On July 21, 2003, the VH1 music station debuted its list of the "200
Greatest Pop Culture Icons." Among the real people and the actors
playing roles were several comic-book, cartoon, and cartoon-like
characters:

2) Superman
17) Mickey Mouse
21) The Simpsons
42) Fred Flintstone
60) Kermit & Miss Piggy
77) Bugs Bunny
104) Charlie Brown
118) E.T.
151) Spider-Man
154) Harry Potter
158) Batman
171) Scooby-Doo
176) Wonder Woman
192) Beavis & Butt-head
198) Cartman (from "South Park")

One can quibble with any list like this, of course. So let's have
some fun and do it.

If Batman isn't in the top 25 or 50, something is dreadfully wrong.
Why Charlie Brown and not Snoopy? What about other superheroes such
as the X-Men or the Hulk? Cartoon characters such as Doonesbury,
Pokémon, or Shrek? Anthropomorphic animals such as Lassie, King
Kong, or Moby-Dick? Creature features such as Frankenstein's
monster, Dracula, or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Advertising icons such
as Ronald McDonald, the Pillsbury Doughboy, or the Jolly Green
Giant? Literary lights such as Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, or James
Bond? And the whole DVD pack of Disney properties: Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh,
the Little Mermaid, or the Lion King?

How would I redo this list? Well, I'd make room for many of the
above characters by deleting such has-beens or never-weres as Molly
Ringwald, Bon Jovi, Burt Reynolds, Winona Ryder, Arsenio Hall, Axl
Rose, and Judge Judy. I'd move the Muppets much lower and get rid of
E.T., Fred Flintstone, Scooby-Doo, Beavis & Butt-head, and Cartman.
Starring in one TV show or movie does not a cultural icon make.

What, No Indians?

It's nice to see so many two-dimensional characters on the list. It
shows the continuing influence of comic books, comic strips, and
cartoons. Unfortunately, no one with more than a smidgen of Indian
blood made it. Tonto might have merited a spot, but only with the
Lone Ranger--and where was HE?

Neither the real nor romanticized version of Pocahontas appeared.
Nor did Sitting Bull, Geronimo, or Sacagawea. Nor did any modern-day
icon such as Leonard Peltier or the crying environmentalist "Indian"
(Iron Eyes Cody).

To be fair, the only non-celebrity historical figures deemed worthy
were Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, Neil Armstrong, and Bill Gates.
The only presidents present were John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton--no
Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelts, or Reagan. If stalwarts
such as Ben Franklin, Mark Twain, and Martin Luther King couldn't
beat out the likes of Susan Lucci, Joe Namath, and Liberace, I
wouldn't expect any Indians to.

Like most such efforts, this list obviously was compiled by people
with little sense of history. How do you rank, say, JFK Jr. (24),
who is famous for dying, ahead of his parents JFK (32) and Jackie
Onassis (47)? Without the mystique of Camelot, JFK Jr. would be
somewhere in the vicinity of Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Amy Carter, and
Millie the dog--in the top 1,000, if he were lucky.

At the top of the list, VH1 put Oprah Winfrey ahead of Superman.
Huh? Centuries from now, will people really remember a talk-show
host as well as they do Superman, Mickey Mouse, or no. 3 Elvis
Presley? I doubt it.

But I was glad to see John Wayne was only 54th, after Jerry Garcia of
the Grateful Dead. And Arnold Schwarzenegger was only 78th, after
Bugs Bunny. I'm betting these Indian foes, especially the ex-
Terminator, will be forgotten long before Mickey and Bugs are.

Rob Schmidt
Blue Corn Comics