Representation Theory

Star Theory: Richard Dyer

Richard Dyer’s star theory is the idea that celebrities become icons because they are constructed by institutions. He covers three main areas:

Audience and institutionsStars are made only to make money for certain companies and the audience want to consume what they believe is ideal. Therefore institutions change stars, adapting their image and ideology based on what audiences want. Dyer states ‘a star is a constructed image represented across a range of media and mediums’

ConstructionsStars are built for audiences and therefore are not ‘real’ people but constructions instead. A persona created for audiences to identify with, this makes it easier for audiences to differentiate between stars and decide what they do or do not like, stars are usually built with one specific trademark feature.

HegemonyThis describes leadership or dominance by one state or social group. Dyer argues that as an audience, we relate to stars because they have a feature that we admire or share with them. This can develop from admiration into idolization where people may attempt to replicate what they like about the star. However this can have a negative effect as often stars do negative things in which people follow , as they embody certain ideologies that audiences become eager to copy.

Laura Mulveys Male Gaze Theory

-How the audience view women who are presented in the media-women are used to be seen and the use of the camera portrays them as sexual objects (through shot type and movement)-how men look at women-how women look at themselves-how women look at other women

-Emphasis curves od the female body -referring to women as objects rather than people-the display of women is how men think they should be perceived-female view content through the eyes of a man

-How the audience of a viewer is put into the perspective of a heterosexual male-in film women are typically the objects rather than the possession-control of the camera

-the man emerges as the dominant power within the created film fantasy women is passive to the active gaze from the man -female gaze is the same as the male gaze because women looks at themsleves through the eyes of a man

Tessa Perkins and stereotypes

Stereotyping is not an easy progress and contains number of assumptions that can be challenged:

People assume that stereotypes are negative, ‘young trouble some youth’ ‘hoodie culture’ but some of the youth can be positive such as the fact that our youth is our future, they may well be successful.

Not always minority groups or less powerful, we can call more powerful groups ‘snobs’ etc.

They can be held by ones own group, we have our own groups within our institution which is a stereotype that is created by all of the group but still individuals

They are really hard to change however stereotypes can change and be developed

They are not always false, has to be some truth or as it wouldn’t exist

Stereotypes are important as they help us understand the world.