"The first thing that generates an
idol
is its other side: a
worshiper
."
The ruling opens the voluminous tome
Ídolos
(UDP Editions), which brings together
thirteen profiles
of essential celebrities in the region under the watchful eye and editing of one of the best Spanish-speaking chroniclers (if not the best),
Leila Guerriero
.
Although it is not its purpose, the journey composes an x-ray of
luminous and contradictory lives
.
The Hand of God: Diego Armando Maradona and his historic goal against England, in the 1986 Mexico World Cup
The list of those portrayed is diverse and none of them clash: there is, of course, the two greatest
football idols
of the 20th century, Diego Maradona and Pelé.
There are also two
television divas
: Susana Giménez and Cecilia Bolocco.
In any case,
most of those portrayed are musicians
: there are Gustavo Cerati, Luis Miguel, Caetano Veloso, Mercedes Sosa, Víctor Jara, Charly García and Shakira.
And
there is only one writer
: Isabel Allende.
"What is an idol made of?" Guerriero asks in the prologue, which is titled "The idols we knew how to get."
Because they are that: a cluster of
intense lives
, that
stumble
forward between glories and collapses, that are not a monument to perfection, but are, above all, ours.
Desired lives
The idols on the list – and perhaps also those who do not appear in the book – are (it is said several times)
a mirror in which their fans look at themselves
.
They are the glories they would like to feel, the whirlwinds they would like to experience, even the tragedies in which they see themselves reflected.
Susana Giménez explained the real reason why she is leaving the stage
These are, furthermore,
vintage
idols "whose dimension flared up before the multiplier bonfire of
social networks
existed . Their rise is analogous. They are the reflection of a time different from the current one," clarifies Leila Guerriero.
In their own way, each of these protagonists, portrayed by thirteen journalists of excellence in the region,
expresses their time
.
"Through each of them, different moments of contemporary history can be read. They all have, or have had, lives full of
contradictions
,
dark areas
that are, time and again,
forgiven
by those who adore them," adds the editor.
What is an idol made of?
Leila Guerriero has a
hypothesis
.
"Underlying this cartography of worship is a question: to what extent these people are a
reflection of the dreams
,
conflicts
and
aspirations
of much of the continent. The answer, complex, is not blowing in the wind."