Richard Dyer
Encyclopedia
Richard W. Dyer is an English
academic specialising in cinema
. As of 2006 he is Professor of Film Studies at King's College London
. Previously he was at the University of Warwick
. His work is described as "emphasising the aesthetic and historical specificity of cultural texts"
, Dyer majored in French at the University of St Andrew's and worked in the theatre before studying for a PhD in English at the University of Birmingham's Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies.
He was an active and influential figure in the English Gay Liberation Front
and regularly contributed to the journal Gay Left
. Dyer’s article ‘In Defence of Disco’ in Gay Left (1979), was one of the first to take disco seriously as an expression of the new gay consciousness.
The first gay cinema event at the National Film Theatre was organised by Dyer in 1977. The event was accompanied by the publication of Gays and Film, a collection of essays edited by him.
Stars (1979) was Dyer's first full-length book. In it he developed the idea that the viewers' perception of a film is heavily influenced by the perception of its stars, and that publicity materials and reviews determine the way that audiences experience the film. With this thesis in mind, Dyer analysed critics' writing, magazines, and advertising and the films themselves, to explore the significance of stardom, with particular reference to Marlon Brando
, Bette Davis
, Marlene Dietrich
, Jane Fonda
, Greta Garbo
, Marilyn Monroe
, Robert Redford
, Joan Crawford
and John Wayne
.
In Only Entertainment, Dyer's second book, he asserted that film studies had become rich in the "but also" approach to studying entertainment: in which the analyst claims that, while an aspect of a film is entertaining, it is also something else — the something else being the real focus of the analysis. Dyer complained that "Time and again, we are not told why Westerns are exciting, why horror films horrify, why weepies make us cry, but instead are told that, while they are exciting, horrifying and tear-jerking, the films also deal with history, society, psychology, gender roles, indeed the meaning of life." He suggested that there were other informative ways to study "entertainment." With typical metaconsciousness, he describes the sugar on the pill approach (in which entertainment is the sugar and ideology the pill) in which he notes that defining entertainment itself as an ideology is "sugaring the pill". His particular enthusiasm, however, was reserved for "conceptualizing radical pleasure." Such pleasure is without misgiving; it is an "unruly delight". He acknowledged that there was real pleasure to be had from material that was ideologically irresponsible; that there is still room for hedonism.
In 1993 the British Film Institute
(BFI) commissioned Dyer to write a book about the 1945 film Brief Encounter as part of its BFI Modern Classics series. He emphasised the gay sensibility of the film, analysing the source of this impression in a way that reached beyond the popular assumption that this flowed from the film's association with Noël Coward
as its scriptwriter.
In 1999 the British Film Institute
(BFI) commissioned Dyer to write a book about David Fincher
's 1995 film Seven
as part of its BFI Modern Classics series. Dyer adopted the conceit of breaking his analysis into seven S-titled sections: sin, story, structure, seriality, sound, sight, and salvation. He explored the film's use of the seven deadly sins
, its own conscious structure and the nature of serial killing in earlier films. Despite this focus on sin and death, Dyer responded to the film on an entirely experiential level, making no comment on its relevance to the viewers morality.
Dyer's essay 'White', which first appeared in Screen magazine, was expanded to become a book. This continued Dyer's theme of categorisation. He argues that "white culture" has so established itself as a norm as to become invisible and that "coloured" cultural entities are defined in terms of their differences from the "white".
Dyer has appeared in several television documentaries. He talked about Alma Cogan
in Alma Cogan: The Girl with the Giggle In Her Voice (1991). In 1995 he contributed his opinions to the television documentary The Celluloid Closet
, a history of depictions of lesbians and gay men in American films, which was first screened in the UK on Channel 4
on 5 September 1996. Five years later when the documentary was released on DVD, unused material was edited together to form a one-hour show entitled Rescued From the Closet.
Although Dyer's academic specialism is film, he has a wider interest in culture and in the way that people are categorised. His 2001 book The Culture of Queers was a general history of the culture of gay men. He had explored aspects of this — like the origins of the application of the word 'gay' to this culture — in earlier essays. In the book he looked at the more general issue of a sexual grouping having an identifiable culture and at the relatively small set of stereotypes associated with that culture as portrayed in its arts and media. Specifically, he uses "queer culture" to indicate the values of that grouping before "gay culture" took hold, and the book explores the ways in which these two cultures differ.
' lifetime achievement award.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
academic specialising in cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
. As of 2006 he is Professor of Film Studies at King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
. Previously he was at the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
. His work is described as "emphasising the aesthetic and historical specificity of cultural texts"
Career
Born in LeedsLeeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, Dyer majored in French at the University of St Andrew's and worked in the theatre before studying for a PhD in English at the University of Birmingham's Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies.
He was an active and influential figure in the English Gay Liberation Front
Gay Liberation Front
Gay Liberation Front was the name of a number of Gay Liberation groups, the first of which was formed in New York City in 1969, immediately after the Stonewall riots, in which police clashed with gay demonstrators.-The Gay Liberation Front:...
and regularly contributed to the journal Gay Left
Gay Left
Gay Left was a collective of gay men who produced a journal of the same name published every six months in London, England between the years 1975 and 1980...
. Dyer’s article ‘In Defence of Disco’ in Gay Left (1979), was one of the first to take disco seriously as an expression of the new gay consciousness.
The first gay cinema event at the National Film Theatre was organised by Dyer in 1977. The event was accompanied by the publication of Gays and Film, a collection of essays edited by him.
Stars (1979) was Dyer's first full-length book. In it he developed the idea that the viewers' perception of a film is heavily influenced by the perception of its stars, and that publicity materials and reviews determine the way that audiences experience the film. With this thesis in mind, Dyer analysed critics' writing, magazines, and advertising and the films themselves, to explore the significance of stardom, with particular reference to Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
, Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
, Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
, Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
, Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
, Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
, Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
and John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
.
In Only Entertainment, Dyer's second book, he asserted that film studies had become rich in the "but also" approach to studying entertainment: in which the analyst claims that, while an aspect of a film is entertaining, it is also something else — the something else being the real focus of the analysis. Dyer complained that "Time and again, we are not told why Westerns are exciting, why horror films horrify, why weepies make us cry, but instead are told that, while they are exciting, horrifying and tear-jerking, the films also deal with history, society, psychology, gender roles, indeed the meaning of life." He suggested that there were other informative ways to study "entertainment." With typical metaconsciousness, he describes the sugar on the pill approach (in which entertainment is the sugar and ideology the pill) in which he notes that defining entertainment itself as an ideology is "sugaring the pill". His particular enthusiasm, however, was reserved for "conceptualizing radical pleasure." Such pleasure is without misgiving; it is an "unruly delight". He acknowledged that there was real pleasure to be had from material that was ideologically irresponsible; that there is still room for hedonism.
In 1993 the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
(BFI) commissioned Dyer to write a book about the 1945 film Brief Encounter as part of its BFI Modern Classics series. He emphasised the gay sensibility of the film, analysing the source of this impression in a way that reached beyond the popular assumption that this flowed from the film's association with Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
as its scriptwriter.
In 1999 the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
(BFI) commissioned Dyer to write a book about David Fincher
David Fincher
David Andrew Leo Fincher is an American film and music video director. Known for his dark and stylish thrillers, such as Seven , The Game , Fight Club , Panic Room , and Zodiac , Fincher received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for his 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and...
's 1995 film Seven
Seven (film)
Seven is a 1995 American thriller film, which also contains horror and neo-noir elements, directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. It was distributed by New Line Cinema and stars Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R...
as part of its BFI Modern Classics series. Dyer adopted the conceit of breaking his analysis into seven S-titled sections: sin, story, structure, seriality, sound, sight, and salvation. He explored the film's use of the seven deadly sins
Seven deadly sins
The 7 Deadly Sins, also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins, is a classification of objectionable vices that have been used since early Christian times to educate and instruct followers concerning fallen humanity's tendency to sin...
, its own conscious structure and the nature of serial killing in earlier films. Despite this focus on sin and death, Dyer responded to the film on an entirely experiential level, making no comment on its relevance to the viewers morality.
Dyer's essay 'White', which first appeared in Screen magazine, was expanded to become a book. This continued Dyer's theme of categorisation. He argues that "white culture" has so established itself as a norm as to become invisible and that "coloured" cultural entities are defined in terms of their differences from the "white".
Dyer has appeared in several television documentaries. He talked about Alma Cogan
Alma Cogan
Alma Cogan was an English singer of traditional pop music in the 1950s and early 1960s. Dubbed "The Girl With the Laugh/Giggle/Chuckle In Her Voice", she was the highest paid British female entertainer of her era...
in Alma Cogan: The Girl with the Giggle In Her Voice (1991). In 1995 he contributed his opinions to the television documentary The Celluloid Closet
The Celluloid Closet
The Celluloid Closet is a 1996 American documentary film directed and written by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. The film is based on the 1981 book of the same name written by Vito Russo, and on previous lecture and film clip presentations given in person by Russo 1972–82.Russo researched the...
, a history of depictions of lesbians and gay men in American films, which was first screened in the UK on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
on 5 September 1996. Five years later when the documentary was released on DVD, unused material was edited together to form a one-hour show entitled Rescued From the Closet.
Although Dyer's academic specialism is film, he has a wider interest in culture and in the way that people are categorised. His 2001 book The Culture of Queers was a general history of the culture of gay men. He had explored aspects of this — like the origins of the application of the word 'gay' to this culture — in earlier essays. In the book he looked at the more general issue of a sexual grouping having an identifiable culture and at the relatively small set of stereotypes associated with that culture as portrayed in its arts and media. Specifically, he uses "queer culture" to indicate the values of that grouping before "gay culture" took hold, and the book explores the ways in which these two cultures differ.
Awards
In 2007, Dyer was the recipient of the Society for Cinema and Media StudiesSociety for Cinema and Media Studies
The Society for Cinema and Media Studies is an organization of professors and scholars. Its home office is at the University of Oklahoma, but it has members throughout the world....
' lifetime achievement award.