Analysis of a Star - Rihanna

ANALYSIS OF RIHANNA 

Rihanna's past and present image 

Goodwin said that the R'n'B and pop genre artist included certain conventions that were stereotypical and found in most videos, these conventions consist of a glamorous lifestyle including flash cars, provactively clothed women as well alcohol and exotic locations. In Rihanna's video 'If Its Loving That You Want' the exotic location is evident as it takes place on a beach and the women are provocatively dressed however there's no alcohol or cars involved. Also her minimal clothing fits the scene as it is located on the beach and clearly in a hot climate which adds to some innocence to her image, rather than doing it in a sexualized way to attract and older and more mature type of audience. This gives her a younger target audience as people feel she's styled and given the image of a much more 'presentable' star for younger people. It could be argued that this image is now contrasted in Rihanna's more recent videos as although she still has little clothing on, the way she presents herself is in a more sexual and explicit way which some would say is aimed at a much older audience. In my opinion, Rihanna's more control of how she's presented in the media in the present, rather than the sweet barbados girl that she was made out to be in the past.

Rihanna in her first music video 'If it's lovin that you want' 

Rihanna in one of her more recent videos, 'Man Down' 

Rihanna's past and present target audience 

Rihanna's target audience is teenagers, young adults and adults as she produces music that her fans can relate to through the intentions she had when writing them (e.g. Cheers, Love the Way You Lie or Take A Bow). Her image appeals to the younger audience as she's portrayed as fun, youthful and quite provocative which makes her target audience wider, boys and men see her as a sex symbol. Rihanna has taken up a more rebellious image lately as one of her albums was called 'Good Girl Gone Bad' foreshadowing the road her new image took, in more recent video's she has dressed more provocatively (as discussed above) than ever and the lyrics and videos in general are just more explicit, causing worry as she is potentially too explicit for her younger audience in some people's opinions which is causing quite a shift in her audience to just young adults and teenagers, canceling out the teenagers - who people worry are being easily influenced by Rihanna's new reformed look. Also in the video 'Man Down', the messages is a lot more mature than past ones.

Goodwins Theory - Applying it to 'If it's Lovin' That You Want' and 'Man Down' 
Both 'If it's Lovin That You Want' and 'Man Down' show some genre characteristics of R&B which is what both songs are, in 'If it's Lovin That You Want' she's shown in the video which is an element featured in Goodwins Theory but we also see conventions such as dancing and Rihanna is dressed in skimpy clothes that keep in theme with being on the beach. The music video is mainly performance based and shows Rihanna singing directly to the viewers using the camera however the more recent video to her single 'Man Down' is very narrative based which shows her audience a story. With Goodwins Theory, both these videos are very similar because they both show close-ups and give Rihanna's audience opportunities to get to know her just in different ways.

Messages and Values 
In 'If It's Lovin That You Want', the video doesn't really have any messages or values but the video keeps in the theme of Summer where she is wearing beach clothes and it uses exotic instruments giving the track a Caribbean sound which is reflected in the video. 'Man Down' is showing a narrative based video and compared to 'If It's Lovin That You Want' it's quite graphic and more mature. 'Man Down' has contents of violence (where Rihanna shoots the man) and sexual content (scenes suggesting that she got raped). The change in the video reflects how her target audience has changed from a star that younger girls can look up to and is child friendly to a more mature star with her own personal style which defines her (i.e. Sexual clothing, change in hair colour)

Dyer's Star Theory 
Dyers star theory applies to Rihanna as it talks about how stars aren't real people and just made by their management to look and act the way they want them to. With Rihanna it's hard to tell whether her past self was controlled by her management and they were forcing her to have the 'good girl' image or if they pushed her into becoming more sexualized for a wider and mature audience since there was a gap in the market for someone like that. Also one of her albums is titled "Good Girl Gone Bad" which hints at people wanting to take note of her change.
Dyer's Theory also says how stars like Rihanna are 'better' or more glamorous versions of their audiences. This applies to Rihanna during 'If It's Lovin That You Want' and 'Man Down' because she is still young in both and therefore her teen/young adult target audience are more likely to connect with her and her lyrics. However, she's more extraordinary than your average girl next door because in each video and in general, she has a striking look about her - both looks very different but still have the same effect. In 'If It's Lovin That You Want' she looks very natural and innocent but still remains pretty drawing in attention from her audience and in 'Man Down' her look is a lot more constructed with her trademark long red hair, good figure and fashion sense but in the long run this still has the same affect on her wider or changed target audience as it did in the first video.