Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index A cultural icon is a famous individual who has transcended "mere" celebrity to come to represent a given Zeitgeist to a sizable part of the world. As such, a cultural icon is not simply a famous face but a complex, multi-layered personage who reflects the conflicts and contradictions of his or her time. While cultural icons aren't by definition a phenomenon of the 20th century, modern mass media and popular culture have contributed greatly to the creation of these symbols. On July 22, 2003, US Cable TV Channel VH-1 named Oprah as number one pop culture icon, followed by Superman and Elvis. Some cultural icons of the 20th century Carlos Gardel Maria Callas Eva Perón James Dean Elvis Ernesto "Che" Guevara Jimi Hendrix Diego Maradona As the above list indicates, Argentina, owing to its particular cultural schizophrenia, has been fertile ground for the development of cultural icons. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.