# Things that are considered "classics" but which you think are highly overrated **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 5, 2007, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276 "2007-11-05T10:51:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/161 "2007-11-07T06:53:28Z")
[QUOTE=Bootis] Bach, I find him to be predictable and repetetive. [/QUOTE] I should probably leave this thread before my brain explodes. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/162 "2007-11-07T07:24:33Z")
[QUOTE=Bootis] Bach, I find him to be predictable and repetetive. [/QUOTE] Compare him with everything that came before (and a lot that has come since). It’s predictable in the same sense that Shakespeare is full of cliches. ---
**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 7, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/163 "2007-11-07T13:40:03Z")
Moderator speaketh: [QUOTE=ianzin] You just don’t know what you’re talking about, and it shows. Why do you bother coming to a board that’s supposed to be about fighting ignorance and then start spreading _your_ ignorance around? … In future, try to participate in threads where you actually have the faintest idea what you’re talking about. [/QUOTE] **ianzin** : you’ve been around long enough to know that personal insults are not permitted in this forum. You may insult the artists, entertainers, etc all you want, but you may not insult fellow posters. And making statements about what you imagine another poster’s background or knowledge to be are certainly in the realm of insults. Please refrain. For anyone who is not aware of our rules on insulting other posters, I recommend reading: [FAQ - Rules for Posting at the Straight Dope Message Boards](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=384736) and note especially Post #10 in that list of Rules; and also, for this forum, please read [Forum Rules](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343601) and especially Post #3. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/164 "2007-11-07T13:59:13Z")
[QUOTE=Bootis] Most African and Asian art/German Literature is pretty obvious and repetitive. [/QUOTE] Please tell me this is a woosh. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/165 "2007-11-07T14:20:02Z")
[QUOTE=C K Dexter Haven] making statements about what you imagine another poster’s background or knowledge to be are certainly in the realm of insults. Please refrain. [/QUOTE] I apologise to you and to **Triple Tee**. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/166 "2007-11-07T14:34:21Z")
[QUOTE=TripleTee] For YOUR information, I am fully aware that Greenaway and Cook wrote the Coke jingle. [/QUOTE] And so am I. And so were many people at the time, and so was everyone in the industry. But earlier you wrote that the writers of the Coke song were ‘anonymous’. Can you now agree with me that you used the word ‘anonymous’ incorrectly, or inappropriately? Or are you using a definition of ‘anonymous’ that is somewhat unusual? ---
**Author:** ![TripleTee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac8455/32.png) [@TripleTee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TripleTee)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/167 "2007-11-07T14:51:24Z")
[QUOTE=ianzin] And so am I. And so were many people at the time, and so was everyone in the industry. But earlier you wrote that the writers of the Coke song were ‘anonymous’. Can you now agree with me that you used the word ‘anonymous’ incorrectly, or inappropriately? Or are you using a definition of ‘anonymous’ that is somewhat unusual? [/QUOTE] I was using anonymous in the sense that the writers are not known by the general public. I suppose I could have used another word. Unknown writers I suppose. I didn’t expect my word choice to upset anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/168 "2007-11-07T17:45:32Z")
If nobody under (I’m guessing) 40 has heard the song, and nobody remembers who wrote it, how is it “as enduring” as the works of the Beatles? ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/169 "2007-11-07T17:48:37Z")
This thread appears to have turned into a “the beatles are crap” “no they’re not” contest. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/170 "2007-11-07T17:53:02Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] And here I liked you… 🙂 I’ve never read Thomas Wolfe–we spent time on Joyce and Faulkner in HS (among others). I “missed” out on Milton, too. superfluous–apparently I can’t spell. [/QUOTE] Believe me, you missed nothing by not studying Milton. My Freshman Year English Lit teacher was a delightful, witty lady. She was also a Milton scholar. After a lecture about _Paradise Lost_, I’d apply myself to The Great Work. And I could\* not \* see the attraction. Robert Graves did a wonderful hatchet job on the old grouch in [Wife To Mr Milton](http://www.amazon.com/Wife-Mr-Milton-Story-Powell/dp/0140010246/ref=sr_1_1/103-5197758-6337457?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194457868&sr=8-1). ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/171 "2007-11-07T17:54:56Z")
[QUOTE=Illuminatiprimus] And I agree with _Star Wars_, it’s a B-movie that was succesful. All those people who whaled on the prequels for being travesties and besmirching the honour of the originals needed to get a life big time. [/QUOTE] I agree that _Star Wars_, by any decent measure, should be classified as just a pretty darn good movie. Personally, I railed against the prequels not for anything like you said, but just because they were stupid, dumb, and not fun. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/172 "2007-11-07T17:57:54Z")
[QUOTE=Roadfood] I agree that _Star Wars_, by any decent measure, should be classified as just a pretty darn good movie. Personally, I railed against the prequels not for anything like you said, but just because they were stupid, dumb, and not fun. [/QUOTE] But… but… but… I mean, come on, Jar Jar Binks! You gotta think he’s cool! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/173 "2007-11-07T17:59:29Z")
[QUOTE=Illuminatiprimus] This thread appears to have turned into a “the beatles are crap” “no they’re not” contest. [/QUOTE] Gee , whodathunkit? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/174 "2007-11-07T18:00:03Z")
[QUOTE=VarlosZ] Seriously, though, I think most of the things that people are mentioning in this thread are awesome. Whatever it is that causes every critic in the world to universally praise a given movie, book, or whatever, I’ve got it. My favorite movie is _The Godfather II_. My favorite band is the Beatles. My favorite book is . . . I don’t know, but I love _The Great Gatsby_. [/QUOTE] Wow, I was reading through this thread ready to name _Gatsby_ as belonging here. I read it a few years ago (as an adult). Talk about a snooze-fest. Holy crap, nothing happens, nothing, absolutely nothing at all, for pages and pages. And then when something finally does happen, it isn’t even spelled out (yeah, I know, that’s “great writing”. Sure it is.). I read it in a creative writing class, and the teacher tried to explain why it was a great book. Ooo, Gatsby is such a tragic character, ooo. I read a one-dimensional character who I couldn’t bring myself to care about if I was paid. Total waste of paper. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/175 "2007-11-07T18:17:29Z")
[QUOTE=Bootis] Bach, I find him to be predictable and repetetive. _The Bible_ is very repetetive and predictable _the Illiad_ , _Shawshank Redemption_ , the TV show _Becker_ are all fairly predictable [/QUOTE] To be fair, _The Illiad_ is predictable because 95% of literature that came after it rips it off in one way or another. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/176 "2007-11-07T18:24:02Z")
Really, people, is it that hard for the entire board to spell Iliad? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/177 "2007-11-07T19:03:45Z")
[QUOTE=denquixote] The Boswell Sisters [/QUOTE] I’m not so sure I’d call them overrated, since every other girl trio of their day tried to sound just like them. (The rest of you can try remembering girl harmonies in Fleischer and Warner Bros cartoons of the 30s to know what we’re talking about.) Connee could really sing, too, and had that Courageous Because She’s In A Wheelchair thing going for her. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/178 "2007-11-07T19:13:45Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] I’m not so sure I’d call them overrated, since every other girl trio of their day tried to sound just like them. (The rest of you can try remembering girl harmonies in Fleischer and Warner Bros cartoons of the 30s to know what we’re talking about.) [/quote] How does that prove that they weren’t overrated? If anything, that just means they were more highly-rated, regardless of whether or not they actually deserved it. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/179 "2007-11-07T22:09:55Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] How does that prove that they weren’t overrated? If anything, that just means they were more highly-rated, regardless of whether or not they actually deserved it. [/QUOTE] They were commercially successful, highly regarded, and extremely influential at the time. Dismissing the Boswell Sisters, who created one of the signature sounds of the 30s, as overrated today, with their records removed from their context, is historic revisionism. It is the same with Shakespeare, the Beatles, and Chaucer; at the time they blew people away. Yeah, these days the Beatles are seen as adequate musicians who wrote musical pabulum, but if you were there when they hit, and could compare their sound with their contemporaries’ in 1963, you could understand why some people would disagree with claims they were overrated. I wouldn’t call the Boswell Sisters overrated for another reason: only a handful of people today know who they were, and most of them probably post here. It’s like calling a restaurant in rural Manitoba overrated–most people would say, “So what?” ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276/180 "2007-11-07T22:50:19Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > They were commercially successful, highly regarded, and extremely influential at the time. Dismissing the Boswell Sisters, who created one of the signature sounds of the 30s, as overrated today, with their records removed from their context, is historic revisionism. Not if it’s true that they were overrated in the 1930s. Of course, you won’t convince me, since I have no idea who they were and I don’t give a rat’s flying arse about any music from the 1930s that wasn’t jazz. > [@dropzone](#): > > you could understand why some people would disagree with claims they were overrated. I _am_ one of those people, so I actually understand it quite well, thank you. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-are-considered-classics-but-which-you-think-are-highly-overrated/425276.md?page=10)