I have a laundry list of things to say about 101 Most Influential...blah blah blah. So, I will number.
1. Title is way too long. Clever, but too long.
2. In the G.I. Joe section (obsessing over this section still), it says that we have never had a VP of the USA named Joe. I had to go look up the copyright date, because I thought it was interesting that our VP IS named Joe. Right now!
3. The Ugly Duckling section bugged me in a big way. I understand these fellas are philosophers, but I just felt like occasionally (particularly in this section) they got a little too SOAP BOXY for my liking.
4. Interesting point..."we attend movies in large numbers, sitting for several hours in the dark with strangers." Isn't that weird that we do that?
5. L-O-V-E-D the "Little Tramp"/Charlie Chaplin section. I worry that this part of our country's history is going to get forgotten or overlooked with the next generation (or ours even) because there is so little "entertainment" in the way we define the word to be found in his films. But, really, what a huge impact he had!
6. "Who hasn't had the experience of being 'vampirized' by someone, so that you feel drained and manipulated every time you interact with that person?" So cool.
I'm sure I'll have more insightful (or at the least, hopefully less idiotic) commentary when I actually finish the book, but so as not to bore you, I figured I'd split it up.
I'd love to hear anyone else's list from this book.
-Meg
PS. Anyone know why they are called "laundry lists"? Do we make lists to do laundry? Because I don't. Maybe that's why all my clothes are too small for me. Hmm.
Not sure if this was Jaclyn or Megan, but I will reply none-the-less. I have never thought about the term "laundry list". But just because I was curious, I googled it and found this:
ReplyDeletehttp://wiki.answers.com/Q/Where_does_the_term_%27laundry_list%27_come_from
On an actual thought on the book, here is my phrase I have most disliked so far. This is under the "Pandora" section. They compared her to Eve, which I think is a fair comparison, but then stated, "As a sign that not all is lost, however, Pandora discovers Hope in the bottom of the vessel: Hope that, somehow, mankind will overcome the sickness and sorrow she has unleashed. In Genesis, Even similarly falls victim to temptation, but in her case there is no hope."
Really?! C'mon. I understand that most of the Christian world thinks of Eve's sin in a very different light than the LDS Church, but still. Regardless of how people view Eve, most of those who believe that Eve existed are the ones that also believe in Christ. And isn't that the Hope? Some of their statements just irk me a little. That's all. Done.
First Anna - way to rant. I'm so proud of you. To be honest, I totally missed that, but I am not surprised by the authors feeling that way.
ReplyDeleteSecond Meg- love your list.
I found the Ugly Duckling section really interesting because I had just heard the Pres. Uchtdorf talk before that. I half-agree with them, but I think they oversimplified the story. I don't think it's just external beauty. Amen on them being on a soapbox. They're ridiculous.
Too funny that we both were thinking about the VP being named Joe.
What I was continuously struck by was how ingrained these characters were in my psyche. I knew the reference to "Who shot J.R.?" though I never have seen that show. I was never a muppets person, but I know the "it's not easy being green" song and of course, Perry Mason always wins (with one exception) though I've never watched it.
I loved the Bambi section - not because I love Bambi - but because of its ties to the war and to gun laws. So interesting.
A BILLION Barbies - that's hard to believe and yet, I had a couple dozen over the course of my childhood, not to mention that I also owned one of those Barbie videos. Jewels and I loved watching it.
And hello, Smokey Bear's initiative actually causes more horrific fires now. How disturbing is that?!