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

[KnockMeDown]

..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

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?

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

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.

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

Doctor Who is happening right now.

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

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.

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

Leader of the free world? 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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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?

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.

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 every last one. Best most scarey programme of my childhood!

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