Pop goes the Weasel

Many 20th and 21st century celebrities have become icons represented through various ways in pop culture. CT looks at the trend...
Take a stroll down any high street and you get to see people dressed in branded clothes, alright. But, what is also equally ‘hot’ for these youngsters is wearing their attitude through sporting a celebrity’s face, who they deem as cool enough be accessorized.It ranges from musicians like The Beatles and Bob Marley to politicians like Obama and Gandhi to even actress Marilyn Monroe.
Not too long ago, writer Salman Rushdie had said, “Gandhi is up for grabs. He has become abstract, historical, postmodern, no longer a man in and of his time but a freeloading concept, a part of the available stock of cultural symbols, an image that can be borrowed, used, distorted, reinvented to fit many different purposes, and to the devil with historicity or truth.”
And popular culture has made icons of not just Gandhi, like Rushdie has pointed out, but of many more. While most of us seem to own their memorabilia or merchandise, proudly wearing it on our bags and shirts in an attempt to ‘fit in’, the question to be asked is how many in our generation believe in the faces of that we’re endorsing.
Is Che Guevara just another cool guy or does one know about his travails through South America? Funnily, while most of us seem to be endorsing popular culture, the term exactly wasn’t flattering when it was coined. In 19th century, the term was meant to refer to the ‘cultured-ness’ of the lower classes. Over years, it has also developed into a culture that was ‘leftover’. Today, of course, pop culture is all about going with the flow and idolizing the most popular symbol.
After Che Guevara, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Gandhi and Marilyn Monroe, the latest pin-up boy is Anna Hazare. Though, for most, he is ‘that anti-corruption guy’. Anjana Damodharan, a copywriter, says, “No one knows what or who they are supporting. They simply sport clothes to fit in.”
For most, like Anjana points out, it is about making a fashion statement rather than taking a stand. Areshdeep Singh, an MBA graduate, thinks that pop culture has, in many cases, tarnished our view of our cultural heroes. “This is done by highlighting and bringing out only those aspects that bear promotional/marketing value to them. In a way, it distorts history and its facts,” he says.
While some may think it is distorting facts, others believe that it takes all kinds to make a generation. Designer Arvind Prakash says, “It is not right to generalize a generation. We do know our facts. When we believe in something or are fascinated by a person, we do read up on them.” Dr Innasimuthu Sebastian, a Ph.D holder in communication and culture from Germany states that media, of course, plays a pivotal role in changing the opinions as well as the face of a single element.
“Youngsters grow up in search of someone who they can look up to – be it through rebellion or pride. And that changes with time, with people and with situations. Corruption is the one dominating problem India faces and the youngsters have found an inner solution just looking up to someone like that,” says Dr Innasimuthu.
Brindaa Lakshmi a social media manager says that sporting the t-shirt is both good and bad. “The good part is that it has made serious leaders more popularly accepted and known. The common man can recognize him. But the flip side people don’t know what these heroes did. A Guevara or a Gandhi is no different from a Britney Spears on a t-shirt,” concludes Brindaa.