My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

AIBU?

..to be a tad surprised that JFK....

122 replies

KnockMeDown · 22/11/2013 20:49

..is being totally eclipsed by Dr Who?

Both 50 year anniversaries. One a TV show, albeit a classic, long running, etc.... The other the assassination of the leader of the free world, a pivotal moment in history Hmm

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Dr Who - in particular David Tennant, and have already set tomorrow night's show to record, but the sheer disproportion of the coverage and interest just seems odd to me. Am I the only one?

OP posts:
Report
SingySongy · 22/11/2013 20:50

It's all actually about One Direction now though isn't it... Wink

Report
MrsTerryPratchett · 22/11/2013 20:50

I live in the free world, I never voted for him. Why on earth do we refer to American Presidents that way? I for one an glad that Dr Who is still getting a look in. I say that as someone who respects and admires most of what JFK did.

Report
TEEARDIS · 22/11/2013 20:51

Most people don't care what happened last week. Never mind 50 years ago.

Doctor Who is happening right now.

Report
NoArmaniNoPunani · 22/11/2013 20:53

Is that why MN has the tardis thing? I had no idea.

Report
meditrina · 22/11/2013 20:54

I suppose JFK is as relevant as Alec Doudglas-Hume or Harold Macmillan - the politics of 50 years ago.

But Doctor Who is a continuing drama, and what will come tomorrow is new.

Tardis

Report
ILetHimKeep20Quid · 22/11/2013 20:55

Loads on discovery etc about it. How much do you want?

Report
PeppiNephrine · 22/11/2013 21:08

Leader of the free world? Hmm not my leader at any point, and stupid phrase anyway, nonsensical.
Dr Who is more interesting, its been running FOR 50 years, rather than a single event 50 years ago, which has been talked about since. Whats new to say about JFK? It's not relevant to anyone now.

Report
ILetHimKeep20Quid · 22/11/2013 21:17

I'm more interested in Jackie O. How the fuck do you get over your husband being shot right next to you.

Report
Mimishimi · 23/11/2013 06:59

Leader of the free world until you piss the bankers off and then they knock you off ...

Report
sOODdragon · 23/11/2013 07:00

I'm not American so JFK is pretty irrelevant to me.

Report
MrsDavidBowie · 23/11/2013 07:02

So much has been written/filmed about Kennedy over the years.

I thought he was a man with the morals of a sewer rat, his father was odious as was his brother Edward.
In fact a very unpleasant family.

Yes, not nice for Jackie at all.

Report
Jaynebxl · 23/11/2013 07:05

Funny because I was wondering yesterday why radio 2 were making such a big thing about JFK when CS Lewis, who died on that same day, barely got a mention. And all that Dr stuff is everywhere.

Report
BeckAndCall · 23/11/2013 07:05

There been JFK stuff on all week - there was one day where DH watched one programme, taped another and then watched another on plus 1- so three programmes on at the same time!

Lots of big American stars have made programmes that have been aired this week - Rob Lowe, George Clooney and Kevin Spacey being the 3 I've noticed.

And yesterday, when I turned on to listen to Simon mayo on radio 2 , he wasnt on because Jeremy Vine was doing a special on JFK ( that annoyed me - I like Simon mayo's show!)

So really, just on that brief overview, I don't think the JFK anniversary is being eclipsed at all

Report
BeckAndCall · 23/11/2013 07:06

And no one even mentioned it would have been Benajmen Brittens 100th birthday yesterday......

Report
Meh84 · 23/11/2013 07:09

KnockMeDown I agree.

Me personally, I couldn't give a rats bollock about Doctor Who, I tried to watch it but it's not for me.

But I too cannot see how a TV programme can over shadow such a historical event. I've seen one thing about JFK and that was the film....maybe I'm not looking hard enough.

Report
OrlandoWoolf · 23/11/2013 07:16

CS Lewis died on the same day. That was a pub quiz question this week.

What did JFK actually achieve? Genuine question but I know he was not President for very long.

Report
Chippednailvarnish · 23/11/2013 07:27

At the risk of sounding pig ignorant, what was so special about him? People all say how shocking his death was, but I really don't understand why the media are so fascinated by him.

Report
Jaynebxl · 23/11/2013 07:41

Beckandcall BBs 100th was on the news quite a bit and was big here cos our ds sang in the school choir at a big celebration!

Report
OrlandoWoolf · 23/11/2013 07:43

Something to do with the handling of the Cuban missile crisis, his speeches to get people to do stuff for their country....

But he also made some mistakes apparently.

Report
LifeIsBetterInFlipFlops · 23/11/2013 07:45

Radio 4 has done loads of JFK, BB and CS Lewis.

Report
sashh · 23/11/2013 07:48

Dr Who was a big part of my childhood.

JFK was assassinated before I was born.

a) Dr who more relevant to more people
b) just how many times can you show the Zapruder film and Walter Cronkite making an announcement? I watched a 1 hour documentary about just the announcement and the lead up to it and the confusion and when exactly to announce the death.
c) I'd be happy for an 8 year old to watch Dr who, not so JFK being shot or LHO being shot therefore bigger audience for Dr Who
d) there is loads more footage of Dr who - see point b
e) in a couple of years the CIA / FBI files on LHO will be available and it will all be shown again
f) Dr who is only on BBC and possibly Dave, JFK programmes are all over different channels.

YANBU to wonder though. I nearly posted "AIBU to be more excited about Dr Who than JFK?

Report
HarryStottle · 23/11/2013 07:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

Damnautocorrect · 23/11/2013 08:02

I do wonder if the reason he's held on a pedestal is because he never got to fuck up like every politician does eventually.

Report
daisychain01 · 23/11/2013 08:07

Isn't the "what did JFK do" "why should I care?" situation similar to the recent controversy about the young women who dressed up in fancy dress as The TwinTowers?

Those devastating events mean different things to different people - the bombing of the TTs had zero significance to those women, similarly if you weren't born in the 60s or don't live in US, JFK being assassinated may just seem like "just another event in history ".

All the same, both TTs and JFK were shocking events, and the ripple effects around the world are felt to this very day (when do we ever see a world leader in an unprotected open topped convertible these days? When your journey through international airport security takes you an extra hour or more, why do you think that is? )

As for Doctor Who(s), love 'em all Grin every last one. Best most scarey programme of my childhood!

Report
sOODdragon · 23/11/2013 08:11

I think the World Trade Centre attack was far more shocking than JFK

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.