Representation of...

Stars

Representation

An image and an idea.

Stars & Stardom

‘Sometimes I just wish I could put records out anonymously’ – Lou Reed

Think about Stardom

Meta-Narrative

MythStar

Qualities

Super Star Commodity

Create a Pop Star’s Life Story Where were they born What sort of life did they

have before stardom What sort of stories

circulate about them? How is their life event

reflected in their music? How are their personal

values and beliefs expressed in their music?

Synergise the Star

How can you use the star image in other media products?

How can you use the music in other media products

What benefit may be gained by exploiting the star in this way?

The Myth of Stardom

In our society what do we believe about:• The nature of stars

• What benefits do they get from being a star?

• In what ways are they like us?

• I what ways are they special?

Qualities of Stardom

What sort of people are stars?

What attitudes and beliefs do they hold?

What do they do? How are they

‘allowed’ or ‘supposed’ to behave?

Retaining Stardom

Why do some stars seem to go on and on and on….

Why do some stars seem to be around for the briefest time?

What does a star have to do to stay around?

...STAR IMAGE?

Your task: analyse a...

Task - Using a range of materials...

..describe the representation of a star/band image similar to yours...

Your evidence comes from:• Biographical information

• Videos / Album Art• The style / design of promotional materials

• The content of those material

• Material in other media texts about the star(s) (Meta-narrative)

Lana Del Rey

Album Art

Official Videos

Other Media

Websites (Official and Fan)

Stars & Stardom

Some Star Theory

Richard Dyer

Dyer has written extensively about the role of stars in film, TV and music.

Irrespective of the medium, stars have some key features in common:

• 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 (eg advertising, magazines etc as well as films [music])

• Stars are commodities produced and consumed on the strength of their meanings.

Richard Dyer

Stars depend upon a range of subsidiary media (magazines, TV, radio, the web) in order to construct an image which can be marketed to their target audiences.

The star image as commodity is valuable and can be positively attached to other products

Music can be consumed in many different ways and appear in a variety of different media

Richard Dyer - Meta-narrative

Stardom is a meta-narrative and can be described as ‘mythical’

Meta-narratives are something we will be studying in G325 Postmodernism and is something you need to learn.

Stars & Stardom

Some Superstar Theory…

Richard Dyer

Fundamentally, the star image is incoherent, that is at once ‘incomplete’ and ‘open’. Dyer says that this is because it is based upon two key paradoxes.

Paradox 1

The star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer

Paradox 2

The star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer

Fulfilling the promise of stardom… The incoherence of the star image ensures that

audiences continually strive to ‘complete’ or to ‘make sense of’ of the image

Completion is thought to be achieved by continued consumption of the star through his or her products

In the music industry, performance seems to promise the completion of the image, but it is always ultimately unsatisfying• This means that fans will go away determined to continue

consuming the star in order to carry on attempting to complete their image

Hegemony

Finally, it can be argued that the star image can be used to position the consumer in relation to dominant social values, this is called ‘hegemony’• Depending upon the artist, this may mean that the

audience are positioned against the mainstream (though only to a limited degree, since we are still consumers within a capitalist system) or within the mainstream, or somewhere in between.