That's, like, hot

Each generation gives birth to its own set of icons, whose names or faces trigger collective, sepia-stained memories of one's 'youth.' I think the current crop of sleek, Internet savvy, Facebook and myspace kids will inherit Paris Hilton as their poster child. 

Paris, whose unexpected staying power has bumped up her status from garden variety media whore (literally and figuratively) to -- I dare say -- icon. To be fair, she's merely one of many emerging icons for this generation, as I'm sure emos (among others) reject the idea of her being a cultural beacon of any sort. But an icon need not be positive or agreeable, yes? She's here, we're stuck with her, so why not accept her and subject her to cultural deconstruction while we're at it? God knows she's open to it, so to speak.

Joel Stein  does this surprisingly well in his Time Magazine essay Requiem for Bat Boy:

'I want to live in a place where information is so pervasive that people are too smart for tall tales and Photoshop tricks, where our fake headlines are metajokes in the Onion or skewering irony on The Daily Show. It's actually a sign of progress for a society to go from inventing gods and monsters to seeking catharsis in the real life of Paris Hilton. We no longer need to conflate fiction and nonfiction to explain our world...'

Paris Hilton as a sign of social progress? Sure, why not. Maybe she'll even inspire a musical. 

Read Joel's full article here.