Morrissey-Icon subject for school paper.

nataniel66

New Member
Well I have to write a paper for my english class about an important figure in mainstream American culture who have tended to become more complex and difficult to pigeonhole in recent years. . I don't want to choose an icon and be bored with the paper so Im thinking of choosing the Moz.

Your opinion on the subject is needed...
I must choose one traditionally iconic character and one more complex anti-icon. I must compare them in relation to qualities that "embody our deepest values and desires"
One problem with this is that I can't think of an anti icon to go against Moz.

~OR~

to choose a single figure who may have been interpreted initially as simple but who has become more complex in critical hindsight.
Does this relate to Moz?


Well anyway It would be great to get your opinion since no one I know likes Morrissey and know about him as an icon and how he affects us all.

Many thanks :)
 
~OR~

to choose a single figure who may have been interpreted initially as simple but who has become more complex in critical hindsight.
Does this relate to Moz?
:)

His songs and his changing styles (but not hair:p) of clothes.
 
If you spend sometime to read worthy threads on general discussion and interviews archives from other sites, you'll get enough materials to write about.
 
Thank You for your feedback :)

Hey Nat, I am surprised it hasn't had that much feed back to tell you the truth. I think it s quite an interesting topic.

I can't think of any 'Anti icons' to speak of.:confused:

As for morrissey, his style has changed, as well as the subjects of his songs.

who would think the sensitive soul from the smiths 1st lp would be writing songs about boxers, the kray twins and national front discos.


(calling worm and dave......come on POST HERE)
 
Well I have to write a paper for my english class about an important figure in mainstream American culture who have tended to become more complex and difficult to pigeonhole in recent years. . I don't want to choose an icon and be bored with the paper so Im thinking of choosing the Moz.

Your opinion on the subject is needed...
I must choose one traditionally iconic character and one more complex anti-icon. I must compare them in relation to qualities that "embody our deepest values and desires"
One problem with this is that I can't think of an anti icon to go against Moz.

~OR~

to choose a single figure who may have been interpreted initially as simple but who has become more complex in critical hindsight.
Does this relate to Moz?


Well anyway It would be great to get your opinion since no one I know likes Morrissey and know about him as an icon and how he affects us all.

Many thanks :)

Nat (if I may call you that)

I think that this is a great topic for a paper, but not necessarily an easy one.

You will probably know that Moz is judged to have a very iconic status in this country (UK), and a lot was written on the topic by other Solo posters earlier this year prior to a BBC TV competition on British icons.

In relation to his iconic status, i don't think that Moz's position has changed substantially over the years - but I'm sure that other posters will disagree. Yes, we've known him for a lot longer than we did, say, 20 years ago, but do we know a lot more about him. He still has that difficult-to-define persona that intrigues and repels in equal measure. Not sure this is about being an icon but it's one of the appealing features of him for many of us. Also, as it says on the back sleeve of the Mark Simpson book (sorry, guys, for not knowing where the original quote first appeared), if you say that you like Moz, you then must explain why.

I don't think Moz is more complex now than he was 'back when...'. Yes, he's still complex though.

I'm not sure about this anti-icon bit - i.e. I'm not sure I know its meaning/definition. I was initially thinking simply of infamous people - Hitler, Stalin, Kray Twins, etc, but now I'm unsure as a recent English 'anti-icon list' includes well-known people here who are not 'bad' people but are described, I think, as unworthy of adoration - 'undeserving icons'. The list (sorry if you don't know some of these) includes Pete Doherty, Russell Brand, one of Bob Geldof's daughters, Tom Cruise and Johnny Borrell.

You're in the US I take it? If so, perhaps your anti-icons might be someone like Britney or Mike Tyson - apols if I'm off the mark here, not too up on 'mainstream American culture'.

Sorry if this doesn't help, but one final thought. While it might be interesting and quirky to include Moz, if you have to do a discussion group on the topic and no-one else really knows him or has a view on him, it might make it difficult to get a debate going. Perhaps better to pick two American, reasonably well-known figures for this. Keep us informed of your progress/developments though.
 
I think you could do a very interesting piece on Morrissey and representations of masculinity. The way he's often played with that, consciously chopping and changing his image to emphasise the masculine or feminine and the way his audience react to that, whether positively or negatively.
 
Well I have to write a paper for my english class about an important figure in mainstream American culture who have tended to become more complex and difficult to pigeonhole in recent years. . I don't want to choose an icon and be bored with the paper so Im thinking of choosing the Moz.

Your opinion on the subject is needed...
I must choose one traditionally iconic character and one more complex anti-icon. I must compare them in relation to qualities that "embody our deepest values and desires"
One problem with this is that I can't think of an anti icon to go against Moz.

~OR~

to choose a single figure who may have been interpreted initially as simple but who has become more complex in critical hindsight.
Does this relate to Moz?


Well anyway It would be great to get your opinion since no one I know likes Morrissey and know about him as an icon and how he affects us all.

Many thanks :)

Perhaps the easiest topic would be the icon/anti icon topic. You can cite Morrissey's influences both musical and literary and explain why he is considered an archetype in modern music. Why he is unique.

The "anti-icon"? To be fair, pick someone in music. Any cock-rock personna would do. Ted Nugent, perhaps? You can summerize him in one good paragraph.

Good luck on the paper.
 
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