British icon Barbara Windsor passed away last night. Everybody loved her.
Along with Sir David Attenborough and Stephen Fry, they are National Treasures to us.
I'm not sure if this is a British thing. Do you have famous people in your country that pretty much the whole population loves? Where if you said something bad about them you'd have a lynch mob after you?
In Australia we had Graham Kennedy who was hilarious, he hosted talk shows that were just anarchy and got fired for his famous crow call "FAAARK, FAAAARK!" quite edgy for the time.
Rolf Harris was officially considered one until he got busted for sex crimes.
Looking at the official list I see lots of people that I would not consider national treasures and are on the list for dubious reasons.
I forgot Rolf Harris! Yeah, he was loved here too until his pervy demise.
shareIn the US that is a completely alien concept to us. Because of our contrary nature and divisiveness, for every person that likes something, there is a person who hates that something. And even when something starts out with fairly universal praise or admiration, invariably there will come people who decide to go against the grain just to stand out from the crowd because they are all rebellious and tough.
shareI think that is the biggest problem with a diverse culture and also so many ways people can source entertainment. You don't have the huge stars of the past because everyone is watching something different. Not to mention are from so many different cultures so you don't have that shared experience anymore.
shareTru dat , I think the idea will peter out in the UK with the explosion of media delivery options over the last 10 years
"In the US that is a completely alien concept to us..."
I wouldn't go that far, though you do make a good point. A few candidates:
Mark Twain
Will Rogers
Robert Frost
Irving Berlin
Thomas Edison
Babe Ruth
Jesse Owens
Johnny Carson
Frank Sinatra
Johnny Cash
Dolly Parton
I notice these are all people who have been well-established for decades. Which is good. A person shouldn't be elevated to "national treasure" status because of being this year's flash in the pan. But it also means they were well known before we had hundreds of channels of television available to us.
Do you think it would be possible today for someone to achieve the same sort of status? I don't. For example, Alex Trebek just died and a lot of people grieved over that, but I'm sure there were many others who didn't notice.
I've also gotta think there are a fair number in the USA who would dismiss everyone on your list except Owens and Parton as "dead white males."
willie nelson
bob dylan
clint eastwood
"Along with Sir David Attenborough and Stephen Fry, they are National Treasures to us. "
Also:
That lady who bosses James bond around
Alan Bennet (not that familiar with him)
Both of the wizards from Lord of the rings
Guy Martin - the new boy in the club!
Omg Judy Dench! Yes of course. Julie Walters too 😊
shareI'm not British but would add Vera Lynn and Shirley Bassey
shareMichael Caine
Trevor McDonald
Johnny Rotten
Ozzy Osbourne
Jagger & Richards
Macca & Starr
Elton John
Frank Bruno
Jonny Wilkinson
Kylie Minogue (For the Aussies but she's a treasure in the UK too)
No Kylie Minogue has been living in England for so long she is considered to be one of the Australian expats along with people like Barry Humphries and the late Clive James. Maybe Kylie is still idolized by the Gay community in Australia but that would be about it.
Yes, Trevor McDonald is a legend. Never heard a bad word about him. Frank Bruno too. The rest on the list are pretty divisive 🤔
shareOnly Michelle Obama. We are willing to selflessly give her to any country who wants her.
shareMYSELF.😎
shareHmmm, tricky. In Australia perhaps the following people:
Geoffrey Blainey (eminent historian who has been around for a long time without offending anyone)
David Malouf (eminent author in the same category as Blainey)
Barry Humphries, Clive James RIP and Kylie Minogue would be regarded by many as National Treasures except that they have all lived in England for so long that they are expats and so they are simply no longer here. Although even there many Australians hate Barry Humphries for presenting Australians in an unflattering light.
I think Mia Wasikowska is a national treasure but I would probably be in a minority. Cate Blanchett would also have qualified except she has gone full woke luvvie and so has blotted her copybook.
That's about all I can think of at the moment.
Oh and Kerry O'Brien a retired ABC journalist who brought his razor sharp mind and a fairly (especially for the ABC) balanced and non-biased approach to his work. A wonderful interviewer as well. Defintely a National Treasure. Although he did retire to live in Byron Bay so there is that against him.
Paul Hogan? Loved his 80's show and the first two Crocodile Dundee movies!
shareGood call ! Paul Hogan would definitely get the Bogan vote for National Treasure status. But again he is an expat who lives in Los Angeles. I think people who vote with their feet like that are saying something about the country they were born in that kind of rules them out of National Treasure contention. Not that I blame them for leaving and not coming back. If I had my time over again I would have done the same thing.
I think he is largely unknown by anyone born after 1990. He might be seen as a sell out or fake now too given he lives i America and has plastic surgery etc
Ernie Dingo is on the official list which I don't understand what has he ever actually done? I am thinking they wanted a Aboriginal.
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