Star Image

Richard Dyer’s theory-

‘A star image is not a real person that is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials (e.g. screenwriters writing their lines)’ -Richard Dyer.

Pop stars/ pop performers have become overly tampered with and interchangeable through the years within the media, due to them not being the same thing. Those who are known as performing pp are completely different beings to those who are actual pop stars; they are more a brand/display than they are involved with their musicianship.

There are many reasons as to why pop performers become pop stars are due to their record label. They do this by presenting the pope performer as whole new images, from the way they dress, have their makeup, their hair style. Literally everything is tampered with and designed to be appealing to audiences. All it takes is features in magazines with heart throbbing stories, or even the most judicious stories. As long as the pop performer reflects these stories and over comes the problem, they are seen as literal idols to the public. Many different factors like a famous boyfriend or girlfriend, attendance to parties/premiers, charity work and feature in the biggest and best magazines.

However, a real pop star who becomes known throughout the years with their lasting significance as hey become a ‘brand’, like Katy Perry, she is branded as a Californian girl, who is extremely girly and always has different colour hair and speaks extremely high pitched, almost like she lives the dream of every 13 year old girl. Also One Directions, Harry Styles has been styled to look like Mick Jagger, from the hair style to the crazy suits. This makes him extremely noticeable and even older people are interested in what he is doing due to him being relatable to someone in their times. One direction are also a brand due to the merchandise created through them being a band, they sell more merchandise than they perform concerts. David Beckham (not a popstar but this has evolved into all celebrities) now has a brand called ‘Beckham’ and is straight away noted to him, he is now seen as more of a model and style icon than a singer.

Star as Constructions-

Stars are constructed to be something they aren’t realistically. They are represented as ‘real people’; they go through real life dramas and problems and experience real emotions. However their life style is almost imaginary and constructed to suit their look. This usually easier with pop stars than movie stars, as movie stars feature in all different films throughout their career.

Despite how much record labels think they know, they have managed to fail on many occasions, There is a big risk in styling someone in to something they aren’t already , as it will either go very wrong or extremely well. For example when people get through to the live shows of X Factor they have groomed into the style of a pop star and then thrown in front of millions of people who they are hoping to impress, however despite how much talent they have, if they are styled wrong and made to sing unsuitable songs then they lose about.

Industry and Audience-

Pop stars are manufactured into money making object for record companies. They are there to make money out of audiences who then meet the needs of the various elements of a star persona by becoming and and buying various albums. Record companies do plenty of research and experiments with the public to see what they would like within a star and also what would make them the most money. This is why many boy bands look as though they have been photocopied from one another. They become a product of their record company and then must be sold, no matter how unreal their image is it has to be perceived as real to audiences.

The music industry is known to cater to all kinds of audiences, from pre-school children fans, to middle aged rock lovers. For the younger audiences record labels are always looking for something fresh and new to please them so they do not get bored and tired of the same thing. Also producing a long lasting appeal means they can carry out this image throughout the stars whole career.

Some stars outlive their image and die out due to not being developed or made into a newer and better star. For example, many singers finish X-Factor 1^st place with the image they created and by the next year they are grew out of as the new winner takes their limelight. Also many singers on the X-Factor have amazing talent but aren’t cut out to be pop stars so they never get anywhere within the music industry.

Ideology & Culture

Many stars represent popular and shared cultural values and attitudes, this helps there star persona become more realistic and not so fantasy like and also helps carry out their look and make it known to everyone. For example many stars create fashion images and hair styles in which they are known for, and then there fans copy and take on this look and they are then seen by identity as that pop stars fan. This also creates a bigger image for the star as people are intending to do all they can to be like them. Other pop stars tweet their views on local and global new stories and ongoing issues, this then opens their fans up to feel like their idol is influential and educating them into views and ideas of our world today and its issues. However this can also be quite manipulating as younger audiences are known to be vulnerable and so desperate to live their idols life that they then carry out these views as their own, and this can be dangerous if the star is pursuing a strong, narrow minded opinion.

Characters & Personality-

Stars are created and built to the time in which they are focused around, they reflect what people are ‘supposed to be like’, women tend to be thin and tanned with long luscious hair, but this isn’t realistic. Men tend to have perfect hair styles and muscles to give off an image to men as to what they should be aiming to look like. However these are all real characteristics of people and are built within a foundation with many different qualities, but these are only a minute amount of the world’s population, so to say that’s what everyone should be like is unfair and damaging to society.

Many stars end up with qualities that contradict them within their image, this can be very risky for their persona and damages it to the global audience, on the other hand some stars are so well designed and are released at just the right time that they end up becoming a perfect idol, most industries allow their stars to do outrageous things which cause big problems in the press but due to their loving fan bases they are able to win their fans back and becoming an even bigger sensation.

Many stars become a one hit wonder, their first album ends up being such a sensation that they end up with so much money to spend. That when their next album drops it is usually a copy of the first and by this times everyone is bored and is looking for the next big thing that they end up dying out. This is called ‘second album syndrome’.

Justin Bieber-

At a young age Justin Bieber became a global sensation, he was designed to look like a teenage heart throb. He had long hair and dressed like a typical teen. He wrote songs on love and his first ever relationships and carried out this image for a good few years, his hair was his most popular trait. He also made it known to fans that purple was his favourite colour and wore it on many occasions, this created his fan base known as the ‘beliebers’ and gave them an identity.

Justin then trimmed his hair into an older more sophisticated and grown up look.

Keeping the same style of hair just changing it slightly allowed his image to remain. He stopped dressing in young teenage clothing and allowed himself to grown in time with his fans and age as they would have. Wearing tight jeans and smart looking jackets gave Justin a phenomenal lasting appearance. He was lucky as despite the change his fans were still extremely please.

Justin then got rid of his famous hair style and went for a pushed back and shorter look. This helped fans noticed he was getting older and his dress sense developed into a young man and made him very much appealing to 16/17 year olds. His music also developed into deeper meaning songs rather than cheesy pop songs.

Justin then completely changed his hair again, bleaching it bright blonde. He also began to dress like most R&B singers and any rappers. He grew a new sound of music, which was a big risk but was loved by many. His sound developed into a heartfelt and emotional set of songs, these reflected his feelings and showed that despite his cheesy up bringing he can also manage to change his sound as he grew as a person. His new album consists of music related to people like Usher and Ne Yo.

Throughout Justin’s career he has managed to remain in the public eye and stay a pop sensation and hasn’t yet died out. He manages to bring out new sounds along with new styles which keep him up to date and to still remain as one of the biggest selling pop stars of all time. Despite some of his ups and downs in the press his fans have remained loyal and have grown with Bieber and haven’t found any reason to leave him just yet.