Richard dyer - Star theory

Liban Abdulahi

Star tHEORY 

Richard Dyer is an English academic who specialises in cinema. His star theory is based on the idea that celebrities are manufactured  by institutions to maximise their prospective financial gain and so the star image is artificial. He surmises that stars must be represented like the audience whilst simultaneously possessing a unique talent that makes them different and special. Dyer's theory can be broken down in to three sections; Audience and institutions, constructions and hegemony.

audience and INSTITUTIONS 

The purpose of a star is to make as money as possible. This means that institutions will manufacture the image of the star in order for the purpose to be achieved. It is pivotal therefore that the target audience identifies with the star as Dyer argues that the audience strives to complete the star image through the consumption of their shows, products and merchandise. 

Constructions

This is the belief that the image of the star is artificial and as such the star is not a real person but rather an augmented version of the audience. The star is manufactured with a quirky trait that is unique to them. This is commonplace in today's music industry as seen in Lady Gaga's fashion and Nicki Minaj's ass.   

Hegemony

This is the idea that the audience personally identifies with the star as they have trait or feature they admire. Admiration quickly turns into idolization. Often times younger audience members want to relate to the star and as such style their hair in the same way or dye their hair the same colour. This can also have a negative effect as sometimes it is their negative attributes that are duplicated. Stars represent shared cultural values and they expect their audience to agree with their cultural discourse. The rise of social media has allowed these stars to establish their own values and followers of the star are now expected to agree and engage with the discourse.