# Without reading the thread, and without much thinking, name your top 3 pop culture heroes **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 2, 2021, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504 "2021-07-02T13:06:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2021, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/61 "2021-07-04T23:02:15Z")
My top 3 Black American Pop Culture Heroes Esther Rolle Diana Ross Michael Jackson ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2021, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/62 "2021-07-05T02:07:21Z")
I _have_ read the thread because after several days I’d only come up with one. However, the OP reminded me of the sports world. I don’t follow sports, but I do admire one particular figure for his off-court work. So my two choices are Lin-Manuel Miranda and LeBron James. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2021, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/63 "2021-07-05T19:10:37Z")
Carl Sagan Steven Spielberg Tom Hanks ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2021, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/64 "2021-07-05T19:30:00Z")
Tom Hanks Kareem Abdul Jabar Bruce Springsteen ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/65 "2021-07-06T19:23:09Z")
- Bill Watterson - Jon Stewart - John Oliver ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2021, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/66 "2021-07-07T13:22:33Z")
Terry Pratchett, Billy Bragg, Ursula Le Guin ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/67 "2021-07-08T01:16:20Z")
Carrie Fisher Douglas Adams Dolly Parton (Jees, that’d be a great dinner party!) Close runners-up: Terry Pratchett Bowie Arnold Schwarzenegger Audrey Hepburn ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/68 "2021-07-08T14:26:44Z")
I have one or dozens and dozens. So I’ll just offer up the one. Alecia Beth Moore (P!nk) I adore her. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/69 "2021-07-08T18:45:56Z")
Stan Lee, Charles M. Schulz, John Lennon ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/70 "2021-07-08T19:05:56Z")
Slash Henry Rollins Cal Ripken, Jr. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/71 "2021-07-08T19:07:15Z")
J.R.R. Tolkien Jeff Lynne George Lucas ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/72 "2021-07-08T19:15:13Z")
First three in my head: Neil Gaiman Terry Pratchett Joss Whedon But not Joss Whedon anymore, so strike him and add David Fincher ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/73 "2021-07-09T04:21:16Z")
Bill Nye Felicia Day Terry Pratchett ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/74 "2021-07-09T16:28:12Z")
Before reading the thread, Terry Pratchett and for some reason Robert Smith of the Cure were the names that popped into my head, but I couldn’t come up with a definite third. After reading the thread, Ursula Le Guin would take that spot. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2021, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/75 "2021-07-09T16:38:35Z")
Neko Case Christopher Lee Bruce Dickinson A few years ago I might have swapped one of these out for Joss Whedon. Now, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/76 "2021-07-10T00:11:43Z")
Haven’t read the thread. Brian Wilson, for who he was in the 60’s. Jeff Bridges. David Lindley. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/77 "2021-07-10T00:28:59Z")
My first thought was “People who stood up to the movie studios!” Like [Olivia de Havilland…](https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2088/) > Olivia de Havilland’s legal victory over Warner Brothers in 1943 set a new precedent for labor relations in Hollywood. Not an isolated piece of litigation, the resulting law now is referred to by her name. It was the culmination of long struggle for actors in the studio system for representation and fair treatment under the law. And these guys… **The Time Studio Ghibli Stood Up To Harvey Weinstein With A Katana** [Article here.](https://kotaku.com/the-time-studio-ghibli-stood-up-to-harvey-weinstein-wit-1823223914) And when I thought that I should round out my three with a musician, I immediately thought of Frank. No, not Stallone. [Zappa!](https://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/article/54127-five-reasons-to-love-frank-zappa/) ---
**Author:** ![Sooner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sooner/32/7875_2.png) [@Sooner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sooner)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/78 "2021-07-21T20:44:09Z")
Jiimmy Stewart Johnny Cash Magic Johnson ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2021, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/79 "2021-07-21T21:17:25Z")
Really depends on how you’re defining terms. Hero? Pop culture? The first 3 that come to mind are Jimmy Carter Malala Yousafzai X González ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2021, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504/80 "2021-07-22T19:41:41Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > **Do not read the other posts before posting, and please limit your list to just 3 names.** > > Authors, musicians, actors, sportsball players, reality TV stars, whatever. Name your top 3. > > It will be interesting to see if any Dopers match up 3 for 3. My first thought for “pop culture heroes” was to name _fictional_ heroes in pop culture, e.g., Spider-Man or something, but I gather that’s not what you mean. Also, define “heroes”… I’ll take that simply to mean, LIVING people I hold in high esteem, who do things I admire or enjoy that I cannot do myself but at some level, wish I could or would. In that case, off the top of my head, three such people: Jacob deGrom - elite baseball pitcher for the NY Mets Brandon Sanderson - prolific author of Fantasy/SF whose work I generally enjoy enormously Neil deGrasse Tyson - first living scientist and “science communicator” I can think of. If “heroes” included people who have passed on, the latter context would have a LOT more names from me… Stephen Jay Gould, Oliver Sacks, Carl Sagan, just to name a few. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-reading-the-thread-and-without-much-thinking-name-your-top-3-pop-culture-heroes/945504.md?page=3)