Richard Dyer

Richard Dyer proposes that a celebrity is an image and not an actual person. He argues that their image is purely fiction and is constructed. The music industry has more control over how a celebrity is portrayed as the can have more control over the image that is being portrayed.

Many examples of this can be found in pop culture such as lady gaga and Johnny Cash. Both of these celebrities have been portrayed in a similar light throughout there career due to the type of magazine articles that are written about them, the fashion they wear, the type of songs they promote and also their music videos. Although these comparisons are very different to each other , it is interesting to look at the similarities between them. They both have a specific iconic identity, and what Richard Dyer argues is that this image is not their own but one constructed by record company's and their manages but also the media.

I thought this theory was relatable to my research of music videos as it indicates that we have to consider the image of out band that we are presenting to the audience. As well as their image fitting with the genre of music, we also have to consider the type of image that we are portraying carefully. Usually with the genre of Punk Pop music, the band members are usually young alternative males that have had a hard life but have a 'happy-go-lucky' attitude towards life. Dyer argues that stars are commodities that are produced and consumed on the strength of their meaning. Therefore, to me, this suggests that our band's image needs to be relatable to our audience.