5. Create a Pop Star’s Life Story
Where were they born
What sort of life did they
have before stardom
What sort of stories
circulate about them?
How is their life event
reflected in their music?
How are their personal
values and beliefs
expressed in their music?
6. Synergise the Star
How can you use the
star image in other
media products?
How can you use the
music in other media
products
What benefit may be
gained by exploiting
the star in this way?
7. The Myth of Stardom
In our society what
do we believe about:
• The nature of stars
• What benefits do they
get from being a star?
• In what ways are they
like us?
• I what ways are they
special?
8. Qualities of Stardom
What sort of people
are stars?
What attitudes and
beliefs do they hold?
What do they do?
How are they
‘allowed’ or
‘supposed’ to
behave?
9. Retaining Stardom
Why do some stars
seem to go on and
on and on….
Why do some stars
seem to be around
for the briefest time?
What does a star
have to do to stay
around?
11. Task - Using a range of
materials...
..describe the representation of a star/band
image similar to yours...
Your evidence comes from:
• Biographical information
• Videos / Album Art
• The style / design of promotional materials
• The content of those material
• Material in other media texts about the star(s)
(Meta-narrative)
18. Richard Dyer
Dyer has written extensively about the role of
stars in film, TV and music.
Irrespective of the medium, stars have some
key features in common:
• 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 advertising, magazines
etc as well as films [music])
• Stars are commodities produced and consumed
on the strength of their meanings.
19. Richard Dyer
Stars depend upon a range of subsidiary
media (magazines, TV, radio, the web) in order to
construct an image which can be marketed to
their target audiences.
The star image as commodity is valuable and
can be positively attached to other products
Music can be consumed in many different
ways and appear in a variety of different media
20. Richard Dyer - Meta-narrative
Stardom is a meta-narrative and can be
described as ‘mythical’
Meta-narratives are something we will be studying in
G325 Postmodernism and is something you need to
learn.
22. Richard Dyer
Fundamentally, the star image is
incoherent, that is at once ‘incomplete’
and ‘open’. Dyer says that this is
because it is based upon two key
paradoxes.
23. Paradox 1
The star must be simultaneously
ordinary and extraordinary for the
consumer
24. Paradox 2
The star must be simultaneously
present and absent for the consumer
25. Fulfilling the promise of
stardom…
The incoherence of the star image ensures that
audiences continually strive to ‘complete’ or to ‘make
sense of’ of the image
Completion is thought to be achieved by continued
consumption of the star through his or her products
In the music industry, performance seems to
promise the completion of the image, but it is always
ultimately unsatisfying
• This means that fans will go away determined to continue
consuming the star in order to carry on attempting to complete
their image
26. Hegemony
Finally, it can be argued that the star image
can be used to position the consumer in
relation to dominant social values, this is
called ‘hegemony’
• Depending upon the artist, this may mean that the
audience are positioned against the mainstream
(though only to a limited degree, since we are still
consumers within a capitalist system) or within the
mainstream, or somewhere in between.
Notas do Editor
Ref the students’ audience survey questionnaire which stated that for the audience the band was a hugely important factor in the purchasing habits, i.e. they want to follow a particular band and that the star image is therefore a important element. Thus Lou Reed’s wish is impossible
Also that they will understand that the stars lives which are constructed / projected in the media help us understand their work.
Music as product, music as part of conglomerates
Elicit ideas of ordinary made extra ordinary
The Fairy Tale of stardom is important here – Ideas of Celebrity
Youthfulness, Rebellion, Romance (The Most Important – Love and Loss), An anti-authoritarian attitude, Originality, Creativity/talent, Aggression/anger, Sexual Magnetism, A disregard for social values relating to drugs, sex and polite behavior, Conspicuous consumption, of sex, drugs and material goods, Success against the odds …
Stars remain by re-invention, that stars or their managers need to be aware of the zeitgeist and continually re-invent and evolve the star as society changes.
