Let's talk about Icons...
- Thread starter *bratcat*
- Start date
callableborg
Really Experienced
- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 141
icon
Some thing or someone who is known to everyone in a culture.
A true icon has to b passed from one generation to another in order to sustain the general knowledge of its existence.
Can happen only in a technological culture as this provides the media to get the message out to everyone.
Some thing or someone who is known to everyone in a culture.
A true icon has to b passed from one generation to another in order to sustain the general knowledge of its existence.
Can happen only in a technological culture as this provides the media to get the message out to everyone.
TigerClaw
Photorific
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2000
- Posts
- 3,259
What makes an Icon.
Well, I make a very good icon if I dont say so myself. Oh, I just did.
This was a tough question. When I was younger I had a lot of icons or people I admired. But of course that is the way you are taught when you are younger. My greatest disappointment was George Washington. When I found out he cheated all his enlisted men out of the rightful reward of the Virginian land and forged a letter giving himself and his cronies all the land it made me realize that these people have just as many faults if not more then you and I.
I can not say that any one is an icon nowadays. Hmm, gotta think more about this one.
good to see you bratcat.
Well, I make a very good icon if I dont say so myself. Oh, I just did.
This was a tough question. When I was younger I had a lot of icons or people I admired. But of course that is the way you are taught when you are younger. My greatest disappointment was George Washington. When I found out he cheated all his enlisted men out of the rightful reward of the Virginian land and forged a letter giving himself and his cronies all the land it made me realize that these people have just as many faults if not more then you and I.
I can not say that any one is an icon nowadays. Hmm, gotta think more about this one.
good to see you bratcat.
Chuckus
'Master' of all things good and pleasurable
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2000
- Posts
- 6,187
As sad as it is, I can think of one icon in particular that people may laugh at ~ Terry "Hulk" Hogan (aka Professional Wrestler)
Many people when they think of wrestling, he is the person that immediately comes to mind.
Many people when they think of wrestling, he is the person that immediately comes to mind.
As far as I know, the dictionary definition of an icon is a devotional painting or carving of a religious nature. Icons are images not people. If that were the case all of our celebrities would be eligible for iconic status.
If the image is of a particular person, the icon is still the image not necessarily the person whom the icon represents.
If the image is of a particular person, the icon is still the image not necessarily the person whom the icon represents.
callableborg
Really Experienced
- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 141
icon
Interesting difference here. I was thinking icon in the sense of being universally known i.e. Coca-Cola or Brittany Spears.
If you draw in an element of hero/heroine or role model the situation becomes alot more complicated. I suppose if the famous is supposed to be good then there are alot of icons fighting for attention.
How does this sort out? Does falling out of sorts with Washington devalue icons in general?
Interesting difference here. I was thinking icon in the sense of being universally known i.e. Coca-Cola or Brittany Spears.
If you draw in an element of hero/heroine or role model the situation becomes alot more complicated. I suppose if the famous is supposed to be good then there are alot of icons fighting for attention.
How does this sort out? Does falling out of sorts with Washington devalue icons in general?
If we're thinking of icons in the typically understood definition of larger than life personalities, we have to consider positives and negatives.
Across the world, more people are familiar with the image of Adolf Hitler than they are of Jesus Christ. Does this make Hitler an icon?
Across the world, more people are familiar with the image of Adolf Hitler than they are of Jesus Christ. Does this make Hitler an icon?
TigerClaw
Photorific
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2000
- Posts
- 3,259
Unfortunately, it is not her keeping me offline
it is the part time teaching job. They are going through cuts and layoff leaving those left behind with more and more work. The part time job has become a full time job in its own right.
Hopefully, the long hours will cut down shortly.
Will the boards be ready for the Tiger???
it is the part time teaching job. They are going through cuts and layoff leaving those left behind with more and more work. The part time job has become a full time job in its own right.
Hopefully, the long hours will cut down shortly.
Will the boards be ready for the Tiger???
callableborg
Really Experienced
- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 141
medjay
I would have to go with Hitler as a negative icon. Knowledge of both the name and the image are wide spread and associated with a specific political content i.e. dictatorship, aggression, genocide.
Hitler is pretty well a synonym for dictatorship. Who do you think of first re. dictatorship - Hitler or .. Mao Stalin Franco etc. ?
How about Elvis? Dead many years but still has a sizeable following. How many fans ever saw him perform? Or were even alive when he was in his prime?
Personality as icon seems to involve a relationship with the public, or parts of the public, which is somehow exceptional.
I would have to go with Hitler as a negative icon. Knowledge of both the name and the image are wide spread and associated with a specific political content i.e. dictatorship, aggression, genocide.
Hitler is pretty well a synonym for dictatorship. Who do you think of first re. dictatorship - Hitler or .. Mao Stalin Franco etc. ?
How about Elvis? Dead many years but still has a sizeable following. How many fans ever saw him perform? Or were even alive when he was in his prime?
Personality as icon seems to involve a relationship with the public, or parts of the public, which is somehow exceptional.
Re: medjay
I still take issue with the use of the word "Icon". I believe "Idol" is the proper term for a person who has achieved some sort of mass adulation. Icon, to me, suggests more of a religious fixation.
I don't mean to turn this thread into a debate about dictionary definitions. To get back to the original point of the thread:
I think Bob Marley is one of the planet's biggest "idols". Better known across the globe than the Beatles and legendary in both music and politics. The shadow he cast over reggae music is so long there still hasn't been another superstar to outshine him.
callableborg said:
I still take issue with the use of the word "Icon". I believe "Idol" is the proper term for a person who has achieved some sort of mass adulation. Icon, to me, suggests more of a religious fixation.
I don't mean to turn this thread into a debate about dictionary definitions. To get back to the original point of the thread:
I think Bob Marley is one of the planet's biggest "idols". Better known across the globe than the Beatles and legendary in both music and politics. The shadow he cast over reggae music is so long there still hasn't been another superstar to outshine him.
SlowHand89
What're you waiting for..
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2001
- Posts
- 1,046
An icon is someone that is able to achieve.
Example: "Icon do it."
Example: "Icon do it."
callableborg
Really Experienced
- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 141
idol/icon
O.K. I can go with 'idol' to denote a person who is famous and inflential far beyond the norm. Say Bob Marley, Elvis, Monroe on the positive side and Hitler or Charlie Manson on the negative.
This leaves me in a little up in the air as to the meaning of 'icon'.
Is this strictly an object or picture that denotes some further meaning? Pure symbol?
O.K. I can go with 'idol' to denote a person who is famous and inflential far beyond the norm. Say Bob Marley, Elvis, Monroe on the positive side and Hitler or Charlie Manson on the negative.
This leaves me in a little up in the air as to the meaning of 'icon'.
Is this strictly an object or picture that denotes some further meaning? Pure symbol?
Re: idol/icon
From the Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus:
Icon: 1) A devotional painting or carving, usu. on wood, of Christ or another holy figure, esp in the eastern church. 2) An image or structure. 3) A sign which has a characteristic in common with the thing it signifies.
That's it except for the other definition that has to do with computer applications.
callableborg said:
From the Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus:
Icon: 1) A devotional painting or carving, usu. on wood, of Christ or another holy figure, esp in the eastern church. 2) An image or structure. 3) A sign which has a characteristic in common with the thing it signifies.
That's it except for the other definition that has to do with computer applications.
*bratcat* said:
I'm sure we've reached a point in our culture where the meaning of this word isn't cut and dried. Like I said before, I didn't want to turn your thread into a debate about definitions. You are absolutly right about how we use "icon" to decribe folks of legendary status.
What happens when a person (such as Mother Teresa) becomes a symbol of something greater? Can that person then be called an "icon"? Maybe . . .
I wonder if Webster's says something different than Oxford?
G
Guest
Guest
Re: BAHHHHHHHHHHH
Didn't he emulate Ted Williams?
koalabear said:There can be only one........
theDuke , John Wayne!!!!!!
Didn't he emulate Ted Williams?
I dunno, but it is the root of one of my favorite words, Iconoclastic, meaning somebody challenging tradition: somebody who challenges or overturns traditional beliefs, customs, and values.
Being here at lit, we are all a bit iconoclastic, I think. . .
Being here at lit, we are all a bit iconoclastic, I think. . .
