How would historical figures react to their place in history?

[AllyBabble]

Like in Bill and Ted's Excellent Journey, if certain historical figures were suddenly transported through time to the present day, how do you think they would react to how they were presented in the media and history books?
Would some sell out and become celebrities, become hermits, go on the run, start up a merchandising machine with products based on themselves?


ok, i am going to rattle off some ideas as they come to me...

Van Gogh: they did this in a recent Doctor Who and it was actually a very touching moment, the Doc takes him to a VVG exhibition and stands him in front of a curator who tells of his impact on art and how he feels he was one of the best, if not the best fine artist who ever lived. He has a very emotional moment, breaks into tears of joy and thanks the curator.
Me, personally and realistically , think he would've freaked out, ran out to an off licenece, bought a bottle of wine and cut his other ear off. He would then become tabloid fodder and a hermit as a result as he tried to hide from his new found fame, as people offered him millions to do more paintings and he told them all to bug off.
Meanwhile as his old paintings go even further up in price, while millions starve of hunger, he would not be able to handle the dicotomy of that situation and bug off back in the time machine to destroy all of his paintings, or y'know, drink wine until he snuffed it because it's cheaper in this time zone to get pissed.

Jesus and the Twelve Apostles: Ok, a set of different people so they could have different reactions, but i would take a guess that the twelve apostles would go from being humble god fearing helpers to realising they changed the world, end up with egos the size of an expanding sun, and go around on tv telling everyone what they should do, who they should like, what they should wear, what they should eat, meanwhile totally boring everyone to death while sales of the Bible plummeted.
Jesus would get tired of all this celebrity crap, tell the churches he was just some bozo that god wanted for a job, tell them to re-write the Bible or he would sue, and would then go into hiding, getting the lowdown from god again on how to sort these bozos out and jsut start once again basically telling everyone to chill the muck out and get the mell on with each other.
Now that everyone knew he was just a normal guy with no superpowers who god 'spoke to', they would totally ignore him and banish him to the 'crank file' of popular culture.
Meanwhile the Apostles hatch a plan to discredit Jesus so they can continue making the rounds on the talk shows.

Joan Of Arc: god would give her a new mission, she would become a masked vigilante, preaching the word of god as she took down the kind of right wing bible bashers who go after doctors who perform abortions.

Jimi Hendrix: would get depressed at the information that no-one has progressed any further with the electric guitar than he did, realise his last recording were not going to match Electric Ladyland no matter how hard he tried, and get involved in electronic music, he would take the music so out there that once again no-one could surpass what he did with the instruments, everyone would get bored of new music and just keep listening to the same stuff over and over again for the next millenia.

 

[Eggyman]

Wrong.

It's Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey.

 

[AllyBabble]

Wrong.

It's Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey.

ok, and em, i guess this thread is the non-starter i thought it was once i posted it, oh well, at least i got some fan-fic off of my chest.

 

[Matt Mortem]

I know someone like Che Guevara would be ticked off about his image being mass produced and commercialized. I would be interested to see what someone like Thomas Jefferson feels about how he is revered and see the shape of the country.

 

[redhawk23]

I know someone like Che Guevara would be ticked off about his image being mass produced and commercialized. I would be interested to see what someone like Thomas Jefferson feels about how he is revered and see the shape of the country.

and now how he is slowly being phased out of history books by Texas...

Honestly I think quite a few historical figures, other than the ones that built monuements of themselves, would react very much how Zephram Cochrane reacted to the praise he got from the Enterprise crew in Star Trek First Contact.

 

[Deaths Head II]

I think most of the founding fathers would be a bit weirded out at how some Americans seem to deify them nowadays. Not even them as individuals, but as this imaginary infallible collective body that all thought the same way and had their word sent from on high or whatever.

 

[E-Man]

I think that they would probably react one of three ways.

They would be flattered, and may possibly try to get brownie points off of their name.

They would be pissed that their name has been twisted into an image of themselves that is not accurate of their philosophies while they were living.

They would probably not react so strongly because they planned it when they were alive. They maybe wanted to go down in history as a revered person, and their reaction would just be one of subtle confirmation.

All of them would probably have some level of disappointment in the present day though. People just don't like the future when they're not young. It'll be "kids these days" with centuries of disconnect. All of them will think that the world has gone to hell, and modern pessimists would use their words to tell everyone else that they were right.

 

[chaseter]

I am more shocked that a man like Che who has killed thousands of people and hated gays and blacks is revered so I could care less about what he thinks of himself.

To play along, I think Nixon would be proud that he is a star in Futurama.

 

[Matt Mortem]

I think Nixon would like that too

 

[Lunar_Wolf]

Minds would explode with sheer excitement.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Genghis Khan would have not liked how he was portrayed on Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.

 

[doih]

I think some of the great polymaths, geniuses, and people who've contributed a lot to humanity would be a little sad that they aren't remembered by more people.

A few examples:

Polymaths:

Avicenna: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avicenna

Zhang: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Heng

von Neumann: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann

Geniuses:

Tesla: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla

Lippershey: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Lippershey

Poincare: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Poincaré

Rather normal people who changed a lot:

Henrietta Lacks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Lacks

Henry Dunant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Dunant

James Harrison (no, not the football player): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/wor...-babies-half-century-donating-rare-blood.html

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

i got threw out of a lecture at college because i said people like da vinci and monet would laugh in the face of the art experts if they ever came back

art expert: mr da vinci what is the secret of the mona lisa
leo: what her, ohh it was a girl down the street i had a bit of thing for, thought the painting may get me somewhere

 

[Harry_Lime02]

I think George Orwell would be interested in seeing how close his vision of the future was to reality.

 

[chaseter]

I think the first homosapien would be slightly confused and scared.

 

[E-Man]

i got threw out of a lecture at college because i said people like da vinci and monet would laugh in the face of the art experts if they ever came back

art expert: mr da vinci what is the secret of the mona lisa
leo: what her, ohh it was a girl down the street i had a bit of thing for, thought the painting may get me somewhere

I never understood how college professors could throw someone out of a discussion because they say something that disagrees with them. I understand their ego not being able to handle someone challenging their viewpoint, but that's just acknowledging to your students that you're full of **** and can't handle differing opinions than your own.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I am more shocked that a man like Che who has killed thousands of people and hated gays and blacks is revered so I could care less about what he thinks of himself.
.

Che hated blacks? Then why did he fight to liberate parts of Africa and fight side by side with Africans? He also spoke against the apartied and racist, exploitive colonist in Africa in his UN speech.

Oh and where did you get the "killed thousands" estimate?

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

From best answers:

It is indisputable that Guevara personally shot individuals during wartime and a "revolution". Jon Lee Anderson, the author of the definitive 800 + page biography "Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life" notes several (around 10) documented examples of men who were shot personally by Guevara or on his command for a number of "crimes" during the guerrilla phase in Cuba - including desertion, stealing rations, raping a peasant, being an informer (chivato) etc. Anderson also notes the 55 executions at La Cabana that were carried out in instances where Guevara had the final appellate say on whether to suspend or lessen the death sentences handed down by the 3 man revolutionary tribunals (whether Che personally "killed" these he refused to pardon I guess could be a matter of debate).

So the answer is probably close to 10 personally during war time (not including battles which would probably be another 10-20 in an array of battles). As for those killed on his orders - after the Cuban revolution between 55 (Anderson) and several hundred (other biographers) War Criminals were executed at La Cabana in cases where Che had the final say on whether to pardon them.

As for whether the death penalty was justified, remember that 20,000 Cubans had been killed with many more tortured during the former U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship, and Che was in charge of exacting "revolutionary justice" for the victorious side in a revolution.

Biographer Jon Lee Anderson, (who spent 5 years studying the topic) has addressed this matter in a PBS forum stating ...

"I have yet to find a single credible source pointing to a case where Che executed an innocent. Those persons executed by Guevara or on his orders were condemned for the usual crimes punishable by death at times of war or in its aftermath: desertion, treason or crimes such as rape, torture or murder."

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

From best answers:

It is indisputable that Guevara personally shot individuals during wartime and a "revolution". Jon Lee Anderson, the author of the definitive 800 + page biography "Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life" notes several (around 10) documented examples of men who were shot personally by Guevara or on his command for a number of "crimes" during the guerrilla phase in Cuba - including desertion, stealing rations, raping a peasant, being an informer (chivato) etc. Anderson also notes the 55 executions at La Cabana that were carried out in instances where Guevara had the final appellate say on whether to suspend or lessen the death sentences handed down by the 3 man revolutionary tribunals (whether Che personally "killed" these he refused to pardon I guess could be a matter of debate).

So the answer is probably close to 10 personally during war time (not including battles which would probably be another 10-20 in an array of battles). As for those killed on his orders - after the Cuban revolution between 55 (Anderson) and several hundred (other biographers) War Criminals were executed at La Cabana in cases where Che had the final say on whether to pardon them.

As for whether the death penalty was justified, remember that 20,000 Cubans had been killed with many more tortured during the former U.S.-backed Batista dictatorship, and Che was in charge of exacting "revolutionary justice" for the victorious side in a revolution.

Biographer Jon Lee Anderson, (who spent 5 years studying the topic) has addressed this matter in a PBS forum stating ...

"I have yet to find a single credible source pointing to a case where Che executed an innocent. Those persons executed by Guevara or on his orders were condemned for the usual crimes punishable by death at times of war or in its aftermath: desertion, treason or crimes such as rape, torture or murder."

 

[SuperFerret]

Jimi Hendrix is a historical figure?

 

[hippie_hunter]

Che hated blacks? Then why did he fight to liberate parts of Africa and fight side by side with Africans? He also spoke against the apartied and racist, exploitive colonist in Africa in his UN speech.

Oh and where did you get the "killed thousands" estimate?

When he went to Africa to aid them in their attempts to free themselves from imperialism and spread his revolution outside of Latin America, Che just ended up getting fed up with them and thought that they were a bunch of ******s. And if you actually read his works, he comes off as pretty ****ing racist and homophobic.

Not only that but he also worked to install repressive regimes that supported a political/economic system that killed over 100 million people.

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

I never understood how college professors could throw someone out of a discussion because they say something that disagrees with them. I understand their ego not being able to handle someone challenging their viewpoint, but that's just acknowledging to your students that you're full of **** and can't handle differing opinions than your own.

he told me afterwards it wasn't because i spoke out but because I dared to bad mouth one of the greats and how we can not boil down they're visions to simple terms and must accept the deeper physiological meanings in the work

i nodded along and then went to lunch

 

[AllyBabble]

Jimi Hendrix is a historical figure?

Ach, y'know, musical history, cultural, he had a major impact on culture in terms of using the guitar, to the point that no-one has bettered him yet.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

From what I read his racist views predated his revolutionary career. It was before his transformation.

He was willing to die for black people. Doesn't sound racist to me. Plus his UN speech is extremely anti-racist.

 

[Matt Mortem]

Seems like there is no grey area with Che. Either people like him or hate him