Dyer's Star Theory

Dyer's Star Theory!

What is the star Theory? The concept that stars and celebrities are constructed for financial gain to target a specific audience. These "stars" are a fictional identity used to promote new things such a fashion trends or popular phrases. They act as though they are "real" publically, using emotions; however, his theory says that it is all for "show" and the consumers. Richard Dyer said that "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 [music])." Dyer proposes that the consumers perception of a film is heavily influenced by who it is being played by. Examples of this:The X Factor shows how "ordinary" people are changed and transformed into someone different in order to appeal to consumers, this is so they can use them as a mouth piece to promote other things they want to sell or incorporate into society.

Industry and Audience

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Stars are constructed mostly for one thing: to make money. Consumers are drawn in my the image of a star and they then begin to buy things which relate to them: albums, films, merchandise. The star is used to induce trends in people, fashion, hair, make up, phrases, weight (appearance) which make up a product of the generation. The image of this person that is built us is  for the audience alone, not the person.Culture and beliefs instil certain ideologies which need to be promoted and therefore stars with this get more recognition and perhaps for a longer period of time.Celebrities are constructed to seem more relatable to a specific audience and this is then exploited and recognised massively in the media in order to promote their ideas and products.

The stages

The stages of the theory:1. The making of the star2. Construction3. Audience and Institutions 4. Hegemony (Cultural beliefs) (Admiration for what they're experiencing. This then leads into idolization. 5. Character and personality. (This gives people an idea of what they think they should look or act like, women should be a certain weight or males should have a certain haircut in order to be "trending" with all the latest celebrities.)

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Caption: : Transformation of Rihanna over a few years

The audiences

These stars can go from one extremity to another, so that they appeal to a range of different audiences and encourage different looks and trends. Examples of this are: One direction (Young girls think there is certain "look" which becomes attractive), Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake and many more.

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Celebrities I would Include

If I could have any of the celebrities in my movie, I would have Taylor Momsen because she fits the image of the girl who I am trying to represent; she looks quite reckless and uncaring and that is the character profile I would like to go for.Taylors image, her clothes and make up, would all be carefully constructed over time to give her this overall image so that young girls find her more relatable and then idolise her.If I could have any male character in my film I would have Matt Lanter, he has the typical "American" boy looks, with his hair and looks, even how he dresses and other productions which he has appeared in. People typically recognise this look with Justin Bieber and One direction, which automatically makes girls more attracted to him.

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Caption: : Taylor Momsen