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The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: 51. James Bond
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Forcefire
Registered:
Jul '00
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Date Posted:
12/10/07 9:26am
Subject:
RE: The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: 69. The Pied Piper
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68: Sam Spade
Category: Movies
In a nutshell: A private eye. Maybe the private eye.
What the book says: "Sherlock Holmes solved crimes as intellectual puzzles, but Sam Spade was an investigator with flesh and blood, not a mover of abstract chess pieces. In keeping with the American embrace of private enterprise, he was a private investigator, working for his own profit and livelihood. He was the archetype of the tough PI, dealing with the seamier side of humanity."
What I say: I could see this. The hard-boiled detective archetype is a strong one.
-----signature-----
"Dear Diary, today I was pompous and my sister was crazy.
Today we were kidnapped by hillfolk, never to be seen again.
It was the best day ever."
Jayne Cobb, the Hero of Canton
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The_Face
Title: Fan Fic Manager, now with more real butter flavor
Registered:
Feb '03
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Date Posted:
12/10/07 3:09pm
Subject:
RE: The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: 68, Sam Spade
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Spade's an icon, to be sure. I know I don't think of "private eye" without thinking of Sam and the image he embodies.
-----signature-----
If mercy falls upon the broken and the poor
Dear Father, I will see you there
on distant shores
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
12/10/07 9:10pm
Subject:
RE: The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: 68, Sam Spade
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Well, Spade, and Philip Marlowe...
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Forcefire
Registered:
Jul '00
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Date Posted:
12/14/07 3:37pm
Subject:
RE: The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: 68, Sam Spade
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Yeah, Marlowe is the other important early private eye for sure.
67: Kermit the Frog
Category: Television
In a nutshell: Frog who... well, he's done a lot.
What the book says: "While Kermit isn't abused for his color within the show- it's always a question of situation rather than race- he's become an example of someone who could be victimized for his color or beliefs. Kermit's green is normal for the swamp, but in human society it's the color of sickness, mold, and Martian invaders. In human society, anything different is abnormal, something to be destroyed. Kermit is an example of perseverance in a dangerous world and helps children understand and survive the violent forces of the world."
What I say: So, essentially they're saying: "We're going to put this character in on the basis of a subtext that doesn't exist in anything in which he appears." "It's Not Easy Being Green" notwithstanding, Kermit being different has never been an issue as I can recall. It not being an issue isn't something I think of as useful commentary so much as a source of comedy when he's interacting with the humans on the show and in the movies.
Also, not a person.
-----signature-----
"Dear Diary, today I was pompous and my sister was crazy.
Today we were kidnapped by hillfolk, never to be seen again.
It was the best day ever."
Jayne Cobb, the Hero of Canton
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
12/15/07 7:04pm
Subject:
RE: The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: 67. Kermit the Frog
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No; but I like Kermit, the green everyfrog. He hosted a night of movies on TCM recently, and was easily the most charming of the guest hosts.
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The2ndQuest
Title: :
-Games
-LACWAC
-Lit Mod of Death
Registered:
Jan '00
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Date Posted:
12/15/07 7:13pm
Subject:
RE: The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: 67. Kermit the Frog
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Actually, I recall there being several moments, Muppets in Manhattan in particular, where Kermit being a frog is a problem he has to overcome or disguise.
-----signature-----
K'Kruhk, 140 ABY: "Why haven't I come forth earlier to share my Jedi knowledge with Skywalker?
Well, it's kinda a long story, see, I had this freaking sweet hat..."
Is your Death Magnetic?
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darth_frared
Registered:
Jun '05
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Date Posted:
12/16/07 12:14pm
Subject:
RE: The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: 67. Kermit the Frog
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i find their lack of tact disconcerting: who says kermit doesn't live???
-----signature-----
illegalise stupidity.
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
1/30 9:28pm
Subject:
RE: The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: 67. Kermit the Frog
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Next: 66. HAL 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey)
"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
HAL's iconic camera eye.HAL 9000 (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) is a fictional character in Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey saga. The novels, along with two films, begin with 2001: A Space Odyssey, released in 1968. It was ranked #13 on a list of greatest film villains of all on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains.
HAL is an artificial intelligence, the sentient on-board computer of the spaceship Discovery. HAL is usually represented only as his television camera "eyes" that can be seen throughout the Discovery spaceship. The voice of HAL 9000 was performed by Canadian actor Douglas Rain. In the book, HAL became operational on January 12, 1997 (1992 in the movie)[1] at the HAL Plant in Urbana, Illinois, and was created by Dr. Chandra. In the 2001 film, HAL is depicted as being capable not only of speech recognition, facial recognition, and natural language processing, but also lip reading, art appreciation, interpreting emotions, expressing emotions, reasoning, and, of course, chess.
HAL is never visualised as a single entity. He is, however, portrayed with a soft voice and a conversational manner. This is in contrast to the human astronauts, who speak in terse monotone, as do all other actors in the film.
In the French language version of 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL's name is given as "CARL", for Cerveau Analytique de Recherche et de Liaison ("Analytic Research and Communication Brain"). The camera plates, however, still read "HAL 9000".
Although it is often conjectured that the name HAL was based on a one letter shift from the name IBM, this has been denied by both Clarke and 2001 director Stanley Kubrick. In 2010: Odyssey Two, Clarke speaks through the character of Dr. Chandra, who characterized this idea as: "[u]tter nonsense! [...] I thought that by now every intelligent person knew that H-A-L is derived from Heuristic ALgorithmic".[2][3]"
HAL seems to represent our fears of the future and unrestrained technology.
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JohnWesleyDowney
Registered:
Jan '04
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Date Posted:
1/30 9:43pm
Subject:
RE: The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: 66. HAL 9000
- Date Edited:
1/30 9:46pm (2 edits total)
Edited By:
JohnWesleyDowney
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Zaz posted:
Next: 66. HAL 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey)
"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
HAL's iconic camera eye.HAL 9000 (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) is a fictional character in Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey saga. The novels, along with two films, begin with 2001: A Space Odyssey, released in 1968. It was ranked #13 on a list of greatest film villains of all on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains.
HAL is an artificial intelligence, the sentient on-board computer of the spaceship Discovery. HAL is usually represented only as his television camera "eyes" that can be seen throughout the Discovery spaceship. The voice of HAL 9000 was performed by Canadian actor Douglas Rain. In the book, HAL became operational on January 12, 1997 (1992 in the movie)[1] at the HAL Plant in Urbana, Illinois, and was created by Dr. Chandra. In the 2001 film, HAL is depicted as being capable not only of speech recognition, facial recognition, and natural language processing, but also lip reading, art appreciation, interpreting emotions, expressing emotions, reasoning, and, of course, chess.
HAL is never visualised as a single entity. He is, however, portrayed with a soft voice and a conversational manner. This is in contrast to the human astronauts, who speak in terse monotone, as do all other actors in the film.
In the French language version of 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL's name is given as "CARL", for Cerveau Analytique de Recherche et de Liaison ("Analytic Research and Communication Brain"). The camera plates, however, still read "HAL 9000".
Although it is often conjectured that the name HAL was based on a one letter shift from the name IBM, this has been denied by both Clarke and 2001 director Stanley Kubrick. In 2010: Odyssey Two, Clarke speaks through the character of Dr. Chandra, who characterized this idea as: "[u]tter nonsense! [...] I thought that by now every intelligent person knew that H-A-L is derived from Heuristic ALgorithmic".[2][3]"
HAL seems to represent our fears of the future and unrestrained technology.
That's right on the money. 2001 is ultimately about the dangers of mankind becoming too dependent on his tools and letting them take over. It's all about tools and HAL is the ultimate tool that's determined to rule. It's a cautionary tale.
That's a terrific observation that the human characters are so monotone and HAL sounds so human. It's a major theme of 2001: The people are acting more and more like machines and the machines look and sound more and more like humans! It's a deliberate part of the film's direction if one pays attention.
The dependency on HAL becomes so ludricous that one astronaut even has Hal adjust his headrest while he's relaxing. Humans have gotten so lazy they have the computer perform the smallest tasks for them. And HAL is completely in control.
For anyone who has a leisurely 20 minutes, here's an in depth analysis of the symbolism of 2001 that blew me away by the time it was over. It helps if you're fairly familiar with the movie. The part about HAL and the advantages he has over his human opponents are staggering. Tip: Don't skip ahead.
http://www.kubrick2001.com
-----signature-----
"The biggest battles we fight are on the inside."
Nick Nolte in WAY OF THE PEACEFUL WARRIOR
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
1/31 11:29am
Subject:
RE: The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: 66. HAL 9000
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That *was* interesting...
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
2/11 10:22pm
Subject:
RE: The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: 66. HAL 9000
- Date Edited:
2/11 10:25pm (2 edits total)
Edited By:
Zaz
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Next: 65. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
Tom and Huck are two boys in the ante-bellum American South. Both are motherless, and Tom also has no father; he is raised by his aunt, and has an older sister and a younger half-brother. Huck's father is the town drunkard, and he lives on the street.
So Tom is middle-class, and Huck is lower-class. Tom is the subject of a popular genre novel; Huck is the subject of its sequel, one of the greatest American novels ever written.
The difference between the books is striking. Tom Sawyer's story is told in the third person, and has a standard villain--Injun Joe. Huck's story is told in the first person, and the villain is Huck's father, Pa Finn, in particular, and humanity in general.
Twain based Huck on a real person, a boy he actually knew, who later, despite a dreadful start in life, became a justice of the peace in Montana. Tom may possibly be based on himself. Tom is the stereotypical mischievous boy. Huck is the seeker after truth; the good-hearted soul that transcends his parent, his peers, and his society.
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Zaz
Title: Manager:
The Amphitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
2/23 11:12pm
Subject:
RE: The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: 65. Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn
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Next: "Superman"
From Wiki: "Superman" is a fictional character, a comic book superhero widely considered to be one of the most famous and popular such characters[1] and an American cultural icon.[2][3][4][5] Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective Comics, Inc. in 1938, the character first appeared in Action Comics #1 (June 1938) and subsequently appeared in various radio serials, television programs, films, newspaper strips, and video games.
The origin story of Superman relates that he was born Kal-El on the alien planet Krypton, before being rocketed to Earth as an infant by his scientist father moments before the planet's destruction. Adopted and raised by a Kansas farmer and his wife, the child is raised as Clark Kent, and imbued with a strong moral compass. Upon reaching maturity the character develops superhuman abilities, resolving to use these for the benefit of humanity. With the success of his adventures, Superman helped to create the superhero genre and establish its primacy within the American comic book.[2]
While referred to less flatteringly as "the big blue Boy Scout" by some of his fellow superheroes,[6] Superman is hailed as "The Man of Steel," "The Man of Tomorrow," and "The Last Son of Krypton," by the general public within the comics. As Clark Kent, Superman lives among humans as a "mild-mannered reporter" for the Metropolis newspaper The Daily Planet (the Daily Star in original stories). There he works alongside reporter Lois Lane, with whom he is romantically linked. This relationship has been consummated by marriage on numerous occasions across varying media, and the union is now firmly established within the current mainstream comics continuity.
The character's supporting cast, powers, and trappings have slowly expanded throughout the years. Superman's backstory was altered to allow for adventures as Superboy, and other survivors of Krypton were created, including Supergirl and Krypto the Superdog. In addition, Superman has been licensed and adapted into a variety of media, from radio to television and film. The motion picture Superman Returns was released in 2006, with a performance at the international box office which exceeded expectations.[7] In the seven decades since Superman's debut, the character has been revamped and updated several times. A significant overhaul occurred in 1986, when John Byrne recreated the character, reducing Superman's powers and erasing several characters from the canon, in a move that attracted media attention. Press coverage was again garnered in the 1990s with The Death of Superman, a storyline which saw the character killed and later restored to life.
Superman has also held fascination for scholars, with cultural theorists, commentators, and critics alike exploring the character's impact and role in the United States and the rest of the world. Umberto Eco discussed the mythic qualities of the character in the early 1960s, and Larry Niven has pondered the implications of a sexual relationship the character might enjoy with Lois Lane.[8] The character's ownership has often been the subject of dispute, with Siegel and Shuster twice suing for the return of legal ownership. The copyright is again currently in dispute, with changes in copyright law allowing Siegel's wife and daughter to claim a share of the copyright, a move DC parent company Warner Bros. disputes."
Anyway, "Superman" is the first template of the superhuman--the weakling who is really very, very powerful--a typical adolescent wish-fufillment.
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solojones
Registered:
Sep '00
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Date Posted:
2/23 11:31pm
Subject:
RE: The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: 64. "Superman"
- Date Edited:
2/23 11:32pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
solojones
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Oh and so much more... in my Jewish-American lit class I did a research paper about the origins of Superman. Really interesting. Part of what I learned was that Jewish-American sons of immigrants like Siegel and Shuster not only created the superhero, they essentially created American pop culture in general (did you know Jerry Siegel created one of the very first fanfiction zines?). That is not an exaggeration.
Superman was the first, the most important part of this phenomenon, influential as a character but also for what his fanbase meant for pop culture. Personally, I love Superman 
-sj loves kevin spacey
-----signature-----
6 x 9 = 42 Proud member of the Colbert Nation  Obi-Wan Kenobi and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Ghost Ship Executor All Hail Cliegg's Blue Leg!
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Soontir-Fel
Registered:
Dec '01
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Date Posted:
2/23 11:35pm
Subject:
RE: The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: 64. "Superman"
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Superman.
-----signature-----
Errent_Venture Wrote " Listen to Soontir-Fel for he is a man ruling over other men."
Ender_Sai wrote "In other news, I confer Modly praise on Soontir and Rogue_wookie for being superior men, worth of the title of Spartan. They, may keep their penises"
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JohnWesleyDowney
Registered:
Jan '04
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Date Posted:
2/24 1:22am
Subject:
RE: The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: 64. "Superman"
- Date Edited:
2/24 1:25am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
JohnWesleyDowney
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I love the lyrics to this song by Five for Fighting back in 2001.
One of the greatest pop songs of the new century. Shakespeare would have loved it as it touches on one of his greatest themes: the tension between private and public life.
About the trials and tribulations of being the Man of Steel:
SUPERMAN
I can’t stand to fly
I’m not that naive
I’m just out to find
The better part of me
I’m more than a bird...i’m more than a plane
More than some pretty face beside a train
It’s not easy to be me
Wish that I could cry
Fall upon my knees
Find a way to lie
About a home I’ll never see
It may sound absurd...but don’t be naive
Even heroes have the right to bleed
I may be disturbed...but won’t you concede?
Even heroes have the right to dream
It’s not easy to be me
Up, up and away...away from me
It’s all right...you can all sleep sound tonight
I’m not crazy...or anything...
I can’t stand to fly
I’m not that naive
Men weren’t meant to ride
With clouds between their knees
I’m only a man in a silly red sheet
Digging for kryptonite on this one way street
Only a man in a funny red sheet
Looking for special things inside of me
Inside of me
Inside me
Yeah, inside me
Inside of me
I’m only a man
In a funny red sheet
I’m only a man
Looking for a dream
I’m only a man
In a funny red sheet
And it’s not easy, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm...
Its not easy to be me
Interesting perspective.
-----signature-----
"The biggest battles we fight are on the inside."
Nick Nolte in WAY OF THE PEACEFUL WARRIOR
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