Star
Theory
Richard Dyer - Star Theory
Dyer’s star theory spurts from the creation Pop Stars and Pop Performers and showing the depicting the difference between the one who is simply known for performing pop or the one who has be created and moulder into a popstar, leaving the thought of their musicianship behind them in order to become popular in the industry.
Majority of stars we see today in the public eye are constructed, artificial images. Many contain a unique point that draws the audience because they feel that they are different to every other performer out there.
He also suggests that there are two paradoxes to a celebrity;
Paradox 1 – A star is both ordinary and extraordinary
Paradox 2 – A star is both present and absent
Dyer proposes that;
"A star is an image not a real person that is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials (eg advertising, magazines etc as well as films [music])"
Bangtan Sonyeondan (BTS)
BTS is a seven-member southern k-pop group. Formed by the entertainment company Big Hit Entertainment the group debuted on June 13th, 2013 with their title song “No More Dream”. The group members are;
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Kim Seok-Jin (vocalist and visual)
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Min Yoon-Gi also known as SUGA (rapper)
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Jung Ho-Seok also known as J-HOPE (rapper and dancer)
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Kim Nam-Joon also known as RAP MONSTER (rapper and leader)
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Park Ji-Min (vocalist and dancer)
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Kim Tae-Hyung also known as V or Tae (vocalist)
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Jeon Jeong-Guk also known as Jungkook (vocalist, rapper and dancer)
With the intentions of debuting as a Hip Hop group some of their previous songs and music videos consist of the classic hip hop themes; Rebellion and Money. It had also been brought to Korea’s entertainment industry that Korean Hip Hop groups were making it big nationally and internationally.
During 2013 and 2014, BTS released their “School Trilogy” debuting with “No More Dream” from their first mini album “2 Cool 4 Skool”. Their debuted image showed them as tough bad boys, fitting the conventions of the Hip Hop genre. Whilst being within the genre of Hip Hop, BTS tackled strong messages such as bulling or reaching for that pursuit of happiness in their earlier stuff.
Their debut song “No More Dream” portrayed the message that you are allow to dream as big or small as you like and that it is your dream and no one else’s. The music video showed clear ties with their chosen genre via their costumes which consisted of black and white outfits with accessories such as sunglasses, bandanas, hats and heavy gold chains. As BTS’ popularity grew the change in genre was quite obvious. At first their themes began to change.
Their first 3 songs that were released and produced as a music video where “No More Dream”, “We Are Bulletproof Pt 2” and “N.O.” all had lyrics that related back to dreaming big or making it big and not letting anyone beat you down, also many of these music videos where performance.
During 2013, BTS flew to America to create a reality T.V series called “American Hustle Life” which allowed them to experience true Hip Hop culture. Meeting with the likes of Coolie and Warren G in order to experience the true culture of Hip Hop.
To keep with their “Bad Boy” image the group had to obtain a certain image outside of their music videos also. In many interviews the group is seeing wearing matching clothing that is mainly black and white. Depending on what song they have released they will dress accordingly to the visual motifs that the music video has. On the September 25th 2013, Bangtan appeared on a Korean-American T.V show, After School Club. During this time, they had just released the music video for “N.O” so the group appeared on the show in black and white outfits with chunky jewellery, similar to the ones in the music video. The clever tactic of wearing similar clothes to the ones they appeared in, in the music video allowed them to uphold their “Bad Boy” aesthetic throughout their promotion periods.
“Boy in Luv” was the first to not include these themes and was a performance/narrative music video, instead it included the topic of girls and how you would confess to them. The music video still contains elements that represent them as these “Bad Boys” – the music video has low key lighting and a grungy class room setting. This was also one of the first songs to rely more on vocal as many of the songs were rap dependent seeing as there were four rappers and only three vocalists.
From June 13th, 2013 to October 21st, 2014 their videos all contained a dance performance. Within K-Pop groups it is seen that a group should have a mix of Visuals, Vocals and Dancers to allow them maximum popularity. Straying away from that in 2015 – BTS released a music video for part one of their “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life” trilogy. Straight away we could see the clear change between their School Trilogy which included albums that had abbreviations such as “O! RUL8,2?” and “2 Cool 4 Skool”.
The first song to be released from Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa (The Most Beautiful Moment in Life) was “I NEED U” it was their first music video that didn’t contain a performance concept and was entirely narrative. The video showed depressing scenes of each member and was originally released as a 15+ music video – later an 18+ music video was released which contained more graphic scenes than before. The lyrics were based around loving someone endlessly even though they are hurting you mentally/physically and the consequences that come from that.
Bangtan’s image began to soften even more. Moving away from their classic visual motifs of dark hair and clothing. Suga and Rap Monster, the two rappers who are seen as the most aggressive appeared in the music video with pastel coloured hair. Suga had pink hair and Rap Monster appeared with mint green hair. Jimin, one of the vocalist who upheld his previous “Bad Boy” image well with his dark hair, hats and eyeliner traded them in for a burnt orange hair colour and brightly coloured clothing. One of the biggest changes was to the group’s maknae (the youngest) Jungkook. Originally debuting as one of the groups rappers, Jungkook later became one of the lead vocalists adding more to the blossoming of their “flower boy next door image”.
“Run” was the second song to be released from the “Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa” trilogy. Having more of a conceptual element to the music video it showed the boys in a quirky upbeat way, highlight elements of their friendships. Although the music video did make clear ties with the “I NEED U” music video, it continued to add to Bangtan’s new image of being a pop group leaving elements of Hip Hop behind. On the 19th April 2016, BTS finished the “Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa” trilogy with their comeback song “Young Forever” that spoke about feeling lonely when you have so much and wanting to stay young forever. Many fan theories stated that the “HYYH” trilogy covered the groups own personal battles with life and love. Since debut the group became a lot more open, speaking publically about things that before they would have kept to themselves. The group gradually transitioned into having a softer image drawing in an ever bigger national and international audience.
In May, 2016 the group threw their audience with a curve ball. They released a crazy upbeat pop song called “Fire” which included elements that we had seen in their earlier stuff. Going back to a full performance video, Fire had similar conventions that appeared in “No More Dream” and “N.O” – their cuts became a lot quicker, allowing to change from scene to scene quickly. They also went back to having close up and mid shots of each member when their part of the song came on. Their costumes and props had a retro style that consisted of yellow and blue tinted sunglasses, oversized Hawaiian/coloured shirts and there is also a scene with Taehyung where he is playing on a GameStation console. The change from the “HYYH” trilogy to “Fire” allowed the group to present something fresh to their audience whilst also bring back the conventions that K-Pop groups have of having Visuals, Vocals and Dancers.
The group’s cultural significance changed drastically since their debut. There originally “untouchable bad boy” image has changed to the soft “flower boy next door” – Bangtan began to challenge societies view between the two genders of male and female. Closing the gap between women being seen as weak and men as strong. Elements of their songs that allowed their audience to see that these 7 boys are talking opening about how men can be mistreated in a relationship and how things that society consider as not hurting/affecting them actually do.
Overall Bangtan have developed majorly. Their Hip Hop era did allow them to establish a world-wide audience that they wanted but their gradual change and development away from it has brought the group a lot more success. Their “HYYH” trilogy brought in 10 global awards for the group and also allowing them to be brand ambassadors for the sports brand Puma. Their diverse group members and their unique selling point of finding ways to speak honestly about topics that they feel are important to them and society has allowed them to constantly gain through their transition.
