The Influence of Contemporary Icons

Three contemporary icons that have been relevant to my life are the television show Friends, Starbucks coffee, and Walt Disney. I choose these three icons because they have had some sort of impact on a great majority of American’s lives in one way or another. Friends was the number one television show for ten years. The show so heavily influenced popular culture in the late nineties that there was actually a haircut called “The Rachel”. Starbucks coffee started the coffee shop revolution that our country experienced as well as making coffee so important to so many people that it can influence the hotel someone chooses to stay at. As for Walt Disney, who among us has not been touched by something he created from Mickey Mouse to Peter Pan to Snow White to Mickey Mouse Club to Walt Disney World? I would be hard pressed to find someone who has not been influenced in some manner by something Disney created.

“Friends” was the hit television show of my high school and early college years. My friends knew when the show was on that I would not answer the phone. Watching the friendship of the characters on the show, I learned so much about what friendship really means. Rachel and Monica were people we looked up to, wanted to be like, even wanted to look like. I had friends who would ask their hairstylist to give them The Rachel – meaning they wanted the exact haircut that Rachel had at the time. “Friends” was one of the number one television shows for ten years, I grew up with them. When I was in my early twenties I could relate to so many of the scenarios the characters were experiencing such as romance and dating problems, searching for a career, and generally trying to find my way during that hard time between teenager and adult.

Starbucks coffee cups are recognized globally as the pinnacle of the coffee experience. I have always been a drinker of coffee, but it was not until I was at my first Starbucks coffee shop that I had the coffee experience. There was something about going up to the counter and ordering a grande skinny vanilla latte no whip. It was a culture with a language all its own and I was fitting into it. This was more than just ordering a great cup of coffee, it was understanding and living what was at the time, a sub-culture in American society. When I would see someone else with the Starbucks cup I would feel some connection with that person, no matter if I knew them or they even looked my way. Starbucks got me hooked on what is still one of my, and many, many of my friends’, top obsession – coffee. My day is now incomplete without one. My mornings just don’t feel right if I don’t have one. Starbucks has changed my life, introduced me to another culture, given me a place to study and feel a part of something. It’s bigger than coffee, it’s a way of life.

            Walt Disney has touched the lives of possibly any other person in American culture. When I think of all the various things Disney has created by either his own hands or his own ideas – Walt Disney World, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, Snow White, Dumbo, The Mousketeers from Mickey Mouse Club – there has been something Disney in popular culture from the time my parents were young until my own young child watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the mornings. Watching a Disney movie still touches me, they are still among my favorite movies. They are a tradition passed down through generations. I will always remember the excitement I felt as I watched “Mary Poppins” with my 4 year old daughter for the first time. Seeing the excitement in her face, discovering another thing we both love and could share, watching her eyes light up when she heard Julie Andrews begin singing. Disney gives us all a timeless story that teaches us about love, right and wrong, kindness, family, and also brings us many laughs.

References

[Photo of “Friends”]. Retrieved November 17, 2011, from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108778/mediaindex.

[Photo of Starbucks coffee cup]. Retrieved November 17, 2011, from: http://www.diet-blog.com.

[Photo of Walt Disney]. Retrieved November 17, 2011, from: http://waltdisneyworldflorida.net/