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Icons An icon can be defined in many ways. Some might say he or she is a man or a woman who himself / herself is remarkable, whether it be through superhuman powers, or extreme experiences. It is his nature which makes him or her to become icon, as he / she takes part in things unattainable to a normal person. An icon has a huge impact on the society, because lot of people attempt to become icons in some way too. Being an icon means to be important and valuable for the members of a society. There are many different types of American icons.
Every society has some form of an icon whether real or mythical, past or present, and whether or not everyone in that society agrees on who their icons are. Almost every culture throughout civilization has enjoyed some type of political or cultural icon, whether they are fighting for some standard of society to be changed, a king, queen, chief, or someone who stands up for the common people. Many political and cultural icons have fought against the powers that be, and are considered icons by the common man who may share the ideal of the icon, but does not have the power to act on his ideal. What is it that we look for when we seek out icons? Some search for characteristics with which they can identify, while others look for traits that represent the person they would most like to emulate. Americans value their inner strength and their liberty.
Therefore they look for a person with true determination, a strong will to live and to live a great and extraordinary life. Whether fame, money and material wealth is indicative of icon worship, or if that praise is more appropriately placed with those who make a difference in society, is something that is quite personal in nature. Easing peoples suffering is a significant component of someone worthy of being called an icon. The desire to overlook ones own problems and shortcomings in order to offer aid to another also defines an icon.
People need icons because they represent admirable qualities or goals to strive for. A popular type of icon today is that of an ordinary person who, when put in unusual circumstances, shows a great deal of courage and strength. It is not the problems that make these ordinary people icons, rather it is the extraordinary acts that they perform during their plight. People look to icon as guides to their own lives.
One of the great things about having icons that are relatively normal is that it can give the ordinary person hope that they, too, can do these things. I believe that the primary standard for being classified as an icon is the ability to influence others in a positive direction. They inspire you. The fact that icons are role models is why we have so many different types of icons. There are many different definitions of an icon, because people personalize their icons, and there is no one icon that would be considered so by everyone or eternally.
Values and beliefs of societies are ever-changing, as are our views of who our icons are. Icons are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, or anyone that touches someone in a way that causes them to be viewed in the highest of ways. All around the world one can find icons. The names may change, but regardless of the differences between societies and cultures, the feelings we get from our icons remain the same. Unconsciously we all have a standard by which we measure other men and women, and if we examine closely we find that this standard is a very simple one and is this: we admire them, we envy them, for great qualities which we ourselves lack. Icon worship consists in just that.
Our icons are the men and women who do things which we recognize with regret and sometimes with a secret shame that we cannot do. We find not much in ourselves to admire, we always privately want to be like somebody else. Mark Twain has said once, If everybody was satisfied with himself there would be no icons. Who do I believe is an American icon; someone whom I believe Americans truly worship?
Honestly, I personally do not have any icons. I have never felt the need to be like someone else. I have never looked towards others to draw strength or inspiration from. I have never aspired to be like someone else, and growing up, I never thought it impossible to measure up to true greatness. It is impossible for me to identify a person whom American society recognizes as an icon simply because I recognize myself as an individual. As a society, people do look to icons as guides to their own lives, yet as individuals, we tend to look to ourselves.
Yes, I recognize the need that societies have for icons. I also recognize the benefits of having someone such as an icon who represents the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of others. However, it is not necessary for me to believe in an American icon in order to acknowledge or understand the existence of them. However, there are people that can be considered icons. Especially, people can have icons when it comes to a popular culture.
Music icons are vivid examples of what an icon can be for the society. In my opinion, Madonna can be a perfect example of what icon in our society is. In todays music videos the audience is faced with the confronting image of rampant commercialism mixed with mediocre production values. How is the viewer supposed to react to the fashion, magazines, and the aura of stars in music videos? More importantly, can the audience actually derive any realistic and honest meanings from music videos?
Music video can be very influential in how society perceives itself; however, it does not mirror society's values, glorifying poor moral values and condemning normality. Therefore, viewers have a choice to interpret the clip based on their own meanings and values; they may take it seriously or render it as redundant and meaningless banter which serves no real use (apart from momentary entertainment) to society. Nevertheless, the majority of our society accepts Madonna, moreover, for lots of people Madonna is an icon. Madonna, conversely, is concerned with the plight of the female and gender stereotypes. She does not allow her body to be dismantled and objectified nor does she provide messages for men that lead to abuse, rape or death of women. She has used her sexuality to empower herself showing a natural flair for independence and power.
She is a real icon. The only meaning Madonna is trying to convey in her music videos is that each person can control their sexuality and social identity, and that these things are not pre-determined. This is what makes Madonna so popular and this is what people like about her, which shows that Madonna is an icon. Madonna knows of the aura of power that is inherently held by music stars proclaiming, Power is a great aphrodisiac, and Im a very powerful person and I want to conquer the world. Actually, Madonna conquered the world. Madonna should be also respected because she reached her goals, which certainly were not the easy ones.
However, she has rarely wandered from the normal promotional responsibilities of a contemporary artist, so is her power more of a mass media creation? Madonnas phenomenal popularity simply cannot be accounted for by her music, her personality, or even her sexuality. Once People magazine asked a question about Madonna, But is she really beautiful? and answers, Of course shes beautiful.
That comes with the territory, with the power (People, 1991: 109). Her vast amount of power can be sourced to the mass media where society's dominant ideologies suggest the need for cultural icons (role models) and her admirable spirit, independence, self-determination and upbringing (rags to riches) make her an icon. Madonna has used media savvy (manipulation) to carefully construct her own image to become a superstar, where her celebrity status has virtually reduced her music, dancing and acting to irrelevancy. In fact, Madonna is more than famous as she has defined fame for the 80 s and now, and is not just a person known as a celebrity but (as someone who has) kind of defined it in a way. However, despite her celebrity status we see little of her personality, an important aspect in understanding the meaning of music videos; in the 90 s, much has changed, where as someone who has) kind of defined it in a way.
Madonna had affective millions of people with her songs. Madonna has been in the music business for over 20 years now. All of Madonnas albums had religious and sexual symbolism. There are many proofs that Madonna should be taken seriously as an artist and also as an icon. To keep her style up to date she would always come out with different looks and different ways of dressing. This was one of the reasons way she is where she is right now.
Madonna has helped move on the styles from different time in which she helped us have the look we have today. Many people remember when they were in high school they would see girls walking down the halls dressed like Madonna or singing one of her songs, and the guys would be dressing like idol. Madonna always had a way of keeping her style fresh and new in a way that no matter who you are you could look like her. Until this day girl still dress like her and look up to her. Many for todays artists say that they used to hear Madonna when they were young and looked up to her as an inspiration, no matter if it was acting, or singing. This shows that Madonna is real icon for different people.
Madonna is a unique woman. Everything that she achieved was mainly due her own talents and efforts. Madonna became very successful after release of her first album and since then people worship Madonna. Her first album Madonna, released in 1983 won her wide acclaim and millions of fans plus invitations to move into films. Not only was Madonna setting the tone music wise, she was also creating a whole new fashion. Madonnas style was so popular that world famous lingerie store Fredericks of Hollywood reported a 40 % increase in sales, which they put down to the Material Girls image.
Madonnas second album, the Niles Rodgers-produced Like a Virgin, was released at the end of 1984. The title track hit number one in December, staying at the top of the charts for six weeks; it was the start of a whirlwind year for the singer. Penthouse published nude photos of Madonna that she posed for in 1977. Nevertheless, her popularity continued unabated, with thousands of teenage girls adopting her sexy appearance, being dubbed Madonna Wannabes.
During 1985, Madonna became an international celebrity, selling millions of records on the strength of her stylish, sexy videos and forceful personality, which greatly contributed to her image of an icon. Since year 1985, Madonna is known as a person who can do anything: she is a singer, an actress, a composer, a producer and an executive. Madonna has success everywhere. Madonna has broken every available radio, video, sales, and box-office record, racking up no fewer than 29 Top Ten singles, 11 of those reaching No. 1.
Pivotal as recorded music is to Madonnas unparalleled success; she has had more videos, played more often, than any other artist in the history of the MTV network. At the beginning of 1987, Madonna had her fifth number one single with Open Your Heart, the third number one from True Blue alone. La Isla Bonita, taken from the soundtrack of her third feature film, Whos That Girl? was another Top Five hit, although the film itself was another box office bomb; the title track from the movie became her sixth number one single. 1988 was a relatively quiet year for Madonna, as she spent the first half of the year acting in David Mamets Speed the Plow on Broadway. In the meantime, she released the remix album You Can Dance. Like a Prayer, released in the spring of 1989, was her most ambitious and far-reaching album, incorporating elements of pop, rock and dance.
It was another number one hit and launched the number one title track and Express Yourself, Cherish, and Keep It Together, three more Top Ten hits. In April 1990, Madonna began her massive Blonde Ambition tour, which ran throughout the entire year. Vogue became a number one hit in May, setting the stage for her co-starring role in Warren Beattys Dick Tracy; it was her most successful film appearance since Desperately Seeking Susan. Madonna released a greatest hits album, The Immaculate Collection, at the end of the year. It featured two new songs, including the number one single Justify My Love, which sparked another controversy with its sexy video; the second new song, Rescue Me, became the highest-debuting single by a female artist in U. S.
chart history, entering the charts at number 15. Truth or Dare, a documentary of the Blonde Ambition tour, was released to positive reviews and strong ticket sales at the end of 1991. Madonna returned to the charts in the summer of 1992 with the number one This Used to Be My Playground, a single featured in the film A League of Their Own, which featured the singer in a small part. Later that year, Madonna released Sex, an expensive, steel-bound soft-core pornographic book that featured hundreds of erotic photographs of herself, several models, and other celebrities including Isabella Rossellini, Big Daddy Kane, Naomi Campbell, and Vanilla Items well as selected prose. Madonna was then at her most outrageous wearing coned Jean-Paul Gaultier corsets and lashing her male dances on stage with whips.
As the sexual theme got an increasingly arduous workout, she made what most people believe to the worst move of her career with her book Sex. It pictured Madonna in every type of sexual pose possible and indulged her flirtations with lesbianism and sado-masochism. Madonna was not afraid of public opinion, moreover, she was convinced that things she was doing were right, which shows Madonnas determination thanks to which Madonna was idolized. Multi-awarded for her videos, Madonna has made a ground-breaking contribution to the video art form, as she has in her unstoppable sell-out music tours that combine music, theatrics, spectacle, and dazzling charisma and have packed stadiums globally for nearly two decades. Those big chart breakers mean of course big money and thats why Madonna is the richest woman in the world. Madonna makes about 130 millions USD a year.
Continuously releasing albums, singles, music- videos and movies hold Madonnas myth high. Madonna has achieved many things. She manipulated the media and the public with her music, her videos, her publicity, and her sexuality. As you can see Madonna is truly American icon. Bibliography: Anderson, Christopher. Madonna Unauthorized.
NY: Simon and Schuster, 1991 Be, Mark. Madonna. NY: Harmony Books, 1992 Brown, J. , Barton White, A. , & Schulze, L. A Sacred Monster in Her Prime, in Schwichtenberg, Cathy (ed. ), The Madonna Connection, Allen & Unwin, NSW, 1993 Frith, S.
Video Pop: Picking Up the Pieces, in Schwichtenberg, Cathy (ed. ), The Madonna Connection, Allen & Unwin, NSW, 1993 Leonard, M. Feminism, Subculture and Girl Power, in Sexing the Groove - Popular Music and Gender, Routledge, London, 1997 People magazine, Ed. 109, 1999
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Research essay sample on Number One Hit Allen Unwin
