Paul Eres ([info]rinku) wrote,
@ 2006-10-25 23:52:00
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Entry tags:aesthetics, history

101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived
http://www.101influential.com/

1. The Marlboro Man

2. Big Brother

3. King Arthur

4. Santa Claus (St. Nick)

5. Hamlet

6. Dr. Frankenstein's Monster

7. Siegfried

8. Sherlock Holmes

9. Romeo and Juliet

10. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

11. Uncle Tom

12. Robin Hood

13. Jim Crow

14. Oedipus

15. Lady Chatterly

16. Ebenezer Scrooge

17. Don Quixote

18. Mickey Mouse

19. The American Cowboy

20. Prince Charming

21. Smokey Bear

22. Robinson Crusoe

23. Apollo and Dionysus

24. Odysseus

25. Nora Helmer

26. Cinderella

27. Shylock

28. Rosie the Riveter

29. Midas

30. Hester Prynne

31. The Little Engine That Could

32. Archie Bunker

33. Dracula

34. Alice in Wonderland

35. Citizen Kane

36. Faust

37. Figaro

38. Godzilla

39. Mary Richards

40. Don Juan

41. Bambi

42. William Tell

43. Barbie

44. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

45. Venus and Cupid

46. Prometheus

47. Pandora

48. G.I. Joe

49. Tarzan

50. Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock

51. James Bond

52. Hansel and Gretel

53. Captain Ahab

54. Richard Blaine

55. The Ugly Duckling

56. Loch Ness Monster (Nessie)

57. Atticus Finch

58. Saint Valentine

59. Helen of Troy

60. Batman

61. Uncle Sam

62. Nancy Drew

63. J.R. Ewing

64. Superman

65. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn

66. HAL 9000

67. Kermit the Frog

68. Sam Spade

69. The Pied Piper

70. Peter Pan

71. Hiawatha

72. Othello

73. The Little Tramp

74. King Kong

75. Norman Bates

76. Hercules (Herakles)

77. Dick Tracy

78. Joe Camel

79. The Cat in the Hat

80. Icarus

81. Mammy

82. Sindbad

83. Amos 'n' Andy

84. Buck Rogers

85. Luke Skywalker

86. Perry Mason

87. Dr. Strangelove

88. Pygmalion

89. Madame Butterfly

90. Hans Beckert

91. Dorothy Gale

92. The Wandering Jew

93. The Great Gatsby

94. Buck (Jack London, The Call of the Wild)

95. Willy Loman

96. Betty Boop

97. Ivanhoe

98. Elmer Gantry

99. Lilith

100. John Doe

101. Paul Bunyan


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[info]haggard
2006-10-26 03:28 am UTC (link)
No...Mario? Nothing? Not even damn Lara Croft?

(Reply to this)(Thread)

[info]rinku
2006-10-28 09:05 pm UTC (link)
That just means that the characters and stories of games aren't as important as their interactivity. I don't really think any videogame character has been as significant/recognizable/important to culture as any of these people have, with the possible exception of Pikachu.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

[info]bastardzero
2006-10-26 07:47 am UTC (link)
Errors:

Saint Nick

The American Cowboy (Assuming they're talking about the archetype, not some character I don't know of named The American Cowboy)

The Marlboro Man (That was actually what they called the guy in the ads in real life)

Citizen Kane is based so heavily on a real person, the real person boycotted the movie because he died at the end.

King Arthur is based loosely on a real celtic warlord. Norman Bates is based on a real life murderer. Whether Robin Hood ever truly existed is still undetermined.

The people on this list are at least reality-based enough that the lack of Jesus Christ invalidates the whole goddamned thing.

I'm learning that lists like this are stupid. I can't believe we've allowed the VH1 style of cultural preservation to become the standard.

Not to mention that a lot of these characters are not influences upon society so much as influenced BY society.

I should just be glad Abraham Lincoln isn't on the list and Superman is.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

[info]cwoxviii
2006-10-26 09:52 pm UTC (link)
"I'm learning that lists like this are stupid. I can't believe we've allowed the VH1 style of cultural preservation to become the standard."

That's really the salient point. Immortalizing anything in a "top whatever" list is completely nonfunctional. It's just about as superficial as anything can get.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

[info]rinku
2006-10-28 09:04 pm UTC (link)
The purpose isn't to immortalize it, it's to order it. I've no problem with lists like these, they force a person to think about what is more important than what; it's the same principle behind to-do lists, goals lists, or the "top 8" spaces in MySpace.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

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