Wikipedia:WikiProject Jennifer Lopez/Sandbox/Impact



Jennifer Lopez is an American actress, businesswoman, dancer and recording artist, whose career and personal life have had a cultural impact.

In entertainment
Lopez is the wealthiest Hispanic in Hollywood; and has been described as the most influential Latin performer in the United States. Television presenter Ray Martin from 60 Minutes called Lopez a rarity, describing her as one of "few Hollywood stars you can actually admire [...] when you meet her she's just as gorgeous, just as likeable, as she is on screen." Martin said that Lopez is "up there Madonna," having starred in movies alongside leading men like George Clooney, Robert Redford and Jack Nicholson adding that she is a merchandising marvel, too. In his book, Icons of American Popular Culture, Robert C. Cotrell described Jennifer Lopez as being a Latina Oprah Winfrey, writing that Lopez was the embodiment of the American dream, by "boasting a far more authentic rags-to-riches tale". Cotrell also called her a "multidimensional artist who had turned into a financial powerhouse." He continued on to say the impact she had on both Hollywood and the Spanish world, "In a largely singular fashion, Lopez had demonstrated that a Latina could remain on the Hollywood "A" list, to be a top recording artist, and operate as a major player in the corporate world, with her perfumes alone pulling over $500 million annually." The head of Interscope Records who appears on American Idol, Jimmy Iovine said Lopez has "got that power. She is a force. She brings the whole package—there is very little missing in Jennifer Lopez." Having topped music charts and achieving Box Office success, Lopez is well known for being the first Latin performer to be so commercially successful. Growing up, she looked up to Rita Moreno, stating that there were "Zero Latinos on TV, so Rita Moreno was the only one I identified to." Nobel Prize recipient, José Ramos Horta, called Lopez "a remarkable woman and true inspiration" after seeing her work in the film, Bordertown. Cindy Pearlman from The Record said that Lopez is responsible for welcoming a "Latina presence to a film industry" as for most of its history it had been a whites-only preserve.

In 1999, Lopez achieved success with her debut studio album On the 6, and had converted herself from an actress to a singer within 12 months. Her second studio album, J.Lo debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, exceeding sales of 270,000 copies in its first week, the same week that her romantic comedy film The Wedding Planner led box office receipts. This made Lopez the first female to have a film and an album at number one in the United States during the same week. Billboard ranked her as the 27th most successful artist of the 2000s decade. VH1 ranked her sixteen on their list of "100 Greatest Women In Music" In 2012, and twenty-one on their list of "50 Greatest Women of the Video Era". Lopez comeback to music in 2011 with her single "On the Floor" in addition to her multiple endorsement deals, clothing line and appointment as judge on American Idol was considered the best comeback of the year, and is regarded as one of the best comebacks of all time. Her music video for "On The Floor" was viewed 454 million times in the space of 2011, to become the most-viewed video of the year, the most-watched video by a female artist, and the second most viewed video of all time, behind teen-idol Justin Bieber's "Baby".

Influence among peers
Lopez has had much praise over the course of her career, with several citing her as an inspiration for their own careers. Fellow Latin music artist Kat DeLuna, who is relatively new, said "Jennifer helped pave the way for Latinas like myself. I love her." Actress Kerry Washington also cites Lopez as the actual reason for her career, during an interview with Essence in 2012, she said "I grew up blocks away from Jennifer Lopez. She and I went to the same Boys & Girls Club. She was like the dancer who made it big and moved to Hollywood. I don't know if I would've taken a risk in my career if it weren't for you (Jennifer)." Popstar Britney Spears says Lopez has become a major "beauty" icon and Idol for herself; Spears said "Jennifer Lopez is my idol – she's so beautiful and even though she's gotten older, she hasn't aged at all. She looks more amazing than ever and I really admire and respect that." Kelly Osbourne said that she admires Lopez, stating that "Jennifer Lopez was voted The Most Beautiful Woman in the World by People magazine. I couldn't agree more. I've met her and she's stunning."

Co-star and singer Cheryl Cole has stated that she wants to have a body like Jennifer Lopez. Reality Television star Kim Kardashian has named Lopez a style icon, Kardashian branded Lopez's personal fashion sense/style as "fun and flirty and sexy, just feminine. I love her!", and said she is a major style inspiration for her. Raquel Castro, her co-star from Jersey Girl (Now 17 years old and was a contestant on American singing show The Voice), had stated she had a strong bond with her on-screen mother from the film, and that Lopez had been her main role model for her career from the start; "Jennifer Lopez has been my role model from the start. I wore out my VCR tape of the movie Selena, probably watching it a million times; when I found out I had been chosen to play her daughter in a feature-ﬁlm, OMG I was screaming like crazy." Australian R&B singer Jessica Mauboy has said stated that she is a big fan of Lopez. Singer-songwriter Michael Doughty said that Lopez was a key inspiration for reviving his music career as a solo artist after leaving his band, Soul Coughing "One of the key moments was seeing a Jennifer Lopez video (around 1999) [...] She's a year older than me and she's in this video and she's in the Bronx and going out clubbing and going to the beauty salon. I'd thought, well I'm 29, my life's over, I'm elderly. And I looked at her and thought, she's 30, how is she walking? [...] the revelation came watching a Jennifer Lopez video." Nicki Minaj has stated "I love J-Lo. I love what she's done for pop culture I have nothing but respect for her." Actress Anna Kendrick who was her co-star in the film What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012), has described her as "the most beautiful creature on the planet" and said that "The way she looks in person is mind-blowing." Singer/actress Selena Gomez stated that seeing Lopez's performance in the film Selena was a "life-changing moment." Gomez talked about emulating Lopez’s attire that she wore in the film during the same interview with Elle Magazine. omg it madison

Influence on fashion
Lopez also is well known for her fashion sense and style. Us Weekly named Lopez as Style Icon of the 2000–2010 decade. Lopez's most memorable Fashion moment in her career was the Green Versace "Jungle Dress" that she wore at the 42nd Grammy Awards In 2000. A poll by Debenhams, published in the Daily Telegraph, voted it the fifth most iconic dress of all time. It has been cited along with the Elizabeth Hurley's black Versace dress as being the top dresses that made Versace a household name and the turning point in designer Donatella Versace's career after the death of her brother Gianni Versace. The dress is currently on display at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. For her Fashion sense, Lopez has earned several awards including a VH1 Award and Vogue Fashion Award in 1999 for "Most Fashionable Female Artist", achieving multiple other awards since for outstanding achievements and recognition.

Lopez was complimented in an article for Elle, in which the author wrote – "She wears little visible makeup, and with her hair in a bun, huge hoop earrings, and a long halterdress on, she's squarely in casual-mother mode, a style Diane von Furstenberg describes as "exotic and earthy." Lopez cites Urban, Edgy Bronx style as a contribution to her continuing fashion style. Lopez says she is a fan of "Glamour" and "Old Hollywood Movie Stars" as a fashion sense. Aside from her fashion sense in clothes, Lopez has changed her personal appearance multiple times, scoring several different hairstyles over the years. Lopez's two-piece (eventually stripped down to a body-suit) "train dress highlighting her curves and flawless skin" at the 2011 American Music Awards was both welcomed and praised but was received mixed and negatively, too.  Despite popularity and favoritism with her outfits, Lopez has also received negativity; the dress she wore in 2011 to the BAFTA Gala gave her the title of "Worst Dressed" of the evening along with others.

Record sales and earnings
Lopez has sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide, and is ranked as one of the best selling musical artists in the history of contemporary music. Lopez's first album, On the 6 sold 2.8 million copies in the United States, and as of 2002 had sold 8 million copies worldwide. This was followed up with her second album J.Lo which has sold 3.8 million copies, earning a quadruple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America; and has sold over 8 million copies worldwide. Lopez's remix album J to tha L-O! The Remixes was the first number-one remix album in the United States and has sold 1.5 million copies. Her third studio album, This Is Me... Then has sold 2.6 million copies. However, Lopez's recent albums haven't followed up on the success of her first four, such as Rebirth (740,000 copies sold), Como Ama Una Mujer (207,000 copies sold), Brave (166,000 copies sold). Lopez's most recent album, Love? has shown a slight improvement in sales, having sold 318,000 copies in the United States and 1.06 million copies worldwide. In total, Lopez has sold 40 million albums.

Lopez appeared on The Hollywood Reporter's Annual Actress Salary List from 2002–04. She is the only Latin actress to accomplish this, or even appear within the top ten of this list. Her role in the 1998 film Out of Sight earned her a paycheck of over $1 million, making her the world's highest-paid Latin actress. She earned $US15 million for her role in the film Monster-In-Law (2005). According to Forbes, Lopez earned $US13 million for her role as judge on the tenth season of American Idol, and earned $US20 million for the eleventh season in 2011, for a total of $32 million earned. Forbes placed her number one on their list of most powerful celebrity list with earnings of $US52 million in the past year. Lopez's net worth is $250 million, with her an annual salary of $12 million.

Image and recognition


Sophia Boccard of TheCinemaSource.com said that Lopez "epitomizes the definition of America’s sweetheart." Apart from her image as a public fashion icon, Lopez has constantly displayed disappointment in a continuing rumor that states she is a demanding "diva",  however at the same time is considered a talented "diva" too. Several others such as her 'American Idol co-worker Nigel Lythgoe has stated these rumors are wrong.

Lopez's body has received a large amount of attention from the media, in particular her buttocks and famed curves. In fact, her body has had such an impact that in a 2011 survey by Nutrisystem Diet Index, it was proved that most American women would have Lopez's "lean legs and bubble butt." Her buttocks have been named the world's most famous butt. The public have even made up an Urban Legend that she has insured her behind.

In People en Español's list of "100 Most Influential Hispanics" addition in February 2007, Lopez was listed first; the Top 100 also included Shakira and Enrique Iglesias. In November 1998, Lopez was named "Sexiest Woman of the Year" by Details magazine. Lopez appeared on FHM's 100 sexiest women list multiple times—notably topping the list in 2000 and 2001—the first woman to top the list for two consecutive years. In 2011, People Magazine named her "World's Most Beautiful Woman". Lopez has been selected to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012, under the "recording" category.

Cultural references
The "self-important, egotistical and diva-like behavior Lopez is purported to indulge in" is parodied in "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", the fifth episode of the seventh season of the animated sitcom South Park. Airing on April 16, 2003, they additionally mock Lopez's "very public love life", with the focus being her relationship with actor Ben Affleck. Lopez was referenced in the title of the sixteenth episode of the sixth season of the animated comedy series American Dad!, which was called "Jenny Fromdabloc".

Personal life
The popularity of her personal life in the media has been a focus too, Jacqueline Springer reported in 2001, "'bling bling' to the fullest, she is high fashion's sole voluptuous mannequin and to the tabloids, well, she's more return value that an annual Travelcard." Lopez's relationships have attracted high media attention, in particular her relationship with actor Ben Affleck. The couple were dubbed Bennifer by the public. The term Bennifer itself became popular, and was eventually entered into urban dictionaries or neologism dictionaries as notable, and the name blend started the trend of other celebrity couples being referred to by the combination of each other's first names. The pairing eventually succumbed to overexposure, however, which caused public interest in their romance to result in less admiration and negatively affected their careers.