Who’s Your Idol, Baby? Oh Yeah.
posted at 12:14 pm
on Jun. 30, 2012
Previous entry:
East Van Halen’s Unbroken Record ... of Shame
Next entry:
Summer Was a Good Time To Be On the Road
At the recent Northern Voice, in “Social Media for Social Change”, Richard Loat asked the audience: Who here has an idol? Who is it, or who are they? And then was rather taken aback that no one raised their hand or had a ready answer. He clearly did.
Before I go on, think about the questions yourself, and come up with an answer.
I liked the question, but I asked some friends to share their idols, if they had one, and the answer was often: Nope, don’t have an idol. Which surprised me. And I like things that surprise me, because it got me to thinking.
Several people told me that they didn’t have an idol because idols are bad. You know, biblically bad—golden idols and god’s rage and all that. Having people who inspire you, or who you like, or who had good ideas, that was one thing. But to idolize them—it’s bad for them, and it’s bad for the person doing it, too. That seemed to be the biggest objection.
Other people objected to pop idols, the idea that there are celebrities who are “worshiped”; and others didn’t like the media making various figures into idols and then later tearing them down when they ended up not matching the media’s own flawed or exaggerated portrayals.
No one really got into the anthropological meaning of idols.
So, I revised the question to: Who inspires me, and help shape the values and ideals I have? And I came up with this list:
Now it’s your turn to surprise me!
Previous entry:
East Van Halen’s Unbroken Record ... of Shame
Next entry:
Summer Was a Good Time To Be On the Road
