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10/25/2002 Entry: "Great Britons"
The BBC has launched its list of Great Britons, and a thoroughly bizarre list it is too. All of the top 10 are dead, which is purhaps not surprising, but have you seen who's in there? Alongside the likes of Isaac Newton, Winston Churchill and Elizabeth I we find Diana, Princess of Wales and John Lennon. Fine people both, I suppose, but how do you compare them?Outside the top 10, the list gets stranger still. At number 17 is Michael Crawford. A great actor, but does appearing in a classic TV show and some West End shows really make you the 17th greatest Briton during the last 1000 years? And to see David Beckham and Steve Redgrave flanking Boudicca and Thomas Paine is strange indeed. Just when you think it can't get any odder, you notice that King Arthur is at number 51. I mean, I would have thought that solid proof you actually existed would have been an entry requirement - but then, nobody asked me. What I want to know is, why Jesus isn't on the list? Everyone knows he came here as a lad with his uncle Joseph and visited Glastonbury. I'm sure he would have been granted a British passport if he'd asked for one. All together: And did those feet, in ancient times...Of course there are some genuine "greats" in there, but I wonder - what is the point of this list? If it's just supposed to be entertainment then fair enough. It's just that I suspect that it reveals something of our national priorities and I'm not convinced I like what I see.Or maybe I'm just being po-faced.
Replies:
Richard--Aren't these top such-and-such lists compiled (concocted?) primarily for amusement puposes? They must be, for if one studies them at all, puzzlement must ensue. The world's greatest novels/classical composers/statesmen/humans? Each has our own list hidden inside; these published lists do remind us of who we will, and won't, admit to the top drawers of 'greatness'. And they elicit a bit of laughter as well.Rick
Posted by Rick O'Donnell @ 10/30/2002 02:20 PM CST
The Canadian list of greats caused a fuss too. Even if it is entertainment I do think it reflects a malaise in our societies. Blog on!
Posted by Bene Diction @ 10/26/2002 06:38 PM CST
