Star Theory & Britney Spears

Dyer believes artists are constructed through artificial images such as advertising, films, magazines and music.

He claims that consumers prefer artists to convey their true emotions themselves and not be groomed by record labels who try to create a fake image for them.

An example of this is The 1975 who are not shaped by their record label.  All of their music and styles are made by themselves.

They choose how they present themselves and how they portray themselves to their audience.

A “real” artist can use this as their unique selling point.







Richard Dyer also believes that stars are manufactured to make money for their record labels by appealing to target audiences.

As a result of this record labels have to market different artists to cater for certain target audiences as there are both ‘niche’ and ‘mainstream’ markets.

Another one of Dyers beliefs within his Star Theory is that artists become trendsetters in the sense that audience members will imitate hairstyles and artists clothing styles. 

An example of this is Kanye West who wore 'Shutter shades' which were copied by millions around the world.

       

                        


Artists can also influence not only fashion styles but also religious beliefs.

Stars are now also very accessible over the internet with many celebrities updating their fans on their own personal lives.  This can be done via Twitter or Tumblr.

•Stars support hegemony/dominant ideology of their time/ generation - glorified versions of 'us‘

•Leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others

•Gramsci is best known for his theory of cultural hegemony, which describes how states use cultural institutions to maintain power in capitalist societies.



Britney Spears:

•Britney raises interesting issues regarding female identity in pop music.

•Initially viewed as a role model for the teen girl market.

•From a gender perspective, Britney’s identity is placed securely within a male-dominated industry that manufactures limited stereotypes of femininity.

In her early videos we see that she dressed as an innocent teenage girl, however from the clothes that she wears and the dance moves that she does, we can see that she is trying to be very sexual.  This is very exploitative and isn't a good image to be showing her target audience of teenage girls.

This is seen in 'Baby one more time', where she is wearing a lot of pink and has her hair in pig tails.  Even though she is trying to look like a school girl, she is still showing a lot of flesh such as her legs and stomach.

                              


However, in 2002 Britney came out with the video of  'Overprotected'.

•Within the Music Video’s narrative, her performance is a result of watching a news report on her wearing few clothes.

•She is no longer a girl and should not be told what to wear. Being half-naked is an empowering act.

•There is a more confident tone to the choreographed routine.

                              



Although, a few years later Britney released the video to her song 'Hold it against me'.


             


This video is about her being artificially created.  The world that she is seen in is fake and she no longer wants to be controlled by the management and the media.
She is seen as a mature woman and even has placement of her own products as well as others.

                                    

 Throughout the video we see that her past videos are all around her, showing that she is watching them.  She is wearing a wedding dress, which is supposed to symbolize her purity, however the entire world knows that this isn't true as her whole life has been covered by the media, causing her to have a break down.

                      

 Near the end of the video, we see that she is fighting with herself, ripping apart her past.  This is showing us that she no longer wants to be associated with her past and isn't like that anymore.  It is all about her breaking away from her previous image and showing everyone what it is really like in her world.  However, throughout the video she is still dressed sexually and exposes herself a great deal.