But to a younger pop audience that has grown up in the more conservative, conformist 80's, the wholesome pop iconography of the 50's doesn't seem so remote.
It took 25 years for the rest of the world to catch on to what Warhol already understood about fame and the power of pop iconography in America.
If that sounds like standard pop iconography, the disconcerting thing about the Valley is how often it turns out to be true.
"Tony 'n' Tina" positively wallows in pop iconography, to hilarious effect.
In the past decade, McGinness has become an art star, thanks to his Warholian mix of pop iconography and silk-screening.
Drawing on a wild cavalcade of pop iconography, he tries a fascinating array of tricks, with results that are guaranteed to be uneven.
"Saint Clara" is not much more than a collection of surreal comic riffs on everything from the fall of Communism to modern pop iconography.
He had a remarkable eye for pop iconography (he invented the very concept) and a prescient ability to read the national psyche.
Cloaking Mahler in pop iconography won't work.
In a frenetic blast of pop iconography, Baz Luhrmann's film retains Shakespeare's language but places the tale in a late-1990's street scene.