Pop icon
King Kong (1933) - Cooper, Schoedsack
Marilyn Monroe, photocredit unknown [Nov 2004]
Definition
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, exhuast 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, John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe. 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. -
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, as Michael Jackson has disappointed his fans by being accused of pedophilia. Thus, it is now safe to "worship" the icon.
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." --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop icon [Sept 2004]
Icon (popular culture)
Popular culture, or pop culture, is the currency or iconography of a contemporary culture.
For example "The giant panda...is a favorite animal in popular culture." --http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_culture
By extension from the primary sense of the word, an icon is also a name, face, picture or symbol that readily recognized by most people to represent some well-known entities or attributes. Many icons are based on famous objects or landmarks. Icons are usually culturally dependent though many are recognized internationally. --http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icon
Iconography
Iconography is also used to refer to the archetypical scenes and characters used in representation. For example, in films of the genre "Westerns", such tropes as "cattle drive", "saloon", "gunfight", "gunfighter", "sheriff" constantly recur. --http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iconography
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