Cher: A Visual Dictionary
The New York Times
The things that make Cher Cher.
It takes nothing away from her voice to say that Cher is a singer for whom the visuals matter. A lot.
It’s her voice, after all, that brought a teenage Cher to the attention of the powerful music producer Phil Spector; that introduced mainstream audiences to the strange science of Auto-Tune; that chided a love-struck Nicolas Cage to “Snap out of it!” Indeed, some of the most memorable Cher impressions are vocal but nonverbal — a descending nasal “hohhh,” sometimes accompanied by a hair toss.
But for Cher, now 78, who released the first volume of her memoir this month, it has always been clear that her status as an entertainment icon rests at least as heavily on what is seen as it does on what is heard. Here’s a look at the visual signifiers that have made Cher into the one-of-a-kind cultural figure she is today.
When Cher emerges onscreen in “Moonstruck,” her overgrown corona of dark curls are kissed at the edges with gray. The audience is supposed to see this silvery encroachment as a sign that her character, Loretta Castorini — and, by extension, Cher herself — is getting up there. Age comes for us all, “Moonstruck” declares: even Cher!
