Richard dyers ‘star theory’

Richard Dyers Star Theory

Richard Dyers Star Theory

Applied to Kanye West

Dyer states that:

A star is an image and not a genuine/real individual.

The star is constructed from a range of materials, e.g. magazines, advertisements, film, music etc.

Stars are constructed by institutions, such as record labels, with the aim to launch financial gain and target one specific audience/group of people. But as many from that group as possible.

The stars persona is a fictional identity, allowing no restrictions in terms of musicianship. Therefore new forms of financial gain, e.g. fashion trends have a wider spectrum.

Theory Breakdown

The making of the star

Construction

Audience & Institutions

Hegemony (Cultural Beliefs)

Character & Personality

The Making of the star

Kanye West is largely known for his appearance as well as his musical career. Whilst he continues to perform and release new tracks and albums, theres constant news stories based around his appearance and his persona. This attention on his personality and what he does creates an image of himself and therefore creates a star.

Hes categorised as a rapper yet a large sum of his financial gain is formed from his clothing range: Yeezy and his record label: GOOD Music. In addition hes the founder of creative content company: Donda and hes also a record producer.

His star image was furthered when he married the well known individual Kim Kardashian. This marriage took focus off of his music and instead focused on him as a person.

Constructions

Kanyes personality can be seen as being constructed by many as hes transferred from being a well known rap artist into a global figure, widely known for his actions and antics on worldwide television.

A recent example of this construction could be Kanyes on stage announcement in front of millions of people, that hell be running for president in 2020.

In addition, his popularity has took a massive increase in recent years as his clothing line released a shoe section that struck mass income as Yeezys were worn by many celebrities, posted on all social media platforms and become a highly ranked footwear selection for everyone.

This fashion statement and arrogant personality is now seen as his selling point and what hes well known for and is what his fans are expecting.

Audience & Institutions

Kanyes purpose within his audience is to appeal to many and all ages if possible but the large majority of his audience will come from ages 16-25. However, It is questionable as to whether his audiences appeal of him is based around his persona or his performances and talent. Either way his original purpose was to make money.

His original audience aim was for 16-20 years old as his first persona was as a street based rap artist. As the popularity grew, his record label recognised the potential for further popularity and therefore increased profit levels and encouraged him to go on and enhance his reputation by creating his own persona based on news headline stories and popular brands.

In addition, his target audience will have branched out to more females of ages from 12-30 as his relationship with Kim Kardashian developed.

Hegemony

A prime example of Kanyes appearance would be when you look into his clothing and footwear franchise. His brand is designed tailored to his opinion and input. Yeezy is a representation of what Kanye likes to see and look for when he personally picks clothes for himself. When the public and other celebrities then go out and purchase these items of clothing and wear them themselves, that shows just how idolised Kanye really is. His fans will adjust their appearance in order to look like him.

Kanyes social media and in particular, his twitter, is a mass arrangement of all his online followers and fans as he has 15.7 million followers, yet only follows Kim Kardashian. So them followers are fully intrigued to know what hes currently doing. Hes also able to promote events such as album releases, tours and his brand.

Character & Personality

Throughout his career, Kanyes personality has always been an outgoing, confident one. But as his popularity and fame increased, so did that confidence. So much so that many now see it now as arrogance. But thats now a key aspect of this newly developed persona and character that the world knows of. Kanyes never been a large character, build wise, hes always been quite average, in height and weight. But as his fame grew, his appearance became a bigger issue and aspect of his life. His physique now-a-days in comparison to the old Kanye is much more muscular and well kept. A transformation largely sourced from public eye and opinion. This also increased the sex appeal towards any of his female fans, luring them into focusing upon him more and purchasing more of his produce. Hes seen as a much more dangerous and outrageous character in the current day of age, a movement that his record label and himself would hope would attract further popularity and income.

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Education

Richard dyers ‘star theory’