RICHARD DYER – STAR THEORY

Alex Harris

WHAT IS THE STAR THEORY? Richard Dyers start theory is the idea

that icons and celebrities are constructed by institutions for financial gain and to target one specific group of people. He believes that celebrities are constructed to represent ‘real people’ experiencing real emotions. Stars are created by the music industry to serve a purpose which is to make money out of the audience because fans idolise these stars and buy their music and products.

THREE PARTS TO THE THEORY Audiences and Institutions - Stars are made for money

purposes . Increasing the brand identity benefits the institution as they become a household name increasing sales in all of the different aspects of media. The institution then models the artist around the target audience they choose. For example Lady Gaga’s fashion was seen to be chosen so that the audience can relate to her as a person and also her music.

Constitutions - This is more or less the same as the audience and institution part of his theory.

Hegemony- This is also know as 'culture'. It is the idea that the audience relates to the star because they have a feature they the share or admire with the star. Some fans may attempt to replicate the star in their behaviour, what they and what they do. But this could also be a negative impact as some stars often are heavy drinkers and drug abusers. For example in the 60’s and 70’s there was an increase in cannabis sales due to The Beatles being open about using it.

EMINEM IS AN EXAMPLE

MAKING OF A STAR Rap artist Eminem is a well known artist who

is listen to by millions worldwide with a huge fan base. His identity isn’t necessarily defined from his music but his story. He began his career as the Slim Shady and was a user and alcoholic. The film 8 Mile, represents the story of Eminem of his rise to stardom. With 27 top 10s, Eminem has debatably become the biggest rap artists of his time. When he made his transition from Slim Shady to Eminem he ditched the drugs and drink and with the backing of his fan base is now doing bigger and better things.

STARDOM Richard Dyer insists that true pop stars have a

long lasting legacy if they make sufficient cultural or sociological impacts, if not they will not be remembered by their fans.

Marshall Mathers (Eminem) has started his own charity called the Marshall Mathers Foundation. Eminem's charity helps disadvantaged youth in his home state of Michigan. It has made donations to food banks and youth groups and participates in fundraisers with organisations such as Eight Mile Boulevard Association. He once presented $10,000 on behalf of the Marshall Mathers Foundation to the family of a 6 year old boy who had received a kidney transplant.

CHARACTER AND PERSONALITY Dyers theory suggests that stars are

made from money and that purpose alone. Stars are often transformed to provide an image of their time and culture. They start as a ‘real’ human and then are change. For example, Eminem used a to be a drugged up rap artist but fans have seen him get through this tough stage of his life and recently went on a World Tour playing in stadiums such as Wembley Stadium and the Stade De France.

NEGATIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF EMINEM Although Eminem has come out of the

alcoholic stage of his life, and many see this as something to look up too, there are many who don’t see it as plainly.

People believe that eventhough Eminem overcame a difficult stage in his life, his lyrics still refer to violence and curse words. Admittedly, rap is on the whole a rather mature genre but some of his younger fans are age around 12 and parents believe that his music is not suitable for this age group.