This has been a vintage year for overrated things and people. Sure, every year is a vintage for that, but as some people have noted, it's especially fitting that my book "Overrated: The 50 Most Overhyped Things in History" was released in 2010. (Did you notice that subtle plug? Cool, huh? Second sentence!)
Well, nobody has really said anything about that, but in a year that allegedly gave us "the most successful movie ever," predicted "the biggest TV event in history," and announced that at least one artist (and one group of television stars) were "bigger than the Beatles," we knew that hyperbole was alive and sick. In the cause of bringing perspective (and shameless book promotion), here are the 10 most overrated things about the past 12 months ...
overrated 2010
Avatar(01 of10)
Movie history was made in 2010, when James Cameron’s Avatar surpassed his previous blockbuster, Titanic, as “the most successful movie ever”, based on worldwide box-office. The problem is, this is all Hollywood hype. A look at Box Office Mojo, and their list of the all time top movies adjusted for inflation, shows that it's a mere 14th place, well behind the likes of Doctor Zhivago and 101 Dalmatians! Even Titanic makes it to #6. For all the hype, "adjusted" is the only fair way to measure box-office success. In US box-office, Avatar's adjusted gross is $773,179,000. The champion is still Gone with the Wind (1939), whose adjusted gross is a huge $1,606,254,800. In 1939 dollars, that was only $198,676,459 - but it means that it was seen by considerably more people than Avatar, and those dollars could buy you a heck of a lot more 71 years ago than Avatar's comparatively meager returns could buy you right now. While it’s impossible to work out the worldwide gross, let’s just say that, even in the UK, the story of Scarlett O’Hara was the biggest film ever.We also heard that Avatar would change filmmaking forever. It’s too early to judge, of course… but we’ve heard it all before. 3D was meant to change cinema back in the 1950s. Cinema changed, as always, but it didn’t go 3D.
Birthers (02 of10)
Remember the good old days when climate change deniers, who included two percent of climate scientists, would get considerably more than two percent of the media? Since then, things have become ridiculous. The “birthers”, who claim that President Obama wasn’t born in the US, are on even flimsier ground, as the lower courts have constantly found. But while very few people took the birthers seriously in 2008, the issue has been grinding away. In March, a Harris online survey found that a quarter of respondents believed that Obama was “not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president”. Assuming that the survey wasn’t rigged by birthers (the phrase “online poll” should always set alarm bells ringing), it might be influencing public opinion. Whatever the case, the movement has been given too much time, considering it’s based almost completely on a proud refusal to accept evidence. Even flat-earthers, or moon landing conspiracy theories, have some pretence of an argument. Just because someone professes an alternative view, it doesn’t mean it should be given blanket media coverage. (credit:Getty)
Tiger Woods’ Private Life (03 of10)
It was inevitable that the indiscretions of Tiger Woods – perhaps America’s favorite sporting hero -– would be classed as Big News … but we need some perspective. From its revelation in December 2009, Woods’ infidelity made 20 consecutive covers of the New York Post, surpassing the Post’s coverage of a more local story from a few years back: the World Trade Centre terrorist attacks. Yes, folks, Tiger Woods’ sordid private life is officially a bigger story than 9/11! The story wouldn’t go away in the new year (surprise surprise), causing one clever journalist to dub 2010 the “Year of the Tiger”. Sadly, he had a point. (credit:Getty)
The Republicans’ Mid-term Deluge (04 of10)
When the Republicans took control of the House in the mid-term elections (surprising nobody who wasn’t completely deluded), they worried Democrats because they would use their numbers to block policy, and Obama would be powerless to do anything without trying to work closely with them. Excuse me, but how is this different from what was already happening? But it supposedly has further significance. Is this the end for Obama, as mournful Democrats and gloating Republicans have suggested? Probably not. We know from Reagan and Clinton that you can go from a crushing mid-term defeat to a landslide election victory. Whether Obama wins or loses the election, the mid-term results might have nothing to do with it. (credit:Getty)
Justin Bieber (05 of10)
You might have heard of Godwin’s Law. You know, the one that suggests that, once you compare someone to Hitler, you’re getting so ridiculous that you automatically lose the argument. (It’s a law that apparently doesn’t work on Fox News.) I’d like to suggest a new one. Juddery’s Law: Once you describe someone as “bigger than the Beatles”, you’ve officially gone overboard. Whatever your tastes, Justin Bieber was possibly the pop star of the year, and Bieber Fever is the Beatlemania of 2010. His fans, and various people who should know better, have said that he’s bigger than the Beatles. People said that about the Police, Michael Jackson and (OMG) the cast of Glee. They were always wrong. Let’s just say this: Bieber has sold four million albums since his first recording last year. The Beatles have sold 15 million albums since their remastered albums were re-released last year… plus zillions (anywhere from 250 million to a billion, depending on whom you ask) in the 47 years previously. So, even individually, all four of them are far bigger than Bieber (and that’s not counting their solo stuff). Like Bieber, they also had crowd control issues, endless merchandise, and sell-out concerts (with bigger audiences than Bieber). The sales of bootleg Beatles records are as impossible to guess as the number of illegal Bieber downloads. Sure, no Beatles video has had more views on YouTube than Bieber’s Baby, but that’s because we didn’t have YouTube in 1964. Perhaps, one day, Bieber will have sold more records than the Beatles. If you’re old enough to read this, you probably won’t be alive.
The Great Recession(06 of10)
Yes, things are bad. The US economy still needs work, people have been losing jobs, and Obama stands accused of being one of the worst Presidents in history for letting this happen (even though the recession started before he did). Just as we forget that society isn’t as dangerous as it was in the 18th century, Justin Bieber isn’t nearly as big as the Beatles, and Avatar isn’t as big as Gone with the Wind, we act as though we’re living in tougher times than ever before. Compare the “great recession” to the Great Depression. Two years into the Great Depression, a quarter of Americans were unemployed and the US steel industry was at 10 percent capacity. The Ford Motor Company slashed its workforce from 130,000 to 37,000 (no GM-style bailout there!), wheat halved in value in the Midwest, and even if you somehow had a job, your monthly salary fe1l from $50 to $16. When unemployed farmers and World War I veterans protested outside Congress, how did President Hoover show his concern? Why, he called in the troops to disperse them, of course. America has suffered through worse, and recovered. (OK, it took a world war last time, but that probably won’t be necessary any more.) (credit:Getty)
Christine O’Donnell(07 of10)
She lost –- by a landslide -– even when Republicans were swept to victory in so many other places. What’s more, despite all the words that had been written about her, despite the cover of Time magazine and the fears from both major parties, it was always clear that she never had the numbers to win. “Be encouraged — we have won!” she shouted in her concession speech, suggesting that her grasp of reality hadn’t improved. “The Republican Party will never be the same.” Perhaps not, but that won’t be her fault. Christine O’Donnell, the most overhyped candidate of the mid-term elections, was defeated handily. Now will everyone please stop talking about her?
The Decision (08 of10)
Many of America’s greatest sportsmen have had scandals that rocked the sports world, from Ty Cobb’s thuggery to Muhammad Ali’s draft resistance. Now we can add LeBron James’s… er, decision to change teams. Man, sports controversies just ain’t what they used to be. True, he’s the best basketballer around, there was a year of speculation, and ESPN turned The Decision into a spectacular of “Who shot JR?” proportions. But did he deserve the wrath? The endless debate? The nomination as ‘Person of the Year’ by Time magazine, which allegedly goes to the person who “has done the most to influence the events of the year”? (His major influence was his effect on national productivity, with millions of work hours lost arguing about him at the water-cooler.) Even James himself described this nomination as “crazy”. Surely the least controversial thing he said all year. (credit:Getty)
Acai Berries (09 of10)
The latest craze in exotic (and expensive) “superfruits” is acai berries, which are exciting because a) they grow on the Amazon, b) their ORAC score is eight times as high as blueberries (making them a great antioxidant), and c) they contain omega 3s and omega 9s. Finally, a food that will solve all our health problems! Sadly, their omega content is so tiny that, unless you live on them, they are practically ineffective. Their ORAC score compares powdered acai extract with fresh blueberries, which is hardly fair. (Oh, and the test was paid for by Sambazan, the world’s top acai supplier.) Besides, “antioxidant” might be a buzzword right now, but there’s a variety of antioxidants, found in different fruits. The truth is, there is no evidence that the acai berry is any more nutritious than a humble fruit like an orange (which is wonderfully nutritious, of course, but hardly has the prestige – or the cost – of a “superfruit”). Like goji berries or spirulina, it’s another superfood that’s a triumph of marketing as much as health.
William and Kate’s Engagement (10 of10)
I have no thoughtful or logical explanation as to why this is on the list. I can’t deny that people like it, and who knows, maybe the wedding really will have “one of the biggest audiences in history,” as the BBC seems to think. But my God, it’s just been announced, we have months of this to go, and I’m already bored. Please, make it stop! (credit:Getty)
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