Classwork: Richard Dyer's Theory of Stardom

Here is what I learnt during class and was assigned to learn about through this piece of class work - completed by Carrick

In my class we studied the theory of stardom by Richard Dyer. Here are my classroom notes about the celebrity Jimmy Donaldson. This will help me in my music video because I need to create a persona for my artist. I did this with my friend Giorgio.

Names:	Carrick, Giorgio
Celebrity:	Mr. J. Donaldson
REEL persona:	What image to they project through their work (films, music, social media) Mr. Donaldson wishes to be seen as a philanthropist who is always doing charitable works. Through his videos and social media, he’s always finding ways of giving to those who need help the most.
REAL persona:	Have there been any cracks in this image (examples) Unfair to employees Involved in shady or possibly illegal business
Love:	How is their love life reported on? Mr. Donaldson has a wife https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66372679d
Ordinariness:	Do the media try to show them as everyday individuals like you? No, because Mr. Donaldson is always seen in luxurious places, and giving away huge amounts of money to people. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/15/mrbeast-brings-in-700-million-a-yearheres-why-he-says-hes-not-rich.html
Success:	What is their success story? How is it told? Small time Youtuber who made it big doing
Consumption:	Can you find any articles that celebrate their luxurious lifestyles? Or their extreme diets? https://viralyft.com/blog/mrbeast-success-story  https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-66372679 - BBC https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/15/entertainment/mrbeast-youtube-jimmy-donaldson-cec/index.html - CNN
Dream turned sour:	Has this celebrity had a downfall? How is it reported? Did they recover? Yes, it went viral through a YouTube video which is then spread all around other social media platforms. Jimmy tried recovering by uploading a screenshot of his email he sent to his company about making official changes in the company for the better and apologizing to the workers. Jimmy in YouTube ignored the scandal by uploading as usual and not mentioning it at all. At the end of it, he recovered because the claims are said to be false.

Self-Reflection:

This task turned out to be pretty helpful in breaking down the concept of a persona in media. It’s given me a clearer direction for the team on the kind of persona we want to create for our star on the music video. The task was straightforward, as the star we picked to research is very popular in this generation. The only tricky part was finding older news sources because his recent scandal is going extremely viral. Overall, I loved doing this, as I didn't struggle too much alone because my friend is a wonderful typer.