Pop icon
For the British television series see: Pop Idol; for religious icons, see: icon.Pop icon or
pop idol is a
celebrity whose popularity (hence, "pop") remains constant or even increases as time goes by. Most celebrities, especially
teen idols, exhaust the public's interest with extreme rapidity.
During the 1990s and 2000s, many
popular music stars are held as Pop idols. The Pop idol is though a much broader definition than this, and acceleration of
media has made Pop idols out of celebrities of many types.
Most pop icons achieved their status through
death, typically at a young age. Adoration of pop icons is due only in part to their actual accomplishments; the far more important factor is their apparent attainment of eternal youth. Some of the most notable pop icons are
James Dean,
Yuri Gagarin,
Bruce Lee and
Marilyn Monroe. These people have one thing in common. They died at a very young age while at the height of their fame. However, even middle-aged celebrities who died can achieve this "eternal youth" if the public chooses to simply ignore all images of them past a certain date, as has been done with
Elvis Presley and
John F. Kennedy.
Death nearly always increases the average person's awe of a public figure. In part this is due to a simple respect for the dead, but the sense of finality that accompanies their departure also signals the fact that they are no longer capable of future betrayals of trust, such as that of
Michael Jackson, who's alleged
paedophilia has disappointed his
fans, and though cleared in court, he still has a tarnished image.
Death also increases the value of all items associated with the pop icon, sometimes drastically; this is known among
collectors by many names, including the "death tax" and "funeral inflation."
Che Guevara
A guerilla soldier and revolutionary from the 1950s and 1960s,
Che Guevara is a Pop idol of young people far away from Cuba and Latin America. Guevara can be found on lots of T-shirts, album covers and is a symbol for revolution. As a Pop idol, the actual doings of Guevara are not important, but what he has come to represent.
Ernest Hemingway
In his time was
Ernest Hemingway often more famous for the man-myth he was than his authorship. Hemingway had followers who accepted and liked what he represented, a powerful, hunter-man model.
Other notable pop icons
*
Michael Jackson*
Martin Luther King, Jr.*
Prince*
Janet Jackson*
Ayumi Hamasaki*
Britney Spears*
James Dean*
Marilyn Monroe*
John Lennon*
Madonna*
Cher*
Deborah Harry*
Tupac Shakur*
James Brown*
Elvis Presley*
Dolly Parton*
Jimi Hendrix*
Yuri Gagarin*
Bruce Lee*
Bob Dylan*
Andy Warhol*
Bob Marley*
Jim Morrison*
Princess Diana*
Michael Jordan*
Gay icon*
Popular culture*
Sex symbol*
Teen idol
