Richard Dyer’s star theory

Tyrisha Lendor-Black

Richard Dyer’s Star Theory

Richard Dyers star theory fulfils the idea that pop stars are manufactured and

constructed in order to generate a financial gain. Furthering from this, he also

believes that stars are constructed to represent ‘real’ people that are

experiencing real emotions. They are constructed by their managers in order to

serve a specific purpose, whether that be through their music or their personal

life dilemmas. They are there to make money out of their audience whom thrive

off the interesting elements of the celebrities life and music therefore buying

their records and usually becoming a dedicated fan.

1. How do you become a pop starAlthough Rihanna was became big when she first

entered the industry, the clever management skills of

Jay-Z meant she has globalised as her persona has

turned from good girl to a rebel.

Along with this, her famous relationship with Chris

Brown and the drama that happened between them

caused many people to not take into consideration

her music for a while and be more concerned about

her personal life and the decisions she was making.

Through featuring in magazines Rihanna has also

been able to transform from a pop performer to a

pop star as they contained information on her

personal life as well as the outfits she wears to the

premiers and parties such as the Grammy’s.

Rihanna also has her own clothing and cosmetics

line coincided with River Island and Mac which has

attracted a larger audience. Even if people are not

fond of her music they want to know what she is up

to and often take time to

2. Stars as constructions Rihanna’s image can be seen as constructed due to her changing from good girl to rebel. Her tattoos back-up her persona and therefore shows that she has been constructed in order to meet audience expectations.

On the other hand, her presence can be deemed marginally iconic as when she shaved her hair and dyed it red it became a trending fashion which is still carrying on to date.

As well as this, Rihanna’s unique selling point is her personality and her sexual seductiveness. Through this, it has meant that Rihanna has been able to appeal to a wider range of people. By having a USP it means that more people are likely to engage with you. In Rihanna’s case it was not for her music but for the things she conducted outside of this such as relationships and love for fashion. Furthering from this, Rihanna being from Barbados can be used as a USP as more people want to undergo interviews with her to find out about her background and culture.

3. Industry and Audiences

Stars are in the industry to serve a purpose, in relation to

Rihanna her purpose is to appeal to young females and

males whilst her more mature context appeals to those

who are older.

It can be argued whether Rihanna is completely shaped

by her record label or whether she has self influence into

her appearance. Nevertheless, the character that she is

was created in order to make substantial amounts of

money.

It is clear to see where Rihanna has been shaped as

when she first entered the industry she was a quite shy

person who gained a fan base from her originality at the

time. Her first few songs were very cultural, however;

throughout the years she started to release her rebellious

side releasing songs such as ‘wait it over’. Once her

management realised that this act was appealing to

people they played on it and used it to their advantage.

This is where her songs turned to a real sexual nature

and had more to do with partying and drugs in

comparison to her initial love songs. However, Rihanna

still was pleasing her initial fan base by releasing songs

such as ‘man down’ and ‘no love allowed’ which showed

her Bajan culture.

4.Ideology and Culture

In relation to Rihanna, the fact that she is very adventurous

with her hair styles enhances her star quality. Many females

changed their hair according to the way that Rihanna does.

Along with this, Rihanna’s fans also find replica’s of her

clothing to match what she wears on occasions. Not only this,

but the fact that she has her face printed on t-shirts also

improves her star quality.

Rihanna frequently updates her Twitter page and Instagram of

pictures of herself participating in illegal activities. She also

uses foul language which her followers tend to pick up on and

then use. For Rihanna, twitter has become a base for her life

away from her music, this is as she also frequently has

arguments and confrontations with other artists.

In this day and age, many people base their youth and

sexuality on what is seen in the media. This can be related to

Rihanna as she is the type of individual to be very open about

what she does and how she conducts her lifestyle.

5. Character and Personality

Through the years of Rihanna’s career her character

and personality has changed and therefore she can

be seen to be ‘constructed’ and fulfilling the

hegemonic ideal. Her position within the female

music industry is very dominant and well-known.

When Rihanna first started her career her physique

was much more curvier, but as she became more

established her manager Jay-Z constructed her to

become thinner. This was to show her audience

‘what women are supposed to look like.’

Rihannas personality also changed from her Bajan

innocence to ‘good girl gone bad’ throughout the

years – this too was apart of her conforming to

hegemony as her personality made some people

see her as more beautiful.