Four Levels of Fame (1 Viewer)

Optimus Prime

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I had an intesting conversation about famous people. All famous people are not create equally. There's four levels.

Those levels are star, superstar, legend and icon.

stars are famous but often flash in the pans.
superstars have staying power- superstars are sometimes their for their persona, presence in media


For pop music it would be the jonas brothers/miley cyrus are stars (why i have no idea, but they are stars)

Superstars - beyonce, green day

the next two are tricky. legends influenced many who came afterwards, created true classics, what everyone strives to be.

for music legends - james brown, rolling stones, u2, ray charles (there are plenty others of course)

icons - only the rarefied few. when writing the history of their industry (pop music in this example) it would be impossible to do so without naming them. Their entire industry would be vastly different without them.

for music I would say, Elvis, the beatles (what would pop music have been if the beatles never happened?), Frank Sinatra and collectively Motown (Supremes, 4 tops, Temptations, Stevie Wonder etc) and that's it

for saints football

stars- marques colston (should move up. but in the history of the franchise at the moment he's a star)

superstar - drew brees (should also move up if he keeps it up) reggie bush (love reggie, while he's put up good numbers, i don't think he's put up superstar numbers (i think he will this year), but reggie's had superstar exposure that's why he's here

legend - morten andersen, joe horn (some debate here, i have no problem saying that joe horn was a saints superstar, not quite convinced that he was a saints legend but i'll give him the edge)

icons - archie manning, dome patrol. that's it

i thought the whole conversation was fascinating. we debated different stars level of fame for a good while.

jack nicholson: acting legend or acting icon?

mariah carey (just broke or tied record for most number 1 songs) superstar or legend? for me she's not a legend

frasier - superstar sitcom or legendary ( i wouldn't say iconic, i'd give that nod to cheers)

i just thought the whole thing was interesting and wanted to share
 
I'd say Jack Nicholson is in transition from being a legend to being an icon.

Marilyn Monroe is an icon. John Wayne is an icon.

Jane Russell is a legend. Kirk Douglas is a legend.

Julia Roberts is a superstar. John Travolta is a superstar.

Keira Knightley is a star. Matt Damon is a star.

Now, in my mind, there are some cases where a character becomes an icon and the actor or actress is otherwise a legend or superstar.

I'd consider Judy Garland to be a legend. Famous, very famous, but not everybody these days would recognize her instantly in an old interview or movie.

But, Dorothy Gale of Kansas, as played by Judy Garland, is an iconic character, instantly recognizable by people worldwide, seventy years after the movie came out.
 
I'd say Jack Nicholson is in transition from being a legend to being an icon.

Marilyn Monroe is an icon. John Wayne is an icon.

Jane Russell is a legend. Kirk Douglas is a legend.

Julia Roberts is a superstar. John Travolta is a superstar.

Keira Knightley is a star. Matt Damon is a star.

Now, in my mind, there are some cases where a character becomes an icon and the actor or actress is otherwise a legend or superstar.

I'd consider Judy Garland to be a legend. Famous, very famous, but not everybody these days would recognize her instantly in an old interview or movie.

But, Dorothy Gale of Kansas, as played by Judy Garland, is an iconic character, instantly recognizable by people worldwide, seventy years after the movie came out.

disagree with marilyn monroe, i'd call her a legend

throwing charachters in the mix can be tricky.

i consider han solo and indiana jones iconic characters. i wouldn't call harrison ford an iconic actor though
 

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