Richard Dyer's Star Theory (Emilie Autumn)

Richard Dyer's Star Theory is divided into four sections:
1) Stars as Constructions- Celebrities are constructed, artificial images, who are particually big in advertising, magazines, films and music. Consumers like them to have a unique selling point. Record companies groom their artists, but we have more respect if they groom themselves. We want to believe that stars convey their emotions to us.
2) Industry and Audiences- Stars are often manufactured with the sole purpose of making money for the record company. Stars are repeatedly churned out based on what they think we want.
3) Ideology and Culture- Audiences may copy star's cultural beliefs and attitudes, or trends. Forms of media are dedicated to celebrity gossip.
4) Character and Personality- Presented as real human beings. Stars support dominant ideology of time/generation. They are represented as reinforced idea's of the music industry. When we see their life in magazines we feel close to them. The ideologies are constantly changing, so the stars are too so they remain in the spotlight

Stars as Constructions

Emilie Autumn, at fist glance at least, appears to be somewhat a construction or artificial image. Her image has passed through several ‘phases’, including fairy and Victorian, and could appear as though she was being manufactured and processed in order to create this sort of image. However, she is has been part of two record labels, The End Records and Triscol Music Group, neither of which having much more to do with her than releasing her material to different countries.

Her image is unique, and this makes a brilliant unique selling point, which is something which draws people in. Her image is entirely created by her, and evolves as she does and was formed with her interests in mind, not anyone else’s. Her music in itself has a unique style, and cannot be entirely categorized within one genre, though she is particular popular amongst fans of rock and industrial music, though she also incorporates elements of classic and electronic, and makes it known that not only is she a singer, but she can play, to a high standard, the violin and the piano. Her music also conveys hugely of emotions which she herself has felt, as much of her music is written based on her own experiences and emotions, including when she does purely instrumental songs.

Industry and Audiences

Her musical intentions were never really to generate a profit, even now, the bulk of her shows comes from her own pocket, and she puts a lot of the money from her audiences back into her audiences and their experiences. Unlike many artists, she was never really sure of fame, and wasn’t sure anyone would like her music or even buy a record of hers, but instead wanted to create something to help herself out of bad experiences which she is incredibly public about, and helping others who can relate in anyway at all to the feelings, and wanted to create a world where everyone is welcome, and she’s thankful to all her fans, and incredibly appreciative of them, as it means she can continue to do what she loves.

She doesn’t make music or create shows based on what she thinks her audience will like, and is entirely prepared to let her music change as she does and go in a different direction, and just hope that her fans will be accepting of this change and not change their opinions of her simply because she is also subject to human change.

Ideology and Culture

Among the fans of Emilie Autumn, a lot of her ideologies are shared, although she states she never set out to do this. A lot of her fans have been inspired to help other people through creative mediums, such as Emilie does, and she’s inspired many to keep on trying and fighting. She also has inspired many of her fans to read literature, as she has stated her love of books and history many times as some of her biggest influences. Many have also decided to buy rats, her most beloved animals, as she has two of her own.

She shared many aspects of her private and personal life with her fans, though it is always on her terms and hers along, for example, she released an autobiographical novel, acounting parts of her own life, as well as a fictional character living a parallel life to her own. This meant she could be selctive about what people knew about her rather than having other people dictate it, as many of they things she includes would not have been allowed in a mainstream publication due to being so graphic. It also advocates her ideology of honesty and help. She has also been a feature in several magazines nationally, and keeps to her veiw of only sharing what she wishes.

Character and Personality

Emilie Autumn is a very easy person to relate to, and her own veiws on herself mean that she is very easy to accept as a normal human being and a real person, even underneath the extravagent costumes and theatrics. She refers to herself on the same level as her fans ('plaguerats') and is very open about her experiences which fans may share or be able to connect with, and makes it know it's okay to be this way, despite what society says (seeing as she has had issues connecting to how society see's her and generally insults her) which helps fans feel close to her. She is not typical of a woman, or person at all for that matter, within the music industry, and does not support the dominant hegemonogies of society, instead breaking and bending the ones of other societies within her own (for example, she often referes to herself and acts as though she were in Victorian England, despite being in modern day America) by how she looks, acts and feels. People like her are not commonly represented, as they are considered a minority and non heigmonic.

Although her image has changed several times during her career, it is not to match or create ideologies, but merely an evolution of herself, and most certainly not as a way to gain media attention.