No, it really doesn’t. Its just you. Indeed, I would warrant that far more westerners know about the Buddha and Buddhism from other, more direct, sources, than have ever heard of Hermann Hesse.
And these direct sources are how reliable? as much as the gospels?
They are still far more **influential **than Hesse’s version. In the case of THIS figure we have not been talking about accuracy or validity of THAT fictionalized version, but of it being the primary referent for Westerners. We can stipulate that the teachings and writings of disciples and followers of the major religious figures are of legendary scope.
I just listed one fictional source off the top of my head, that, IME, influenced a lot of Westerners who thought they knew more about Buddhism than they could possibly know from one book, it seemed to me. I never said it was the only book, or the best book. But another poster wanted specific sources regarding each name I’d posted, and that one came to me as a specifically fictional example that many people think is informative.
Night of the Ripper isn’t the only book about Jack the Ripper, but it was the first one I thought of.
Damn. I had hoped that depth of ignorance weren’t as widespread as you say. That people can take their ideas of Buddhism from a book that isn’t even Buddhist! Whose protagonist goes to check out Buddha and thinks Buddhism is OK even though it isn’t for him, and he breaks up with his best buddy (it stopped being buddy-film material at that point), because his buddy converts to Buddhism but Sid rejects having anything to do with it, so they part ways. That dismissal of Buddha occurs rather early in the narrative, and the rest of it is the entirely fictional Sid out on his own, in entirely fictional situations where none of the characters actually existed historically.
Laura Ingalls Wilder and Family:
Had the television series followed the books and-or real life, the series setting would’ve changed constantly as the Ingalls moved to various locations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Iowa, and Missouri in search of a decent living.
“Don’t ask me for cites”
Uh-huh.
Your post is certainly exceptionally credible.
Perhaps a bit more obscure than most already listed, but Captain “Luck Jack” Aubrey of The Aubrey-Maturin series of books by Patrick O’Brian is probably better known than his primary* template, Admiral Thomas Cochrane.
This may not hold true in the U.K. I have no idea how they view a 19th Century figure like Cochrane, esp. with Nelson being such a National Hero.
*Patric O’Brian freely admitted to borrowing from multiple sources for the exploits of Jack Aubrey, but the main inspiration for the overall character was Admiral Cochrane.
They are legends or myths, no doubt: hardly the same sort of thing as a novel written in 1922, and clearly not the sort of thing the OP was talking about. I am an atheist too, but all the people mentioning Biblical figures, such as Jesus, are clearly threadshitting (unless most of what they know about what Christians believe about comes from watching* The Passion of the Christ*, or some other modern, biblically based fiction).
In any case, you were still wrong to suggest that most people, even most westerners, know what they know about the Buddha through Hesse’s novel (and you would be wrong even if the novel were actually about the Buddha).
All of the officers on the Titanic have been eclipsed by the characters in James Cameron’s film, especially the one who committed suicide. I don’t think anyone is actually clear on what happened to him, and the film seemed to blame the captain, while that probably isn’t true either.
What’s more, I doubt most people would know that the Titanic’s captain was named Edward Smith, if not for the movie.
And I feel old, because the movie Titanic is older now than Star Wars was when I was in college.
Abraham Lincoln was a railroad crony white supremacist who supported a constitutional amendment that would have protected slavery ( Corwin Amendment). He is worshipped by statists from Rush Limbaugh to Rachel Maddow as democracy incarnate, yet he issued an arrest warrant for the Chief Justice, exiled political adversaries, and shut down newspapers.
The only thing his legend gets right is his battles with mental illness.
Again, I think you miss the point of the OP. What fictional portrayal of Lincoln dominates the historical figure?
Parson Weems’ portrayal of George Washington still eclipsres the actual historic figure.
To whatever extent Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hickock and Tom Mix are remembered, bullshit autobiographies and films of them overrun the facts.
The fictional Jerry Seinfeld will always trump the actual one.
I can’t speak for Prof. Pepperwinkle, but if I had written that, I would be referring to the fact that King was a philandering, hypocritical SOB who happened to be morally upright on one particular issue that the media latched on to, while resolutely ignoring his massive character flaws.
That’s a little harsh. She wrote “The Trapp Family Singers”, and was tricked into selling the film rights for a flat fee of £9000 by an agent who told her that German law forbade the paying of royalties (a lie). With all the success of the stage musical, the film, the everything based around what *is *actually her story, she only ever saw about $500,000. I don’t think you can call that “trying to cash in”.
Alexander Selkirk, fictionalised as Robinson Crusoe.
Certainly not. Weems’ account is the source of a couple of anecdotes about Washington’s childhood, and certainly doesn’t outweigh Washington’s historical image.
Nothing in Prof. Pepperwinkle’s post indicates that’s what he meant. But even if that’s what he was referring to, he’s missed the point of the OP. As far as I can see, we’re not looking for people whose present image merely differs from their actual personality, but those whose image in a work of fiction dominates the actual historic figure. (And if MLK is depicted as saintly in biographies or documentaries, IMO that doesn’t count, since those are not works of fiction, even if they may not be entirely accurate.)
Though if you were in Calgary for the 88 Olympics the actual Jamaican bobsledding team and also their British counterpart ‘Eddie the Eagle’ were the stars of the show and more celebrated than any gold metal athlete.
Jonathan Chapman- Johnny Appleseed
Manfred von Richthofen- the Red Baron probably owes most of his renown to Charles Schultz and The Royal Guardsmen
Father Flanagan of Boy’s Town
George Gipp, All American
Relatively new one:
The Scorpion King
A couple that I wonder about:
General George Custer
General George Patton
Makes a brief appearance in Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, BTW (though he says he’s not a god, he’s a folk hero).