Research & analysis of a star Dyer's Theory

Richard Dyer's Star Theory 

Common values of music stardom

• Youthfulness
• Rebellion 
• Sexual magnetism 
• An anti-authoritarian attitude 
• Originality 
• Creativity/ talent
• Aggression/ anger
• A disregard for social values relating to drugs, sex, and polite behaviour

Richard Dyer's theory is based on celebrity icons who he believes are manufactured by institutions in order to gain a financial profit. His theory is divided into a number of sections:

1. Stars as constructions

2. Audiences and institutions

3. Ideology and culture
4. Character and personality

Stars as constructions 

Richard Dyer wrote about the role of stars in film, Tv, and music. Dyer suggested that a star is not a real person but someone who is constructed out of a range of materials (e.g advertising, magazines, films as well as music). He said they depend upon a range of subsidiary media such as magazines, Tv, radio, Internet in order to construct an image for themselves which can be marketed their target audience. An example that relates to Dyer's point is TV programmes such as The X Factor  that shows  us the  construction process of an ordinary person being  groomed, styled and coached into fulfilling a set of record company and market expectations.

Industry and Audience
Richard Dyer believes that stars are made for financial purposes. Fans respond to various elements of the stars persona and therefore go and by their records, products and other brands associated with the artist. Many artists have a shelf life of only a few years releasing maybe 2 albums. Eventually fans start to get bored and so they generate diverse stars that means something for all age groups and that are able to re-brand themselves. An example of this is Madonna. Over the years every album she has released she has changed herself in order to keep the focus of her fans. The star is based upon two paradoxes:The first one being that the star must be simultaneously ordinary so that they are relatable, and extra-ordinary for the consumer. The second paradox is that the star must be present in the media and absent for the consumer.

Ideology & Culture
Stars represent shared cultural values and attitudes, and promote certain ideology. A star may start a fashion trend for example, and the fans will continue this trend by imitating the same fashion, hairstyle, make up etc. An artist that resembles this is Rihanna. Through social networks, now more than ever the artists are able to voice their values and opinions in a way that is not just through their music. One artist in particular that uses this techniques is Lady Gaga. Regularly she expresses her opinions about LGBT issues through one of the most popular social networking sites Twitter.

Character & Personality
This is where the star starts of as a 'real person' and eventually gets transformed and constructed into the idealised role model. Stars provide audiences with ideas of what someone is supposed to look like. For example in society it is seen fashionable to be thin and beautiful.The star supports hegemony by conforming to it by being thin and beautiful themselves. Sometimes they oppose it by providing a difference such as being a larger yet still attractive (e.g Adele.) In nearly every magazines there is a discussion on the star compares to the current hegemonic ideal and we compare them.

Miley Cyrus

Artists are known for having a shelf life of two years before they are seen as old and boring. To keep this from happening, artists are known for making drastic changes in their 'Personalities'. Over time new artist come along and bring something new. Artist such as Madonna and Britney Spears have changed there personalities and music in order to keep up with the changes in the music industry. Their new look keeps the audiences attention which furthers the artists popularity. Another example of this is Miley Cyrus.

Miley Cyrus is an american actor and singer who is known for playing Disney Channels 'Hannah Montana' In 2007 Miley signed with Hollywood records in which she release her first album. The album feature one of her most successful songs 'The best of Both Worlds'.

'Best of both worlds'

In the music video 'Best of Both worlds' Miley's image is represented as a young, exciting teen pop star. This was done through mise-en-scene elements such as clothing. The artist is seen to be wearing jeans, boots and a bright pink sparkly top. This is conventional in a pop video as she is portrayed as a young, fun teen star who is a role model to many young fans across the world. The connotations of the colour pink suggests her target audience is aimed more at girls rather than boys. This is because pink is often seen as a gender specific colour and therefore would attracted a larger female fan base. This relates back to Dyer's theoretical point of character and personality as she is shown to be fun, fashionable and supports hegemony by being thin and beautiful.

Further genre characteristics were displayed in the music video when Miley is seen to be following a dance routine with a group of other dancers. Therefore this shows that the music video is performance based which is a convention of a pop teen music video. It also reflects on Goodwin's Theory as there is evidence of a relationship between the music and visuals. The rhythm of the dance routine is parallel to the beat of her song. This is effective as it enables the audience to get up and dance to the song and view her as a role model. It is also appropriate for her young aged target audience as they are able to copy the choreography and dance along to the song.This relates back to Dyer's star theory as at the time Miley was constructed to be a teen star, an idol to you fans worldwide. She was promotes through subsidaires such as TV shows 'Hannah Montana' which then got created into a movie. 

There is more evidence of Goodwin's theory in the music video. A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals is shown when Miley is seen to be dancing in a way that resembles the lyrics of her song. When she sings 'Mix it all together' she shows a circle motion with her arms. This is a generic convention of a pop music video as it displays fashionable, simplistic dance moves that a younger audience is able to copy and dance to. This is also shown when she goes on to sing 'Without the shades and my hair, you can go anywhere' This reflects that she is wearing a blonde wig as it shows her star identity instead of 'A small town girl' Miley Stewart. This is useful as the music video helps the audience understand the lyrics of the song and how they are showing that she has two different identities one of them being her as a star and the other as an ordinary person. This point could also be used as evidence for Dyer's theory as it reflects on his point about stars as a construction and how they are seen as ordinary and extraordinary. The music video is effective in promoting music stardom values such as youthfulness, as she is seen to be young and innocent, a idealistic role model for a young audience.

This was one of Miley's first music videos in which she established her Style, Personality and values of a star. She was portrayed as an innocent teenager who was beginning to reach the point of fame. This was due to her successful Tv series and now her popular music career that was aimed at a younger target audience. She was constructed to be seen as an idealistic teenager and a good role model. However further along her music career her innocent image began to change.

'Cant be tamed'

When Miley Cyrus released her third album, developing an adult image and a mainstream pop sound. She was promoted through sexually-themed performance which is evidently showing in the music video 'Cant be tamed'.

In the music video Miley has transformed her image through mise-en-scene features such as clothing. The long camera shot shows the artist wearing a 'bird' costume which is seen to be revealing. This straight away highlights a contrast from her previous album where her target audience was aimed at younger children. Through her costume the audience are able to tell that her target audience is now aimed at a more older generation. This relates to the Star theory as it highlights that the artist is a construction. She has changed her image to subvert the generic pop conventions in order to gain publicity and attention. By wearing black clothing it connotes that she is going to display signs of rebellious controversial behaviours.  Like Dyer suggested the videos promotes music stardom values such as originality and rebellion.

Close up camera shots are used throughout the music video. This is effective as it enables the audience to relate to the artist's emotions through their facial expressions, and are therefore able to build a relationship with them. In the close up camera shot  Goodwin's theory could also be applied as voyeurism is shown of the artist  female body as she is seen to be wearing low cut outfit. This is conventional as it is effective in attracting a larger male target audience. This shows how the artist image has changed her target audience as previously she has a female dominated fan base. This relates back to the star theory of Industry and audiences as through changing the artists representation, she has gained a wider ranged target audience. Mise-en-scene such as costumes shows the artist to support hegemony as she is skinny and wearing a fashionable outfit, a convention often seen in pop music videos. 


There is evidence of Genre characteristics in the music video. The style of the music video is mainly performance based. The artist is seen to be singing along to her song and with a little narrative, she is dressed as a bird breaking out of her cage. This is symbolic for the artist breaking out of the teen sensation phase of her life, introducing her new rebellious, dark image. Miley conforms to a generic convention of as pop music video as she is seen to have a dance performance. Long camera shots were used to show her dancing with backing dancers parallel to the beat of the song (Something Goodwin also suggested). Values such as creativity and talent are shown through this as the audience can see she is 'extraordinary'. She is extremely talented as she is able to sing, dance and act.

'Wrecking Ball'

A few years later Miley Cyrus made a come back to the music industry. She completely ditched her innocence Disney image, re-branded her style of music and made drastic changes to her star image. Miley Cyrus has displayed a theme of rebellion that has caught her fans and a wider audience's attention. Her bold controversial image caught the eye of the media which made her yet again one of the most famous pop stars today. Recently Miley released one of her recent songs of her latest album 'Bangerz' which is called 'We cant stop'.

In the music video the artist has subverted the conventions of a pop genre. Close up camera shots are used to establish the artist 'new' image. The camera shot allows the audience to see she has cut her hair short and is wearing sunglasses and red lip stick. The connotations of  the red highlights her new image and reflects on how she is represented as promiscuous. Her new image has cause a lot of dispute as some people believe that her new image is no longer appropriate for her younger audience as they may find her behaviour offensive. Therefore it highlights that her new target audience is aimed at a more mature audience who are able to relate to the rebellious behaviour such as teenagers and young adults. Dyers star theory is shown in the music video as by the artist transforming her image yet again, it shows that she is not a 'real' person but a construction for a consumer purpose. The artist shows a disregard for social values relating to sex and polite behaviour further representing her as rebellious.

This representation is further supported when Miley is seen to be dancing in her video. Miley is seen to 'Twerk' which is now  known to be her signature move. This also reflects on her controversial image which has caused her new popularity. This is also evidence of Goodwin's theory as it shows there is a relationship between the music and visuals. The music video is mainly performance based in which you see Miley dancing with other dancers through out the video. This is effective as it allows the audience to try and copy the artist by dancing to the song. They see her as a influence in which now the 'Twerk' is seen to be a popular dance move. This supports Dyers ideology and culture point as the artist started a trend worldwide in which her fans all now imitate. The artist also relates to the character and personality as she is a controversial artist who has a bold fashion statement. Miley has cut her hair short, which highlights to the audience what someone is idealistically supposed to look and dress like.

There is also further evidence of Goodwin's theory as there was a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. When Miley sings 'We like to party, dancing with Miley' the audience is able to see a group of people dancing with the artist. This is effective as it helps portray her carefree, fun persona to her audience highlighting the artists rebellious values.

In the music video Miley is seen to be wearing a white cropped top and skin tight white trousers. This further highlights her 'new' image are the artist is portrayed to be sexualised. The connotations of white suggest that she is innocent however her outfit shows a contrast. Later on in the video she is then seen to be wearing a netted swimsuit which is also reflecting on her new 'image'. It is evident that there is references of voyeuristic treatment of the female body through her costume. This is done to attract  to show her values of sexual magnetism. Her red lipstick is also used to make her seem 'provocative' which attracts a larger male audience unlike just female fans in the previous years.

I am going to consider Dyers theory when it comes to making my music video. We are going to reflect on the  idea of the artist as being seen as ordinary through casual clothing and show a contrast as the artist is a 'star'. He will be shown to be extraordinary through his talent maybe by playing the guitar or another instrument that is going to be in our song choice.