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Cultural icons of our generation?

I recently came across an article talking about the Beatles and the icons of the 1960's. I tried to think about the cultural icons, the "voices", of our generation but I found it very difficult. :s-smilie:

I wanted to ask you
Who do you think are the cultural icons of our generation?

Thank you very much! :smile:

Reply 1

Floalley

I'd have to say Amy Winehouse, her voice was simply amazing.

Edit: She's an icon but not a role-model.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 2

SirMasterKey

Justin Bieber. :afraid:

Reply 3

Plainview

Original post by SirMasterKey

Justin Bieber. :afraid:

Whether people like it or not I'd say you're probably right. He does have quite a large following, and his fanbase is reflective of the way that younger people are getting involved in these things through new technology.

I think that 'icon' is a massively overused word and doesn't really mean that much any more, though.

Reply 4

SirMasterKey

Original post by tjf8

Exactly. Doesn't he have like 3/4 of the highest viewed youtube videos which is just one sign of his popularity.

A good point as well, what exactly is an 'icon' in this day and age?

Reply 5

22sonst

I think that we have to make a distinction between being "popular" and being an "icon". An icon is someone who answers questions like "Who am I?", "What do I want from life?" and represents the needs/values/thoughts of a generation.... :confused:

I may be wrong but saying that Justin Bieber is a bit to risky... I mean, Psy is very "popular" but I wouldn't say he is an icon.

Reply 6

Plainview

Original post by SirMasterKey

Exactly. Doesn't he have like 3/4 of the highest viewed youtube videos which is just one sign of his popularity.

A good point as well, what exactly is an 'icon' in this day and age?

Something like that :eyebrow:

I don't know, it has to be representative of cultural trends. But picking something like that was a lot easier 50 years ago because you could confine yourself to a smaller audience. Everyone in America and the UK etc. knew the Beatles, so they were an obvious choice then. But now we have access to everything everywhere through youtube or whatever, and you get someone like Psy monopolising people's interests for a whole year. Its harder to choose now because you have to think about the global audience as a whole.