Famous but why?

[FBM]

Most of these don't make any sense...you don't know why Tony Blair is famous? Tero, Adam Sandler and Jerry Lewis are famous because lots of people think they are funny. Liberace was famous because he was a flamboyant performer who obviously people enjoyed watching. You guys should really think about these a little harder and I bet you can work most of them out!

Just because someone's prime is past doesn't mean they are undeserving. As long as they actually did something meaningful to others to start with, that is.

I don't think he had/has qualities that would make him deserving of fame. Such as integrity.

Blair, you mean? Well, I suppose he was famous enough to get elected. That it has subsequently turned into infamy, well....shitloads of people do know his name, anyway.

[John_fi_Skye]

Most of these don't make any sense...you don't know why Tony Blair is famous? Tero, Adam Sandler and Jerry Lewis are famous because lots of people think they are funny. Liberace was famous because he was a flamboyant performer who obviously people enjoyed watching. You guys should really think about these a little harder and I bet you can work most of them out!

Just because someone's prime is past doesn't mean they are undeserving. As long as they actually did something meaningful to others to start with, that is.

I don't think he had/has qualities that would make him deserving of fame. Such as integrity.

Blair, you mean? Well, I suppose he was famous enough to get elected. That it has subsequently turned into infamy, well....shitloads of people do know his name, anyway.

Yep. I'm not denying that he was and is famous. I was taking the title of the fred as inviting the names of people who didn't deserve to be famous. Surely that was the case right from the start of the fred. I mean, I could have said, "We all know why Liberace was famous: it's because lots of people found him entertaining." I took his inclusion in the first post as an example of the sort of person who had no qualities deserving of fame, and it's on that basis that I've added my candidates in the "undeserving" category.

[FBM]

Blair, you mean? Well, I suppose he was famous enough to get elected. That it has subsequently turned into infamy, well....shitloads of people do know his name, anyway.

Yep. I'm not denying that he was and is famous. I was taking the title of the fred as inviting the names of people who didn't deserve to be famous. Surely that was the case right from the start of the fred. I mean, I could have said, "We all know why Liberace was famous: it's because lots of people found him entertaining." I took his inclusion in the first post as an example of the sort of person who had no qualities deserving of fame, and it's on that basis that I've added my candidates in the "undeserving" category.

Hmm. As an orator and campaigner, he showed considerable skill. As a gummit leader...well, that's where the infamy comes creeping in. Tell me again what the differences between US and UK politics are, again?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

We should have a "Famous, but undeservedly so" thread. That's where this one is trending, I think.

[John_fi_Skye]

Blair, you mean? Well, I suppose he was famous enough to get elected. That it has subsequently turned into infamy, well....shitloads of people do know his name, anyway.

Yep. I'm not denying that he was and is famous. I was taking the title of the fred as inviting the names of people who didn't deserve to be famous. Surely that was the case right from the start of the fred. I mean, I could have said, "We all know why Liberace was famous: it's because lots of people found him entertaining." I took his inclusion in the first post as an example of the sort of person who had no qualities deserving of fame, and it's on that basis that I've added my candidates in the "undeserving" category.

Hmm. As an orator and campaigner, he showed considerable skill. As a gummit leader...well, that's where the infamy comes creeping in. Tell me again what the differences between US and UK politics are, again?

Liberace showed considerable skill as a pianist. For me, however, he's a waste of space. I can't understand why anyone ever found him entertaining, but they did.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Liberace used to light his candelabra just by walking into the room.

[John_fi_Skye]

Liberace used to light his candelabra just by walking into the room.

I'm sure Blair learnt a lot from him.

[Tero]

Simon had some business ideas and is no worse than a talk show host. But I'm all done with takent shows.

Teen kids' rock camp, here, was more interesting. My daughter played rhythm for Paranoid. Our singer sucked but it was a good show.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Liberace denied being gay, or having AIDS till his dying day. He had the opportunity to do a lot of good by coming out and using his popularity to publicise what was, at the time, a terrifying and unknown condition that was being blamed wholesale on gaibuttsecks. But he didn't. He stubbornly and selfishly tried to protect his tattered reputation at the expense of all else. Wanker.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Oh, and Rock Hudson can fuck off too. For exactly the same reason.

[John_fi_Skye]

Poor old Rock couldn't help looking like a big hetero hunk. But you're right: towards the end he looked very different, and it would have cost him nothing to do as you suggest, and it would have raised him in the estimation of a lot of thinking people.

This is exactly the kind of falsity or speciousness that celebrity is based on, and that's why I put some folk into my posts on this fred.

So anyway, Xamonas, while we're on the subject of celebrities with no discernibly useful talents, ARE you related to Keith Chegwin?

[rachelbean]

I don't think he had/has qualities that would make him deserving of fame. Such as integrity.

In which universe is integrity a requirement for fame? As to the qualities that makes someone "deserving" of fame, if we are talking about what we think should make someone famous, that is a whole other topic, isn't it

[John_fi_Skye]

I don't think he had/has qualities that would make him deserving of fame. Such as integrity.

In which universe is integrity a requirement for fame? As to the qualities that makes someone "deserving" of fame, if we are talking about what we think should make someone famous, that is a whole other topic, isn't it

I often think I'm in a different universe from lots of folk.

Fame is something I'd hate to have myself, but a lot of people value it very highly. It's a commodity that's seen as being a reward for some kind of positive qualities or achievements. I'm happy that JK Rowling is famous, because her books - though not to my taste - are clearly a great achievement. I'm happy that JS Bach is famous, because a lot of his music's lovely. Paul Simon's entitled to his fame, in my view. I'm happy that Nelson Mandela is famous, and that Vaclav Havel was, because they're two of the very few politicians whose qualities I admire.

But vacuous talk-show hosts and politicians who think sound-bites are more important than integrity, principle, or altruism are in my view deserving only of contempt, and not of any accolades. That's why I listed a few of them in response to the question, "famous - but why?" In relation to the folk I've listed - and hundreds of others whose names don't come to me readily because I do my best to avoid ever having anything to do with them - I can think of no good reason why they should be rewarded for what they do.

[John_fi_Skye]

Btw, Rachel, did you know that "bean" is the Scots Gaelic word for "woman" or "wife"? It's pronounced "ben".

[Svartalf]

where I come from, it's pronouned "ban" ((m'na in the plural), and "ben" is reserved for mountains