Your National Treasures (Do you call them that?)

Cafe Society
21

In Japan it is tied to people who have the knowledge to perform the arts, crafts and practices that are considered to be unique to their culture and therefore worthy of preservation, and making sure they are being passed on to the future.

Some countries either protect their intangible cultural heritage or sign up to the UNESCO Intangible cultural Heritage List, and that may give practitioners a special status, but unsurprisingly that particular meaning is being corroded by people pursuing their 15 minutes via tikTok.

22

and @PatrickLondon

I knew nothing of this. I was hoping someone like @TokyoBayer could give us his perspective on this - on-site, as it were…

j

23

I’m not sure she’s hated more than loved, but the combination of people who hate her and are indifferent about her must far exceed those who love her. She is young as mentioned above, and time makes a National Treasure. Dolly Parton was occasionally controversial in the past but over the years she has shown she may be the nicest person who ever lived so she could get her cats declawed and it wouldn’t make much difference to people’s opinions.

I think Lucille Ball used to be in this category. People liked her. She shed worries about controversy several times in her career because people like her so much.

Are there any National Treasures who aren’t performers?

24

That’s hard simply because of the lack of exposure. It happens like with MLK Jr but it’s rare.

25

Good question. Back in the day, in the UK, Henry Cooper (“Our 'Enry”). Muhammad Ali - or was he too divisive?

Nelson Mandela was mentioned upthread I think.

j

26

I’ve talked about boxing with Britishers and Our 'Enry always comes up. They’re usually surprised I know anything about him aside from the time he knocked down Muhammed Ali.

27

My vote would go to folks like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and probably Allen Toussaint.

28

Ali was extremely divisive but he seemed to outlive his divisiveness. The last couple of decades of his life I do believe he reached national treasure status.

29

For an American National Treasure, I nominate Rita Moreno.

30

I was trying to think of the youngest nation/international treasure out there. I think:

Malala Yousafzai

31

Yesterday I called Sandra Bullock a national treasure. I thought I was copying someone, but can’t find the source.

32

Good call!

And Greta Thunberg maybe?

j

33

I thought about that. I feel like Malala is just way more important or “treasureable”.

34

Kip Thorne and John Archibald Wheeler. Maya Angelou. Jonas Salk. Bob Woodward.

You can’t have Porgy without Bess (Ella Fitzgerald), and I’d add Billy Holiday, Lena Horne, and Nina Simone to that list. Neko Case, Chris Cornell, Jack White (not only for his genius but for keeping traditional blues from disappearing by promoting artists who can’t get play with big music labels).

Stranger

35

I was trying to keep the choices to only the living but I would put Aretha near the top of the list.

36

My favorite scene from The Blues Brothers:

Stranger

37

As pre-empted by @Banksiaman Australia maintains a registry of National Living Treasures. The list is periodically updated and limited to 100 nominations

There are currently 69 listed, roughly evenly split between sports, arts, politics & humanities.

Of most interest are the two removed from the list whilst living:

  1. Ex Federal Court justice Marcus Enfield convicted and gaoled for perjury and perverting the course of justice relating to a A$77 speeding ticket
  2. Entertainer and sexual offender Rolf Harris.

We may be an ex-penal colony, but we have standards.

38

Good call.

I think you cannot just be good-great-amazing at your day-job, you really have to leverage that status towards a greater, inclusive good. Malala certainly did that. I don’t know anything about Taylor Swift, only know she is hugely talented and generous to her fan-base. Does she do anything in the broader world - speak out on racism, domestic violence, fund hospitals?

39

Maybe an international treasure, but much too obscure to be a national treasure of Germany. If you asked 100 people on the street, I doubt that more than five would have heard of him.

My list for German national treasures:

Loriot (Vicco von Bülow) - comedic actor, author and cartoonist universally loved and respected. There was a TV show a few years ago that did a poll about the most beloved German, and Loriot won.

Udo Jürgens - singer/songwriter and pianist, mostly working in the chanson and Schlager genre. Even people who normally hate Schlager (like me) respected him and his work, which often had groundbreaking social commentary. He wasn’t even German but Austrian, but beloved in the whole German speaking world (Germany, Austria and Switzerland).

From the sports world (football of course):

Franz Beckenbauer - the greatest football player Germany ever had, won the WC both as player and as coach. He was rather revered than loved (as his nickname “Kaiser” tells), but he was one of the greatest international stars Germany ever had. His legacy was tainted by financial scandals/corruption in his role as official, but nonetheless the legend lives on.

Uwe Seeler - another German football legend, but while Beckenbauer always was an artist whose achievements seemed effortless, Seeler was the guy next door type, the honest worker, the man of the people. This is exemplified by his nickname “Uns Uwe” (Our Uwe) in contrast to “Kaiser”. While Beckenbauer was revered, Seeler was deeply loved by always everyone.

ETA: I thought about a German expression for “national treasure” but can’t come up with one, though the concept exists.

40

Actually he was one of our borderline National Treasures (Overseas Division) - until he wasn’t.

j