Help needed for dissertation on Morrissey!

Joe Fen Tiger

New Member
Hello there, my name is Joe and Im currently fighting through my third year in university and working on my dissertation. My title is 'What Makes an Icon? The Image Of Morrissey', and I am investigating exactly what I pose in the title; what has made Morrissey an icon...and also very importantly, how has his 'image' played a part in this. I know this is loaded in ambiguity, but I thought you wouldn't want me to bore you with my whole proposal!

I was just wondering if any fans on this forum would be willing to enlighten me with their thoughts on the great man himself that I can use as part of my research? Your thoughts can be as brief or as detailed as you like, it will all help me immensely I can assure you.

Anyway, thanks for reading if you have, and extra extra thanks if you want to contribute! Joe
 
I'd suggest you to read a thread titled "Do you agree with the following statement?" :p (hehehe, sorry for being self-indulgent, but you'll find one of the greatest debates in 2006).

You'll find it from 2006 general discussion archive, type in the title in search function.
Good luck.
 
Going on a cultural studies/historical tangent, I guess that there are several things to consider:

When discussing the imagery of Morrissey, there is the distinction in who is using the imagery, in what context and for what purpose. Most distinctly is how Morrissey portrays himself publicly (as a person and through his use of visual media) and how others have portrayed him.

Morrissey tries to retain strict control over the imagery used in his releases, so what is he is trying to depict through this? It is important to note that the Smiths didn't use imagery of themselves, rather the 'found' photo - is the modernist (dada/situationist/pop art) notion of appropriation relevant here? Are the images used as a 'celebration' or something more subversive? What connection is there between the Smiths and their iconography - it's not really about anonymity, but there is a clear juncture between the 'reality' of the Smiths and the nostalgiaism of their record sleeves.

It's also not about anonymity because we see Morrissey as a very public figure in the 1980s. But is the public image of Morrissey essentialising a very complex person? What makes Morrissey 'iconic'? Vegetarianism? Celibacy? Fascination with Oscar Wilde and James Dean? Gladioli? Ripped shirts? When we see parodies of Morrissey, we find an essentialised Morrissey, like Elvis impersonators, stuck in a time warp - this time around 1985. No one impersonates the contemporary Morrissey, who many people claim is using the persona of people like Frank Sinatra in their Las Vegas era.

But also how has Morrissey used images of himself since the demise of the Smiths? Is there a more distinct effort by him to control his public persona since becoming a solo artist? If so, this has also backfired in some ways as Morrissey made headlines more for being a 'racist' or 'the defendent' in the 1990s. Is it more than just band member to solo artist, a kind of epistemological break in the persona of Morrissey?

Hope that helps. Sorry if this doesn't make sense. I'm trying to write about Stuart Hall and Thatcher.
 
I suggest you pop on over to the "Morrissey Frink Thread", if you haven't already. Not only will you find some iconic Morrissey images there, but you will see that a not-insignificant amount of his fan adoration comes from his sex appeal, which he has most definitely cultivated ever since The Smiths. The fact that most people--both among his fans and among the general public--are unclear as to what sexual "box" (forgive the pun) he puts himself into, adds to the allure.
 
Back
Top Bottom