# Future Classics - What's on your lists? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 29, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245 "2005-11-29T18:54:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fructose\_Modeler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fructose\_Modeler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fructose_Modeler)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/1 "2005-11-29T18:54:58Z")
I’ve been lurking for quite some time now, and I have enjoyed it thoroughly, but it is now time for me to come out of the shadows. I finally have a question worth asking and I wanted to present it to a crowd that has the best chance of answering it. You see, the other day I was in the kitchen when the Little Modeler was watching “Little Einsteins” on the Disney channel and they were playing classical music. That got me wondering what works of art would be considered ‘classic’ say 100 years from now. What about 200 years from now? Do you think Bill thought a story about two love struck teenagers would be standard reading hundreds of years later? How about someone like Sam Clemens? Do you think he ever imagined that a story about frogs would be read by young students two centuries later? Even someone like good ol’ Vince? Do you think he thought that by painting a nightscape he would be immortalized? So who or what do you think will be considered classic in the future? Does Tom Clancy stand a chance? What about television? Barney might end up like his counterparts but what about something as simple as Sesame Street? Will future kids be required to watch particular movies? And what do you think will be on the required reading lists of the future? How about required listening? Required watching? If you were in charge, what would be on your lists? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/2 "2005-11-29T19:05:05Z")
TV is **not** classic, but transitory. However, the music of Louis Armstrong will still be played. BTW–Welcome to the SDMB! Do you like…_goats_…? ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/3 "2005-11-29T19:41:34Z")
[Moderator Hat ON] I think this will do better in Cafe Society. [Moderator Hat OFF] ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/4 "2005-11-29T19:43:33Z")
“Weird Al” Yankovic will, of course, have a place in the future’s canon of classics. As will Goatse. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fructose\_Modeler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fructose\_Modeler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fructose_Modeler)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/5 "2005-11-29T20:06:43Z")
> [@Gaudere](#): > > [Moderator Hat ON] > > I think this will do better in Cafe Society. > > [Moderator Hat OFF] :smack: Damnit! That was such a noob mistake… Thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fructose\_Modeler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fructose\_Modeler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fructose_Modeler)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/6 "2005-11-29T20:14:20Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > TV is **not** classic, but transitory. I agree, television isn’t classic. _Now_. But we’re talking 100 years from now. It may be in a different form, but the basic concept of transmitting real-time or pre-recorded visual and audio signals to be displayed in a different location will probably be around for a very, very long time. > [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > Do you like…_goats_…? And I can’t say if I like _goats_ exactly, but they make good cheese. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/7 "2005-11-29T20:16:32Z")
I’m guessing that the Lord of the Rings movies will weather the course of time very well. 100 years from now, it will probably be time to start work on the holodeck version. Sadly, this will be at the expense of the popularity of the books… ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/8 "2005-11-29T20:19:50Z")
For literature, I don’t think any “bestsellers” will make it – Tom Clancy is already dated, and not necessarily in a charming or edifying way. I’m running through a mental list of more literary writers of popular fiction – Ruth Rendell, e.g., whose latest I took out of the library last night – and I’m not even sure how many of them will continue to be read. (My beef with a lot of these authors – her, PD James, Elizabeth George, etc. – is that they reach a certain level of popularity/renown and all of a sudden they’re “above” being edited, which I don’t think necessarily works to their advantage.) I think Atwood, Byatt, John Irving, Ishiguro, etc., will continue to be read, though not necessarily everything by each of them. (Of course, not all Charles Dickens or Scott Fitzgerald is regarded as equally worthwhile, so there’s no problem there.) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/9 "2005-11-29T20:23:26Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > For literature, I don’t think any “bestsellers” will make it . . . \*But what about Stephen King? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/10 "2005-11-29T20:29:34Z")
Frank Sinatra Miles Davis Duke Ellington The Beatles The Rolling Stones Jimi Hendrix Bob Dylan Elvis Presley (tho it pains me to say it; Chuck Berry is far far better) Aretha Franklin Tom Clancy is a bestseller hack. I wish he was forgotten already. I can see some of Stephen King’s books being read - esp the Shining To Kill a Mockingbird Catch-22 Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee - short, powerful, beautifully crafted ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/11 "2005-11-29T20:52:55Z")
> [@Fructose Modeler](#): > > And I can’t say if I like _goats_ exactly, but they make good cheese. 🙂 [nitpick]I think you need opposable thumbs to have any real success at cheesemaking.[/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/12 "2005-11-29T20:58:53Z")
OK, who forgot to close their HTML tags? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/13 "2005-11-29T21:25:39Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > TV is **not** classic, but transitory. Lucille Ball? George Burns? I’m not crazy for either one, but I’m not inclined to agree. TV is so prone to recycling plots, jokes and premises that there may always be a pipeline to the past in that regard. I keep thinking of nominees, but I wonder if I think they’ll be ‘future classics’ or if I just like them. I don’t know what will be popular in 100 years, but I think groups of people will still listen to Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters. And I think that anybody with an interest in late-20th Century American life will probably have to look at _The Simpsons_. _The Godfather_ will still be classic cinema, but I expect Scarface will be more popular. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/14 "2005-11-29T21:33:23Z")
> [@Fructose Modeler](#): > > ow about someone like Sam Clemens? Do you think he ever imagined that a story about frogs would be read by young students two centuries later? Minor thing: Twain wrote that story in 1865 and died in 1910. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/15 "2005-11-29T22:07:52Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > OK, who forgot to close their HTML tags? More effective than making a comment in a thread is to report it to a Moderator, who will happily fix it. (For those for whom this comment now makes no sense: when someone forgets to close a tag, by goofing up the \* for instance to end italics, the system sometimes just continues to italicize everything forever and ever after. It’s not a regular thing, it’s just frustrated hamsters, I guess. ) ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/16 "2005-11-30T02:03:01Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Minor thing: Twain wrote that story in 1865 and died in 1910. Correct. And your point is? Oh, damn! Stupid chronometer on this time machine! I am so sorry, this is 1995, damn thing is telling me I am still in 2067. Apologies; that’s what you get buying cheap crap from Fusion Unlimited. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/17 "2005-11-30T02:24:56Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > [nitpick]I think you need opposable thumbs to have any real success at cheesemaking.[/nitpick] Blessed are the cheesemakers… ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/18 "2005-11-30T02:33:59Z")
The things that stand the test of time are often very accessible, even low-class, to their contemporary audiences. Shakespeare, Dickens, Verdi, Twain, none of them were considered highfalutin. I’d guess that if modern audiences don’t find a work accessible (like so much literary fiction) then future audiences won’t either. So, I think there’s a chance that Stephen King is writing the classics of the future. He’s got quite a lot in common with Dickens, really. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/19 "2005-11-30T13:31:20Z")
> [@](#): > > So, I think there’s a chance that Stephen King is writing the classics of the future. He’s got quite a lot in common with Dickens, really. I’ve been saying this for years. Here’s another – although people say that there’sd nothing as dated as old science fiction, Jules Verne is still in print, errors and all, over a hundred years later. H.G. wells, too. Not all their stuff, mind, and I’ve often lamented that most of Verne’s best stuff is rarely seen – but I still have pretty recent copies of most of his stuff. So I predict that some science fiction will survive, too. Unfortunately, a lot of really good, potentially timeless stuff won’;t, because the vagaries of the industry haven’t pushed them to the fore. But good stuff that’sd been in print for a long time will probably stay. I think a lot of Heinlein will be kicking around for a long time – most of it’s still in print. Likewise asimov’s Foundation and Robot stories. I’ll bet 2001 by Clarke will be, too. It’s not his best work, by a long shot, but it’s been in print since it was written because of the movie tie-in (Asimov’s Fantastic Voyage seems to have the same fate). Can anyone doubt that Tolkien’s **Lord of the Rings** will be with us for quite a while? Or T.H. White’s **Once and Future King** , or Lewis’ **Narnia** stories and **The Screwtape Letters**? ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245/20 "2005-11-30T13:35:04Z")
I have to say I think _Lonesome Dove_ by Larry McMurtry will stand the test of time along with much of his other works. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/future-classics-whats-on-your-lists/333245.md?page=2)