Star Theory- Britney Spears
Richard Dyer has a theory that artists are created through artificial images such as music, films, advertising, and magazines. He says that consumers prefer the artist to show their true selves and not the groomed image created by their record labels who are attempting to create a false image of them. Dyer believes that the artist can use their "real" selves as a unique selling point. He thinks that stars are made purely to make more money for their record labels and that they do this by cleverly appealing to target audiences. This means that record labels have to market different artists to cater for the various target audiences as there are niche and mainstream markets.
Dyer also believes that artists are responsible for setting trends like hairstyles and clothing styles, and if they portray their religious beliefs through their music then that can be picked up by their audiences. The internet has given fans the opportunity to follow their idols personal lives'.
Stars support the idea of hegemony as they think it shows them as "real" human beings and that it makes glorified versions of themselves. Within the music industry, it is seen as necessary to create and promote artists within a clearly defined genre and these genres show signifiers that relate to genders and races.
Britney Spears raises various intriguing issues surrounding her personal life and her image regarding her female identity in female pop music. She was first seen as a teenage girls role model with her single Hit Me Baby One More Time. However, she is very much placed within a male-dominated industry that creates few stereotypes of femininity. She has very much changed over the years as she was first shown with "girlie iconography" and she is very much remembered with pigtails, a hairstyle that tends to be for younger females. The carefully choreographed dance routines give the impression that makes people think they are welcome into "her gang".
Laura Mulvey is responsible for the male gaze theory within classical Hollywood cinema, but it can certainly be applied to pop videos, in particular, Britney Spears. In many of her videos she is very much the object of male erotic desire and she is in a patriarchal society. However, she challenges the idea that women do not have agency as she often comes out on top in confrontational moments with men. A good example of this is her video for the song Toxic, and the video for the song Womaniser. In her song Hit Me Baby One More Time, there seems to be an underlying naughtiness within her sexuality. The video seems to imply an innocence with her wearing a school uniform and being in a school, therefore young and innocent. However, just listening to the lyrics immediately changes your perception on the song and question the extent of this "innocence". The title first and foremost cannot possibly be innocent can it? It implies a sexual reference that the male audience will enjoy hearing and can then imagine.
In the video From the bottom of my broken heart, you can see dolls and childish, girlie things in her bedroom. This very much shows the "innocence" of Britney Spears. Her song I'm not a girl, not yet a woman shows tensions of growing up and moving from childish innocence to the realities of adult life.
