Richard Dyer star theory is a theory which defines a star and ideas behind a star. The term ‘star’ is semi-mythological (half true) persona and set of meanings constructed around music performers in order to sell the performer to a large and loyal audience. This means that a star is presented as an artist but we as an audience don’t know them as a person. The stars do this so people would want to buy their products. For example the audience of Two Door Cinema Club (usually the Indie subculture) know Two Door Cinema Club as a band but they don’t know who they are as people.
Here are some common values of music stardom: youthful, rebellion, originality, creativity/ originality etc. Not all stars carry all these common values. For example Indie bands such as Two Door Cinema Club and Arctic Monkeys may carry all these values but in a genre such as Pop, artists like Britney Spears can be seen as youthful and creative but not a rebel.
Dyer theory suggests media makes the artist and the star is the images made out of different things e.g. magazines, films. For example Two Door Cinema Club were open to the public and fans through media’s such as radio, television and internet, if it wasn’t for these media’s then their music wouldn’t be heard and they wouldn’t be artists. Stars are commodities (products) produced and consumed on the strength of their meanings. This means that for them to be ‘stars’ they were on covers of magazines and featured in movies. From my mood board you can see that Two Door Cinema Club was performing at a theatre. As the Dyer theory suggests ‘stars depend upon a range of subsidiary media (magazines, TV, radio...) in order to construct an image for the target audience.’ This means that an artist has to act and present themselves in a certain way to attract a certain type of audience. For example Beyonce may be seen in a magazine such as Cosmopolitan in a sexy dress. This may be to attract a male audience as she looks seductive or female teenagers/ young adults as they may aspire to look like her. Two Door Cinema Club wouldn’t be on magazines like Cosmopolitan as that’s not their target audience; they would be seen on a magazine such as ‘NME’ in smart casual wear doing original poses such as eating a sandwich. This creates a target audience like teenagers of any gender as they are portraying a rebellion youthful persona; teenagers will feel like they can relate to this.
This theory also suggests that the ‘star’ is incoherent (incomplete and open), this is because it is based upon two key paradoxes:
1. The ‘star’ must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer. This is because the ‘star’ being ordinary means the consumer can relate to them. For example Two Door Cinema Club are ordinary in the sense that on magazine covers they wear normal smart casual clothes such as chinos and boat shoes and not expensive designer wear such as Gucci. Consumers can relate to this as they can’t normally afford designer wear, they will feel like they don’t need to as their ‘stars’ are portrayed not to either. A ‘star’ being extra ordinary allows the consumer something to aspire to. For example Two /door Cinema Club have lots of money and live in big houses going to premiers. This is extraordinary as not much consumers are invited to go to premiers and can afford to live in large houses, although they may aspire to this as they see their ‘stars’ living like this.
2. The ‘star’ must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer. This is because as they are present the consumer can feel closer to the artist. Two Door Cinema Club can make their consumers feel closer to them by putting their music videos on youtube.com, this way their consumers can watch them anytime they like without the artists having to be there in real life. The ‘star’ being absent means that the consumers rarely see them in real life. The only time you would see them is if you buy a ticket to see them in concert.
The incoherence (incomplete) of the ‘star’ image ensures that audiences continually strive to complete the image. They may do this by listening to their music, going to their concerts and watching their interviews. This makes the audience want to know more but it is never satisfying so the cycle begins as they will never know the ‘complete’ artist. This is an advantage for the artist and the record label as it produces profit for them. For example a fan of Two Door Cinema Club may collect all their albums and go to all their concerts trying to get everything they need to know and them. But they will never find out everything they need to know so they continue consuming their goods thinking that they are one step closer.
We are choosing to represent our artist Two Door Cinema Club in many ways applying to the Dyer theory. For example we and going to use the 2 paradoxes; the ‘star must be simultaneously ordinary and extra ordinary for the consumer and the ‘star’ must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer. We are going to do this by making the band were the same outfits their subculture (Indie) wear. At the same time they will extra ordinary because they will be on TV with fanes; not every can be on TV and have fans. Also our band will be present by being able to watch their music videos on YouTube. At the same time they will be absent because the fans will never really see them unless they go to see them at a concert.
