Last of the legends?
 

I was watching the rather abysmal Kevin Costner version of Wyatt Earp today and got to thinking: "Who is the last of the legends?"

Obviously, there have been prominent people in every era, people who have been larger than life, but a legend is something else - a historical figure of epic character about whom we know somethings, but not everything, whose exploits are today seen as a mix of fact and fiction.

Is someone like Wyatt Earp (or another from the cowboy era - Jesse James, Wild Bill, etc) perhaps the last of the legends? Is there anyone from the 20th century who would qualify?

I gave some thought to Amelia Earhart or Mallory of Everest - their ends were shrouded in mystery, if nothing else, and they certainly were larger than life individuals.

Someone's watching A&E possibly?

Hitler
JFK
MLK
Bob Marley
John Lennon (Had to say it before pan did)
Albert Einstein
Princess Di
James Dean
Al Capone
John Gotti
...

You too, huh?

Yeah, I thought about some of those guys - Jimmy Hoffa, too.

At the same time, they are most notable for one thing - their deaths. ut we know pretty much everything about most of them, their lives before their deaths are pretty well documented - they ran for office, or they got arrested, or they married a guy with big ears.

I figure when you go back to the cowboy era, there's maybe a lot more grey in their lives prior to death?

Sorry, but WHAT in the world could make John Gotti a legend???

Please explain.

Wasn't Gotti just one more (of the hundreds of) Italian mobster that got caught? What's the intrique in that?

He's one of the most notorious criminals of the 20th century.

Legends don't have to be dead do they?

Obviously, World's King then.

Oh yeah... I forgot to mention him.

Last of the legends, no.

Last of the heroes, maybe.

With todays press in every facet of someones life, with the 24/7 news cycle, and with lessor men only looking to diminish others achievements through what boils down to slander heroes will be in short supply.

Famous Morons:

David Koresh (Vern!)
Timothy "I'm OK, you're OK" McVeigh
Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold
Dick Cheney

...

Good Guys: It seems most of our modern heroes are fictional characters.

I concur. Heroes only exist when you can't see the ordinary aspects of their lives or their failures.

/me groans at the whole idea of this thread...

Yeah, they do - the "what was real/what was fact" aspect is too easy to resolve with the living. There's very little mystery and I think that is a neccessary part of being a "legend".

Mother Teresa

Interesting choice - are parts of her life poorly documented?

Legends become legends retroactively. Ask someone 100 years from now who's a 20th century legend, and they may list people you would never consider 'legendary.'

No her life is well documented. But she is one of the most amazing people to have lived IMO. I think she will become legendary, just wait and see.

Well being she was a tiny nun working with the poor I doubt if anyone HAD anything 'bad' on her it would matter.

On the other hand we get a lot of revisionist history after people are dead and can no longer defend themselves. Everyone wants the 'dark side' and facts are rarely checked if it makes a good copy you can't be sued for.

I don't get this poorly documented thing...



Why does the person's life have to be a mystery for them to be a legend?


Cause in that case, the biggest legend of the 20th Century would be Michael Jackson.

Charles Lindbergh
Neil Armstrong
Bill Gates (Not that I care if he really is)

I'm tired and still kinda drunk, so sorry, but that's all for now.

Babe Ruth, maybe.

Only one person stands out in my mind as a legend of the 20th century:

Bruce Lee.

I vote for Bruce Lee and Lance Armstrong as well.

A salute to honest and near superhuman physical achievement.

I think some historical figures are very well defined - they may have made great achievements, been very important or interesting people, but when I think "legend" I think King Arthur or Jesus or people of that ilk - probably existed, but there lives are really very shadowy, all the stories written about them being written centuries after the fact. Did they really do all the things that were ascribed to them? What is fact and what is fiction? That sort of encapsulates the "legendary" bit.

Ronald Reagan.

Have at it.

We can't control who is a legend or a hero anymore than we can control who isn't. Try removing a legend, for example. It doesn't work. This is why there is no "last of the legends." Down the road, legends will be maintained. Bill Gates, for example, is a good candidate. In 100 or 200 years, they will look at that guy like they currently do Andrew Carnegie. (Who, I might add, should be considered one of the top American legends for various reasons.)

There's actually an interesting article about this topic in this weekend's NYTimes Magazine.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/ma...prod=permalink

why...Malcolm X of course.

actually no...

but arent legends just make belief?

ronnie ray-guns?

are you serious?

#6 and 7 kind of state that it does not have to be lore or a shadowed individual

Nelson Mandela. Living legend.

That's a nice dictionary - but the definition I'm using and looking for comparisons to is closest to number 1. Yeah, the person existed, but fact and fiction get really jumbled up.

you mean like santa?


id have to agree..mandela is the last living legend

or maybe will smith

well just because his movie says "I am Legend" doesn't make him one...

Although the scene from Hitch where he meets Eva Mendes for the first time is still Legendary in my mind in terms of "the game" :)

merlocke..

if u knew my tongue in cheek attitude youd know that my last sentence wasnt serious

if you knew my sarcastic attitude, you'd know I wasn't serious either :)
just kidding around.

i dont actually!

even steven now!

Osama bin Laden is revered with heroic legendary status by many Muslims and Arabs.

What about all the urban and internet legends?

You know what? That's mayeb the best suggestion - he might be an evil, twisted maniac, but he really does fit the criteria extremely well.

I am shocked and offended that my name has not been mentioned in this thread. Shocked I say.

Crack, would it make you better if I said you and Tubgirl were the two internet legends that first pop into my mind?

Evel Kneivel.

..

www.2cracks1cup.org

I am a legend you say...? I see. Interesting. For what? :orly:

You, my friend, need to read your own signature.

:D

You bastard. You magnificent bastard...

legends eh? I nominate Junior Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, and Steve Kinser
Although they don't fit the criteria of the op, they fit my criteria.

"Last of the Legends" to me seems like a totally absurd concept. That's like saying no one will ever accomplish anything signficant again since it's all been done already.

In a niche area dear to my heart, I'll jump on the "car guy" bandwagon with some of my legends:

Ayrton Senna, Jimmy Clark, Juan-Manuel Fangio, Enzo Ferrari, Sterling Moss, Tazio Nuvolari, Mario Andretti, Colin Chapman, Parnelli Jones, Mark Donohue, Roger Penske, Carroll Shelby, Michael Schumacher ...sorry since I'm sure I missed some of you great guys.

Yes, including such people as Norman Bethune.

As already noted, it's not about raw accomplishment. Of course people will achieve great things in medicine, politics, physics, etc, and people will continue to drive around and around in circles on a track and someone will call them "great" until such time as they pass into irrelavance, anyway.

If I could go back to the admittedly poorly defined begining of the thread and apply the definition mentioned in post #32 I would.