Friday, May 18, 2007

What are your pop-culture iconoclasms?

Ken Jennings--the guy who won seventy-four (?) times in a row on Jeopardy--has a blog worth your time (it's linked just to your right). A few months back, Jennings asked the question "What are your pop-culture iconoclasms?" In Jeninngs words, an iconoclast is any non-conformist who flaunts or disagrees with accepted norms and traditions (broadening the older definition of someone who destroys religious icons). Jennings cites several examples of pop-culture iconoclasms:

  • Someone who thinks Tim Dalton is the best Bond.
  • Someone who loves Jar-Jar Binks.
  • Someone who thinks Godfather III is the best Godfather.

Some of my pop-culture and historical iconoclasms include:

  • The first three seasons of M*A*S*H were the best seasons . . .
  • . . . and Col. Blake is a better CO than Col. Potter.
  • Calvin Coolidge and Grover Cleveland are two of the best six presidents in U.S. history.
  • Van Halen III, with the exception of their first album, is Van Halen's best album.
  • Metallica's best album is . . . And Justice for All (okay, I may not be that iconoclastic on this one).
  • I don't think Paris Hilton is pretty. Pretty weird looking, perhaps, but not pretty.
  • Keanu Reeves is a brilliant actor.
  • Meryl Streep is a bad actress.

I will list more of my iconoclasms when I think of them. But for now, what are some of your iconoclasms?