Richard Dyers star theory refers to the idea that celebrities are goods manufactured by institutions. Dyer believed that celebrities are constructed to represent 'normal people' blown out of proportion. He believes that they are made out to look like they are experiencing real emotions in order to relate with the audiences and sell products such as films or music. Celebrities are made to fit the era , by this I mean they are adapted and re designed to grow with their audiences. Dyers believes stars are constructed and trademarked, he believes they are constructed through music videos, films, magazines etc.
Richard Dyer's star theory suggests three main features that make a star.
1. The star as a construction
Stars are shown in a multitude of different ways, their images , how they are shown through advertising television, magazines etc, have been created by their management to create an image for the artists.Images can and will vary to make them stand out, they can either be presented to be down to earth or highly ' out there' and unpredictable. These different aspects and different ways of selling their artists, presents them in different ways to their audience, meaning they will attract a different type of audience, this is all dependent on what type of audience they are trying to target.
An example of this would be Ed sheeran compared to Avicii.
Ed Sheeran is presented to be down to earth and just a man on his guitar singing, this image presents his music being written from the heart and having a different genre compared to Avicii and this can be shown simply by the image of the artist. In this photo even the outfit is down to earth and not drastic.
Compared to Avicii who is made to go all out which is also presented in his songs. Even in staging their is a clear difference between the two artists , Avicii being more extravagant.
2. The star as a commodity
Richard Dyer believes secondly that stars have been constructed by their record label to appeal to ther target audiences. This means that the success of the artist would be shared success between them and their label. Different types of magazines, featured bands or artists on the front cover as their image becomes the commodity that will attract the target audience to by the music or magazine.Stars are created to make profit, therefore labels find patterns between artists to make sure the artist is successful this explains why so many different boy bands are very similar.
3. The star as an ideology
This is what the band or artists represents and or believes in, this can be used to fit the target audience or to gain a larger audience. An example of this would be groups who follow Avicii's belief that you should live the life you want.
Avicii as my example
Avicii is a star who is a cross between down to earth in his lyrics however he is extravagant when it comes to his performances.
Avicii's Instagram however is very down to earth, he comes across as a very humble guy.
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