Richard Dyer Essay
Richard Dyer's star theory is accurately represented in The Rolling Stones' video for 'Waiting On A Friend'. The Rolling Stones are a British rock band that formed in 1962 and are still together today, despite their many changing line-ups. The Rolling Stones currently consist of original members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and newest member Ronnie Wood, who has been working with the band since 1976. ‘Waiting on a Friend’ was originally recorded in the later years of 1972/early 1973, when Mick Taylor was still a member of the band. The single was re-worked in 1981, with additional lyrics that were considered for the possibility of a future music video, which made the video for ‘waiting on a friend’ the first promotional video by the Rolling Stones to appear on the emerging MTV channel, which was established in 1981. Michael Lindsay-Hogg - who directed a number of videos for The Beatles and Wings - directed the video. He had worked with the Stones on previous projects and succeeded in creating a popular video for the MTV channel as ‘waiting on a friend’ was well received by the public.
In the first shot of the video we see Mick Jagger standing confidently above the other people in the video. Mick is wearing bright clothes which stands out against the other people, as they are wearing dull clothes. Because Mick is higher positioned in the frame and dressed more fancy than the others in the shot, we automatically assume that he is more important. Richard Dyer's star theory suggests that stars are constructs created by the institution and the artist. Stars are the ideologies the person wants to put forward in order to sell more products. When we think of rock stars or Mick Jagger, we think of confident wealthy men who live their life wildly without a care in the world. Mick's outfit clearly shows his wealth, however the location and surroundings suggest that he doesn't have a care in the world.
The lyrics in this song suggest that Mick and the rest of the band are tired of women, drugs and alcohol, which is essential to the rock and roll genre and their previous ideology. Rock and roll was pretty much coming to an end in the early 80s, which is when this video was released. The band were attempting to change their ideologies in order to appeal to their audience, who's ideologies would've also been changing with the culture of the time since it was no longer the 1960s or 1970s and the ideologies of the time were changing. If the Stones had continued to sing about the same stuff as they did in the 60s and 70s, they would'nt have connected with the ageing audience or attracted new fans of a younger more relevant generation. Their sudden change in ideologies helps them gain respect and dedication from fans who also have that ideology, although behind closed doors The Rolling Stones were probably still taking drugs, fooling around with women and drinking a lot of alcohol. The audience become a part of the fantasy themselves, thinking 'If Mick is sick of this stuff, I'm sick of it. Things are changing'. This reinforces Richard Dyer's ideology that 'Stars are commodities produced by institutions in order to create a greater consumption of media texts'.
The representation of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in particular is metonymic. With Mick, we can symbolise his facial expressions and movements and identify them with him. With Keith, we can symbolise his scruffy dress sense and hair, and the fact that he always tends to be smoking and looking a bit rough with his image. These metonymic representations of the two make them identifiable as stars. If you were to dress a stranger up in Keith Richards attire, makes them walk in a slightly drunken way whilst smoking and talking with a slight slur; they would instantly think of Keith Richards or that the person is impersonating Keith. A lot of people do impressions of Mick Jagger, as the things that symbolise him are easy to recognise.
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