A2 Media Studies: The Theory of Stardom

Geoff Dyer's Theory of Stardom

The star is a real person.
They have things about them that make them "real" and relatable, e.g. if they come from a large family of middle-class background
The star is a performer of public roles
The primary encounter we have with a television or music star is through the roles they play
The star is a persona
Involves merging the real person with the roles they play
The star is an image
Image is the most contemporary as it's always changing. People only see the "mediated" version of a star

Mediated - the person in the media that we see, e.g. in music videos, television appearances, promotional events.

An example of this would be ex-Disney Star Miley Cyrus, who has transformed her image in a similar cycle to this theory.

1. The star is a real person

In "7 Things", Miley can be seen as relatable to the younger audience due to her heartbreak which she sings about in the song
The video features multiple young girls who look as upset as Cyrus does, so the audience can relate to her even more and feel as if she's a real person.
As well as this, the girls featured in the video are all in the center of the shot which shows the audience that they're equal to Miley due to their shared heartache.

In the video, she's seen crying at one point which causes the younger fans to sympathise with her as they feel as if they can feel her pain.

2. The star is a performer of public roles

Miley Cyrus starred in Disney programme "Hannah Montana" for a period of time and with that came over 40 different songs, including those from the Hannah Montana movie.
These songs are in the point of view of Cyrus' character, Miley Stewart and so the teenage girls who are the same age as the character feel as if they're able to relate to it more than any other age group, e.g. with her song, "Nobody's Perfect"

In her first appearance in the sitcom, she's viewed as an everyday teen with a crush on a boy in her school and the audience can relate to this.

Cyrus performed as Miley Stewart for 5 years and so reached out to and grew up with a large group of preteens and teens at the time which brought about her success.
The audience may feel as if they've grown up with her as well.

3. The star is a persona

Miley Cyrus toured multiple times in real life as Hannah Montana in order to constantly appeal to her fans and boost her star image.

Then later on in Cyrus' career, she took on the role of Ronnie Miller in 2009 film, "The Last Song," which is about a girl who falls in love. This is a similar plot-line to a majority of the subplots in Hannah Montana

As well as this, her character visually looks similar to Cyrus' character of Miley Stewart.

With this role came the song, "When I Look At You," which is a song that's very different to her usual pop genre music.
She's seen as more mature in both the music video and the film to appeal to a wider audience

4. The star is an image

Once Hannah Montana finished, Miley Cyrus took a break to focus on her music and reinvented herself.
Before, she was America's Sweetheart who did as she was told and her role as Hannah Montana reflected that. When she reinvented herself, she had a new style, new music, new hair and so on.

She became detached from her previous young audience and became a star instead of a person. This was through her behaviour and image which sparked controversy among fans and parents.

Now, the fans can mainly see the mediated version of her, which includes the star they see in the music videos and at events due to her new team having to ensure that she looks completely different from her previous 'self'.

People involved in transformations like this include:

A2 Media Studies