of the same
genre (such as One Direction being the ideal for a boy band). However,
artists also have to have a unique factor in order for them to stand out and
gain a fan base.
Summary