Distinction
Often pop icon status implies distinguished association with a societal ideal or archetype. It is not uncommon for iconic figures to have a nickname or sobriquet that is used to emphasize this association. Sometimes the very name of such individuals is even used as a synonym for common words or ideas.
A number of pop icons are distinguished for having died at a young age. These include James Dean, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Freddie Mercury, River Phoenix, Jean Harlow, Tupac Shakur, Bruce Lee, Janis Joplin, and Marilyn Monroe among others.
Some pop icons, such as Barney The Dinosaur, Mickey Mouse, Big Bird, Winnie the Pooh, Bugs Bunny, Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, Harry Potter, the Simpsons, and even Sherlock Holmes are fictional characters. Even inanimate objects have been recognized as pop icons.
Some figures attain transitory or context-specific "pop icon" status for particular events that captivate public attention, such as in the case of the O.J. Simpson trial.
Read more about this topic: Pop Icon
Famous quotes containing the word distinction:
“The distinction between children and adults, while probably useful for some purposes, is at bottom a specious one, I feel. There are only individual egos, crazy for love.”
—Don Barthelme (1931–1989)
“Only where there is pecuniary equality can the distinction of merit stand out.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“Nature has not placed us in an inferior rank to men, no more than the females of other animals, where we see no distinction of capacity, though I am persuaded if there was a commonwealth of rational horses ... it would be an established maxim amongst them that a mare could not be taught to pace.”
—Mary Wortley, Lady Montagu (1689–1762)