Page 1 of 1
Most Influential Person of the 20th Century?
Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:04 am
by AYHJA
From a point of view as far as you can fathom, who do you think is the most influential person of the 20th Century..? I know there are lots of dynamics to consider, and there are so many things to consider, but of all the people you can think of, whose influence do you think has been the farthest reaching and why..?
Re: Most Influential Person of the 20th Century?
Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 12:17 pm
by Sir Jig-A-Lot
well after giving every decade of the 20th a quick run through in my head,stylistically anyway,it would have to be John Travolta as Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever. i know it's a weird one to call but his character in that movie made a huge chunk of males on this planet (teenage-50+) think they could get away with (& look good in) wearing polyester shirts,medallions & disco suits in a roughly 5 year period
before that flick came out,the disco look was confined to a small localised NYC/Jersey scene.
i globehopped a lot in my early years & saw that look affect blacks,whites,asians,hispanics & even a then communist East Germany.
that's a longass time for a fashion trend to take hold of such a broad age demographic.
not even James Dean's (& later Fonzie) leather jacket look or all the kids wearing Michael Blackson's glove &/or Thriller/Beat It jackets came that close or influenced that many males. ditto for The Beatles' mop top hairdos.
i seriously doubt something that far-reaching fashionwise anyway will ever happen again.
Re: Most Influential Person of the 20th Century?
Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 10:04 pm
by gmsnctry
Adolph Hitler
rose to stem communism in Europe (while also crushing democracy in the newly formed democratic nations after WWI) and to right the perceived wrong of thrusting of Democracy on the Germans, Austrians and Ottoman empires that hadnt started or really lost WWI (Serbia started it; Facsim and the Buffet eater Mussolini was just a poser), created economic, national and civic fantism (mainly in Germanic lands) but also in North America (ie war films, warbonds, WE WANT YOU), Europe and Asia) AND the concept of fighting for an ethnic or racial homeland whereas Democratic governments assumed the responsibility to provide needed services in society and alleviate poverty - thus the welfare state was born.
The medical (radical battlefield treatments and medicines), technological (blitzkreig, tanks, sonar, radar), social (national unity, ethnic pride and honor), economic (the sheer number of lower class and women in the workplace), poplation (the resulting babyboom worldwide), the politcal aftermath (Chokehold of Communism, more Democratic nations for awhile), the spawn of racial rights (Rosa Parks, apartheid dying in S Africa), science (nuclear, fission)
This one nutcase altered how the world thinks, feels and responds (politcally, socially, economically) to one another on a global scale.