Richard Dyer's Theory of Stardom
Star vs Celebrity
Star: globally famous, iconic, known by everyone
Celebrity: has niche/local audience, known by people who are interested in that field
Example:
Star -> Britney Spears, a globally known American pop singer and dancer who gave a huge influence to the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Celebrity -> Heize, a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, composer and producer who is well known by the South Korean local audience.
Reel Persona vs Real Persona
Reel Persona: Their performance at work ( movie, music video or sports match )
Real Persona: Their personality/image out of work ( vlogs, magazine/TV interviews )
Some factors why audience are interested to celebrities/stars
Love - Audience are fascinated with the love lives of the stars or they can be a romantically attracted to them.
Ordinariness - Audience like to see them doing routine things that are similar to us. We like it when we feel like they're relatable to us.
Success - Audience like the idea of overnight success, and failure before success.
Consumption - Audience are fascinated by the huge material wealth brought by media success. ( Luxury homes and cars, holidays, expensive fashion )
Dream turned Sour (downfall) - Audience enjoy tearing them down more than building up a celebrity. We enjoy their misery.
Case Study - Harry Styles
Harry Styles is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. He started his career as a member of one of the best-selling boy groups of all time, One Direction, after being eliminated from the British music competition series The X Factor. He has been active as a solo singer, songwriter and actor after One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016.
Reel Persona: Music video (Adore You, 2020) and concerts (Love on Tour) and movie (Don't Worry Darling, 2022)
Real Persona: Interview (Rolling Stone Interview)
Love: Harry Styles and Taylor Swift are reported to be dated as they were spotted strolling around New York City’s Central Park Zoo in December 2012. Their dating news were dominating headlines. Their relationship lasted for 4 months only, however, it is still being discuss until this day.
Ordinariness: Harry Styles is featured in an OK! Magazine article with the title, "Pictures that prove celebrities are just normal people" and with the caption "Harry Styles proves he is just like the rest of us as he fills up for petrol in the California sun." Another photo was also posted through the OK! Magazine twitter account along with the line, "Even @Harry_Styles can't get out of doing ordinary chores: http://bit.ly/1RX21uz".
Success: Harry Styles was eliminated while competing as a solo singer in X Factor before Simon Cowell put him in a group together with 4 other eliminated solo contestants and that was how One Direction was formed. In September 2011, One Direction dropped their first single, “What Makes You Beautiful,” which broke countless records. One Direction's fame and achievement continued to increase even after their hiatus. Harry Styles is arguably the most famous member of One Direction.
Consumption: The media has been constantly reporting Harry Styles's consumption such as his Beverly Hills house, luxury car collection, luxury fashion items and other spendings.
Dream turned sour: Harry Styles was caught in a controversy after Billy Porter criticized him by complaining how a straight, white man had been given a chance to wear various female garments in the cover of Vogue magazine when he was the one who created the conversation about non-binary fashion. This controversy created a buzz in Twitter which brought back Harry's past controversy about how he ignored Black Lives Matter signs at his first concert tour. He was cancelled by a part of his fandom in Twitter.
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