Stars as Constructions
He believes that Artist were constructed through the use of artificial images. Which is used in advertising, films, magazines, music and music videos however Dyer believes that that consumers would rather prefer if the 'Artist' convey their true feelings and emotions rather than being artificially programmed to feel, look and act a certain way.
As a result Dyer thinks that a 'Real Artist' can use the portrayal of their true emotions and feelings as a unique and strong selling point as compared to the other artist who were made into a false image. Bruce Springsteen would be one of the so called 'Real Artist' because he sings as himself in his own way and with his own emotions about what he thinks is right and wrong. In particular he voiced topics concerning the working class 'Blue Collar' workers in the USA who were pretty poor and didn't have much say.
The River - Bruce Springsteen
Promotion - Industry and Audiences
Some 'Stars' are not 'genuine', and Dyer agrees with this because he knows that some of them are 'synthetic'. In order to make a lot of money for their record label, some companies manufacture their artist so that they'll be appealing and attractive to the audience watching them. Usually the target audience would be a small yet niche group. A group who were synthetic would be the group called 'The Sex Pistols' who were promoted as challenging authority and targeted an alienated young so called 'punk audiences'.
Sometimes the audience would be large and or mainstream and as of right now. This is still the case with the band 'One Direction' who achieved success on a global scale by targeting young girls aged 10-15.
Drag Me Down - One Direction
Promotion - Ideology and Culture
According to Dyer and his beliefs, some artist are trend setters whereby the artist imitate the style of the audiences hair and clothes. The Beatles are considered trend setters too, as they themselves had their hairstyles and clothes change quite a bit depending on their audience and where they were.
Representation in Music Videos
Dyer maintains the idea that within the music industry, artist are promoted using clear genres such as rock, rap and pop etc. This is the reason as to why boy bands appeal to girls as their genre usually includes a song to do with "fun loving" as well as dating and its problems. However their songs will avoid reflecting serious issues so as to keep their target audience i.e. the teenage girls.
Sometimes the genres offer signifiers in relation to race as well as gender identities. Usually in Black American rap music, males are often portrayed as being materialistic and highly sexualised where they include a number of partially clad women in the background of their video to satisfy the male gaze. Moreover they are usually undressed so as to put a lot of emphasis on the woman's bottoms. This type of representation is often presented in Rihanna's music video's where she usually has collaborations with other rappers so as to be sexualised by them in their music video.
However not all of Rihanna's videos reflect this, for example her music video collaboration with Calvin Harris called "This Is What You Came For" doesn't really present herself as a sexualised object to the male gaze whereas in her other music video called "Love On The Brain" opens with her in a bath naked. She is clearly and immediately sexualised in this music video but only to a certain extent as her whole body cannot be seen as most of it is still under water. In conclusion Rihanna's music videos sometimes represent her as a sexual object for the male gaze and in fact her music video collaboration with Shakira called "Can't Remember To Forget You" displays her with partially revealing clothes as well as her being on a bed with another sexualised female. In addition in this music video her dance and actions have been mad very sexy so as to emphasis her as the sexual representation in the music video.
This Is What You Came For - Rihanna
Love On Brain - Rihanna
Can't Remember To Forget You - Rihanna
Deconstructing Britney Spears
If we deconstruct Britney Spears experience we'll see that Dyer's star theory applies. Her main and original target audience was teenage girls and initially she was known to be a role model for teenage girls and for some maybe even an older sister. However this was because her image was constructed accordingly so as to attract their desired audience like One Direction.
During her early days the music industry was dominated by males leading to her identity being constructed around them because of the fact that there were limited stereotypes for femininity. As a result of this she developed an identity of a girly icon relating to dolls, pink possessions, rooms and beds. In order to complete this image she had a teen pigtail as well as the fact that she wore a school uniform in one of her music videos which helped to complete her stereotypical image of a teenage girl. In addition to this she also included a choreographed dance routine so as to suggest that she belonged in a gang to help relate and create a connection with her target audience.
Her music video "Hit me baby one more time" fits to Dyers star theory as even in her early days she was sexualised by wearing short skirts and school shirts. However she was still able to maintain her target audience because she still at the same time appeared innocent as well as the ideal role model to most teenage girls.
Most teens wanna be like her due to her choreographed dance routines which create the desire to be part of 'her gang'.
However later on as she got older you could see that she left the teen girl identity behind and was known as the half naked woman who performed for male audiences. In fact she appears to not appear innocent at all, reflecting her freedom of choice as an adult and not as a teen anymore. Her music video applies to Richard Dyers theory of the female stereotype whereby the woman is still only shown as a sexual object and Britney Spear's choice to clothe half naked amplifies this theory.
In conclusion, Britney Spears is a great example of Richard Dyers Theory because most of her audiences are drawn in through the use of female stereotypes. She is shown to be a idol for teen girls as a young teen yet later on in her career as she became more mature she was displayed as an object for men to gaze at within her music videos.
Hit me baby one more time
Oops I did it again
I'm not a girl yet not a women
Overprotected
Hold it against me
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