2. Richard Dyer’s Star Theory is the idea that icons and celebrities are constructed by
institutions for financial reasons and are built to target a specific audience or group of
people. Dyer’s theory is broken down into 3 sections:
Audience and Institutions
Constructions
Hegemony (Cultural Beliefs)
3. LADY GAGA
- Lady Gaga is an excellent example of this theory as we see her push the boundaries of
our generations perception of what is normal making her intriguing through her
alternative clothing choices and extreme music videos.
- Gagas ability to perform and create music is no doubt of a high standard however this
alone does not create her image and keep her in the spotlight its this “star” factor
imagery that keeps the fans invested.
4.
5. - Gaga sticks to dyers rules through a variety of different concepts to
maintain fan interest. Such as;
- Well placed news stories “gaga might be a hermaphrodite”
- famous actor boyfriend/girlfriend e.g. Taylor Kinney
- Attendance to exclusive events and openings, e.g. the premier of
the great Gatsby
- Features in magazines such a vogue.
6. Hegemony
• Lady Gaga has a well known alternative persona. This persona delivers something
different to the viewer and listener that they enjoy. If a artist is at wide ends of the
spectrum they tend to be successful.
• Lady Gaga is at the one end of the spectrum where she is so wacky that people
love her because she is so far from normality. Where as artist such a Ed Sheeran
are at that other end of the spectrum where they are extremely relatable for the
viewer and listener that they adopt a liking.
7. FAN FICTION
• Lady Gaga’s alternative personality is similar to a character in a
movie. She is so far from what is normal that audiences find it easy
to create fandoms and fan fictions.
• Fan fictions are a display of affection from the fandom to which they
can express their feelings around a celebrity.
• Lady Gaga is a very un-naturalistic figure in the industry so fans are
able to be as unrealistic as possible with their fan-fiction.
8. WHY DOES THE INDUSTRY LOVE HER?
• The industry loves GAGA because she is a very controversial
character.
• GAGA’s personality allows the labels to experiment and try new
ideas to grab the public. For example her Meat Dress shown in the
previous slide.
• Gaga is one of the most followed people on twitter and is constantly
gaining global attention through the controversial persona
constructed for her by the labels.
• HOWEVER! Gaga isn’t all wacky! She does funnily enough have a
pretty good voice which the industry uses to its advantage. Gaga will
be doing a show and suddenly she will whip out a slow striped back
song which will blow the audience away and catch them by surprise.
This entices a more diverse market.
