Richard Dyer Star theory

WHO IS RICHARD DYER? 

Richard Dyer is a British media theorist who have discussed a star's special place in the audience's lives. His theory has been split up into 3 different areas including; audience and institution, constitutions and hegemony. He argued that the star image is manufactured; meaning that it is produced or invented, and that individual stars have their own USP in order to be able to grab their audience's attention. e.g KPOP stars with their unique hairstyles and music videos. the highly seen expectation are the following examples such as boy band being good looking and confident whereas girl group's expectations are bubbly, cute, stylish and so on.

AUDIENCE'S AND INSTITUTIONS

According to Richard Dyer, stars are constructed in order to have their audience to be able to relate to them in some way. Stars are also made to be consumed and they are made money from since they are "persona" not real life people. Dyer states "a star is an image, not a real person that is constructed out of a range of materials (e.g advertising, magazines, news paper..) Stars are made and groomed to meet the expectations of an audience. We can link this really well with one of the vast growing music genre "KPOP" which is huge in America and Europe as well as it being well known in Asia. They are known as K Idols and most of their audience look up to them as they meet the typical "beauty" expectations. Many of the K Idols are afraid to reveal their image without any make up as it might ruin their reputation of being "beautiful". When they travel around the world to meet their fans, stars would usually wear masks to hide any flaws that is being shown. . A pop star is usually seen as an image presented to the audience. This is because it will most likely to please the audience as they are which will make the star successful. This relates back to the music industry because the word pop performer and pop star has become interchangeable that there has been a high in demand between difference of pop performers who are performing pop music and pop stars who have an identity or persona other than their music career.

Reasons why most pop performers get promoted is due to famous partners or featuring in heat magazines. This helps a record label company to increase sales due to their labelled products such as music by well known artists which leads to a large amount of audience's responding to the product by purchasing their album or downloading it from iTunes as well as becoming a fan. KPOP stars are said to be perfectionists which leads them into working hard in order to become the best. They give fan service during meet and greets; this brings out a great image to the group as well as the idols themselves. A fan service is is where an idol group does something out of the ordinary to please their fans. In a Korean male idol group, fan service can vary such as hand-holding, face-touching, pretending to playfully fight or even snog each other. Idols realise that their fans adore it- so they are encouraged to do it to get more affection from fans.

CONSTITUTIONS

A star is built specifically with someone's signature to them in order to differentiate them from other stars. An example of this is Lady Gaga's outrageous fashion when she wore an outfit that was made out of meat and wearing ridiculously long high heels. A persona is created for the audience to identify with and so that the audience differentiate different stars and decide whether they like them or not. Stars also construct "characters" to create an identity to appeal amass audience. Some of the characters may become icons and it enables the star to be known.

For example, most of the audience will recognize the singer Taylor Swift as she is known for writing songs about her ex boyfriends which is very iconic. Therefore, many of the talk shows and hosts would refer back to Taylor Swift as the "song writer for ex's". Another example of this is the singer Sia; she is often known for her outstanding wigs that disguises her face in public as well as while she is being broadcasted. The reason why she has kept it this way is because she is trying to have some control over her image. She also mentions, according to Nightline, that she does not want to be recognizable. Sia does not want to be criticized about the way she looks on the internet. he also jokingly mentions that the reason why she has the wigs on is that she could go to her local Target to purchase things without having any paparazzi to take photos of her. "I was at Target the other day buying a hose and nobody recognized me and my song was on the radio. And I thought 'okay this experiment is working.'." quoted by Sia.

HEGEMONY

Stars represents cultural values and attitudes which promotes a certain ideology to the audience. It is the idea where the audience would want to relate to the stars because they have a feature that they can share or admire. Some fans may attempt to replicate the star in their behavior, with what they wear or what they do. Audience interest in these values which enhances their star quality and it is through conveying belief ideas; stars initiate or benefit from cultural discourse (e.g. their Twitter feed), and create an ongoing critical commentary. Now more than ever before, social networks give pop stars the opportunity to establish their own values outside their music.

Often, stars also provide us with a focal point for our own cultural thinking - particularly to do with Youth and Sexuality. Ideology tends to have a positive side and its negative side; an example of this is the rapper Wiz Khalifa is very open about Marijuana despite the fact that he has been arrested on drug charges. He says that  he is Marijuana should be legalized and the world will be at a better place. Lil Wayne is also open about his love for pot; he openly smokes weed in concerts and in public events. He recently discovered that his Miami home was not selling because the buyers were put off with the smell of weed. Rapper Snoop Dogg has been rapping for several years about weed and he has never hid his feelings for the herb even through tough times. This clearly shows us that it could be a huge impact on the audience's perspective on weed and marijuana; younger audiences may most likely be influenced by this so therefore, ideology may need to be in control as it affects audiences especially when they are shown the negative side of the idols.

However, there is a positive side ideology according to Dyer's theory. An example of this is when Lady Gaga frequently tweets about LGBT issues, and she expects her Little Monsters to engage with that discourse just as much as she expects them to listen to her music. This allows her fans to be able to share awareness about the LGBT in a positive way as possible. A star begins as a "real" human, possessing gender and race characteristics, and existing against a socio-historic background.

Stars provide the audiences with a focus for ideas of "what we are supposed to look like" (e.g. for women we tend to look beautiful and skinny) - they may support hegemony by conforming to it or providing difference. In the KPOP industry, one in South Korean idols had some form of plastic surgery. A very common cosmetic procedure that is colloquially known as the "V line" surgery. This involves breaking and shaving the jawline to create a V shaped face. This surgery is common amongst young Korean pop stars who have their face re shaped to give them elfin, anime like appearance.  KPOP culture and its look have spread across East Asia and into the Asian community in the US. This popularity and the value placed on the surgery behind the stars has meant that South Korea is now synonymous with medical tourism and has established itself as an epicenter for all sorts of cosmetic surgery. KPOP girl groups, often members, have had plastic surgery. 

This shows a huge influence on the audience who look up to the girl group. The audience feel the need to do plastic surgery to feel pretty like their idol. This could be a negative impact on the audience as it lowers their esteem and the way the media portrays women idols nowadays are unrealistic. A big industry ensures they stay that way. Everything, from their vocals to their face shape, is manufactured by their management companies. Cosmetic surgery is a large part of creating the KPOP image. Many of the KPOP idols even act as spokespeople for surgical companies.

Music Video Theory Analysis 2

The next music video that I will be analysing with the use of Andrew Goodwin’s theory is BTS’ Fire MV. It is a hip hop, R&B, Kpop song which features snippets of house production and twitching electronics.  Two versions of the music video were released when promoting the song. One video was a promotional video in order to promote their single “FIRE” whereas the other version is a dance version which enables the audience to learn the choreography for the song. This leads to making the song even more well known around the world. 

Going back to Goodwin’s theory, we can already tell that it includes some of the many points Goodwin has stated. For example, from looking at the music video it already demonstrates genre characteristics. From the FIRE MV they have included snippets of their choreography as well as having a small plot. The overall tone of the music video usually tends to be very upbeat; fast pace and bright, with the artists wearing trendy and mainstream clothes. Hip hop/ pop music videos are more likely to be fun and creates an exciting nature which appeals to a younger audience. One good example of this statement is the gif shown below; the seven males wearing bright, mainstream clothes and the music had an intense breakdown which contrasts with the choreography.

Moreover, Goodwin’s theory states that the visuals must match with the music. This is often by taking the tone and atmosphere of the song and extracting them into the music video itself. For example, an upbeat song, for instance Fire, is likely to include various choreographs and consequently making the tone and atmosphere  cheery and gleeful. The music video’s atmosphere and tone is rather entertaining and it is demonstrated with a very high-key lighting throughout.

Goodwin’s theory also states that the visuals must match the lyrics; it is often done by taking the literal meaning of the lyrics and applying it to the music video. Some lyrics may often have a deeper meaning behind them which can be realised by the audience after further inspection of the visuals. Other times, the lyrics may be repetitive in order for the audience and viewers to build a relationship with the lyrics; plus it helps them remember the song instantly. From looking at BTS’ Music video, “FIRE” is used as a central point of the meaning in the music video and the meaning behind the song, according to the group, is that they have gone through a risky youth and they ran away with through reality so now it is time to burn it all now. Looking at the lyrics, they repeat the word “FIRE” alongside with a very upbeat choreo. This allows the audience to understand that they are trying to break through the rough past by burning it all out so that they are able to start fresh all over again.