Richard Dyer defined star as an image and not a real person that is constructed in all kinds of media texts, films being central to the creation. The other media texts include magazines, posters, interviews, public appearances, etc which put together, create the star persona (Dyer, 1979). He identified stardom through a semiotic analysis, in which star’s performance in a film, resulting in his stardom, are constructed of a number of signs like hair colour, facial features, physical build, and etcetera. Agreeing with Dyer’s work, John Belton studied the origin of the word persona which was used to describe the mask worn by performers in Ancient Greek theatre. He stated that a star consists of three personalities- the star, the actor and the …show more content…
The meaning of stars naturally changes according to the social, economic and political environment. Stars are shifting signifiers, they function as reflectors of the time and as signs to be reflected into society (Hayward, 2000), this can be noticed when they showcase the current societal norms on screen or when the general public mimics their dressing style, way of walking, etc. Whilst being signifiers of cultural value they also signify on a personal level. According to Dyer, stars articulate the idea of personhood which is fiction for the reproduction of the kind of society we live in (Martin Barker, 2003). Stars function as both extraordinary and ordinary; as extraordinary the star is an impossible object of our desire, which cannot be attained, and as ordinary, we can identify with the star, he is just like us, a possible object of our desire. This binary effect functions to fetishize the star (Hayward, 2000). King said, a star is the point of synthesis between representation and identification and represents the host culture which the spectator identifies with. The spectator, if male, has the effect of homoeroticism, where the body of the male star is feminized to provide pleasure. The female spectator, though has a heterosexually charged gaze, the male body still gets feminized. However, Laura Mulvey shares differing views than King, according to her the role of the male star is to provide a reassuring embodiment of male domination to male members of the audience and female stars function as objects of male desire requiring female spectators to identify with a role which sublimates them to the male gaze
The movie, “Twenty Feet From Stardom,” was released in 2013. It focuses on the careers of backup singers, who have shared their voices to support some of the greatest artists of the past several decades. The film is an interview-based documentary. From the film, we meet a serious of amazing and talented vocalists, such as Darlene Love, the first black backup singer; Merry Clayton, a lead backup singer; Lisa Fisher, Tata Vega, and Judith Hill. They all share their stories of enjoyment, happiness, or even struggles in making music with others. There is no doubt on the fact that backup singers take very low credit, sometimes even no credit at all. They often just go there and make the thing sound great, and then go home quickly. It is even worse that sometimes people do not want to pay
The star system was an important part of the Studio System in classical Hollywood cinema. From the 1910s, stars were born. Studios create new personas, new names and new backgrounds for the stars. A new image, whether or not it had anything to do with how the person really was in real life, would be invented for the new stars. The stars would be distinctively different and moviegoers would be able to recognise them individually. The Hollywood studios, that the stars are under contract with, managed their publicity, roles, lifestyles and even fan clubs. During the classical Hollywood period, the stars themselves did not have much say in the films that they appear in. The companies would choose the role they deem most suited to boost their popularity.
In television, the male gaze refers to the way in which the camera of a show may objectify a woman. However, those starring on stage in musicals, as well as in musical themed shows such as glee, may be the subject of the gaze. The idea of a ‘gay-male’ gaze, as well as a female gaze, often are described in this situation. Clum describes that “the same chorus boys who play the Cagelles are the macho men who do the dance break in ‘Masculinity.’ The chorus can play masculine or feminine, gay or straight, unlike the drag diva, who can only be gay” (Clum 201). Through this, one may understand that the musical genre, as well as similar television productions, put their focus on two types of audience members: the straight woman and the gay man. Due to the aforementioned relationship between expressive conduct and sexuality, it can be thought that this may contribute to the identification of musicals as a mostly gay aspect of culture. This can be related to Glee in that many of the characters express their sexuality through songs from Broadway musicals and other popular artists, even if it may affirm stereotypes in the
One of the central themes of theatrical form is identity and the catalyst by which identity is formed is the body. In using the body as the site of formation of individual identity, women are “uniquely identified with their anatomy” and specifically the parts of their anatomy that differ from that of men (Callaghan 30). Because women are thus defined by their relation ...
After Mulveys theory was published, during the 1980’s many feminists who began to look for the meaning of female spectatorship raised many debates about the male gaze. (Stacey,1994, p24) As Rosemary Betterton enquires, “what kinds of pleasure are offered to women spectators within the forms of representation…which have been mainly by men, for men?” (Betterton, 1985 p4). Similarly, David Rodowick stated, “Mulvey discusses the male star as an object of look but denies him the function of an erotic object” and asks “So where is the place of the feminine subject in this scenario?” (Rodowick, 1982 p8) Many feminist film theories have attempted to study Mulveys theory further. One way would be to look at the way film text produces different gendered spectator positions which goes against Mulveys and masculine models of spectatorship (Stacey 1994, p 25). On the other hand accepting the masculinisation of the female spectator but arguing that due to sexual difference the spectator therefore will get different visual pleasures from the text. I will look at three main theorists who argue against the Mulvey male gaze theory of the 1970’s.
The star text of a celebrity can help to decipher their image and transitions they may undergo. In order to better understand these transitions, one must know the definition of a star text. A star text is the sum of everything we affiliate with celebrities, which includes their body of work, promotion, publicity, and audience participation (Jackson, 08/09/16). One must note that “celebrity doesn 't happen because someone has extraordinary qualities – it is discursively constructed by the way in which the person is publicised and meanings about them circulate” (O 'Shaughnessy and Stadler 424). Destiny Hope Cyrus, “an American singer and actress, became a sensation in the television series
defines persona as a social façade that reflects the role in life an individual is playing. Throughout the
A celebrity is not a person known for his/her talent or achievement, but an individual recognized for his/her reputation created by the media. The phase of stardom is slippery, and media may choose to represent celebrities varying from exaggerated admiration to mockery. The three texts chosen, movie "Sunset Boulevard", feature article "Over the Hilton" and television show "Celebrity Uncensored Six" are texts presenting different perception of celebrities than their usual images - either corrupted by the encircling media, overloads oneself with self-indulgence, or just mocks celebrity in a broad spectrum. Such media items empower and impresses the audience by perceiving celebrities as people who pay the price of privacy to gain well knowness, signifying the vanity of stardom from the commonly accepted images.
In his work, Goffman explains that ‘the self’ is the result of the dramatic interaction between the actor and the audience he or she performs to. There are many aspects of how an individual performs his or her ‘self’. One of the aspects of performing the self that Goffman labels as the ‘front.’ The front involves managing the individual’s impression.
The importance of costume in the theatre cannot be rated too highly, for it is not only an outward and immediately visible medium of expression for the actor himself but it is significant of the dramatic values which he is suppose to portray (Brooke, 1). The colors, texture and shape of a costume can create a feeling of the character that the actor may not be able to portray. There is not any definite information on what exactly the Greeks used for costumes because so much time has elapsed since the original records were taken. Most information is based on the different artifacts that were found, such as paintings and pottery. Sometimes hints of what was worn could be found in the plays themselves.
Second, in the concept that takes stars as images, Dyer indicated the image is a complicated configuration of verbal, visual, and acoustic signs, instead of only the visual one. He explained additionally the composition constitutes by the common images of stardom, or a specific star. The former includes an anatomy of the lifestyle, which involves fashion, taste, the notion of beauty of stars, conspicuous consumption, and idols of consumption. This concept could be linked to commercial or product placement that shapes the image of a role in films of TV series under capitalism. The latter contains considering stars as social types or specific images. In general social types, Dyer used Klapp’s definition on it as ‘a collective norm of role behaviour
One of the basic elements of theatrical production is costumes. In Oedipus the King, a 1984 movie adaptation of a prominent tragedy written by Sophocles in 429 BC, costumes provide a unique feel and version. The tragedy follows a tragic hero named Oedipus, who seeks to find the truth about the murderer of the late king, Laius. Unbeknownst to him, he is the murderer of his own father and marries his mother, Iokasta. Costume design in the movie offers an important meaning to the play. Each character’s costume suggests which class they are from, what they symbolize, and altogether imply what time or era the tragedy is set in.
Greek and Elizabethan theatre, while similar in some respects, had a few large differences. The Greeks believed in a certain unity of theme, which was prevalent throughout the production. Greek plays were often drawn from myth or of historical significance, so it seems that only ki...
This enduring query is what keeps audiences coming back for more, in an attempt to decipher which construction of a star is “real”. Is this the character he played in his most recent film? Is it the version of him that graced the latest tabloid cover? Is it a hidden self that we do not know about? Each of these varied and fluctuating presentations of stars that we are forced to analyze create different meanings and effects that frame the audience’s opinions about a star and ignite cultural conversations.