Talking about celebrities in class on Monday led my mind to a topic that many people consider to be similar: idols and icons. I wondered what the real difference between them was and how they relate to our current society, so I did some reading and concluded that an idol is just an object, and an icon a symbol. Relatively simple definitions, but let’s think about this in more depth. If an idol is just an object, then that must mean that an idol’s essence/meaning is within itself and representative of nothing more. Therefore if an icon is a symbol, then it is the embodiment of a meaning that is beyond itself––it stands for something. An example of an iconic human being that has walked our earth is Martin Luther King Jr. because his existence was a conduit to a meaning––or a movement––that was beyond himself. Then there are celebrities like Kim Kardashian who are are idols that are worshipped by some for nothing other than what they are.
I was positive that Kim Kardashian and other celebrities of similar stature are idols, until a new question evoked my contemplative tendencies: are these celebrities actually icons of our capitalist system? Is the fact that they are famous for being mere idols also symbolic of capitalism itself?
Thoughts?
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