History is riddled with people who don't deserve the notoriety we bestow upon them.
We've been led to believe things about people that just aren't true.
That's why we can't trust everything we read.
So much of history's "biography" is fashioned by what people only want you to know.
So let's get to some hard truths.
Humans can really suck.
Even the ones we revere.
Redditor reversechinlock wanted to have a discussion about the people we may be holding in too high a regard. So they asked everyone:
"Who is the most overrated person in history?"
I'd say most musicians are a good group to start with.
Where is He?
wheres waldo 90s GIFGiphy"Waldo. Why should anyone even care to search for him, he's done nothing. The fact that he's always hiding is probably because he's done something wrong. Plus that f**ker only has one shirt."
TwistedBlister
Bad Guy
"Henry Ford. In business, engineering, and manufacturing, he’s revered like a god. Professors like to gloss over his overwhelming anti-semitism. Ford wrote and published a wildly anti-Semitic newspaper, which were spread around the Ford Motors facilities. Those papers were republished in Germany and became incredibly popular with the Third Reich."
"Heinrich Himmler described Ford as 'one of our most valuable, important, and witty fighters.' Hitler praised Ford in Mein Kampf and referred to Ford as an 'inspiration.' The admiration went both ways, because Ford was a Nazi sympathizer to the highest degree, hosting Hitler’s representatives in his home and hobnobbing with Nazi officers."
"On his 75th birdthday, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the highest medal Nazi Germany could bestow on an American. But all anyone cares about are his f-ing assembly lines which he didn’t even invent. The assembly line idea actually came from Ransom E. Olds."
ContraltofDanger
Obsession
"Douglas Macarthur. Was obsessed with his legacy while being a far less capable leader than many of the other overlooked commanders in the Pacific theater. He spent thousands of lives in battles on islands that had little strategic significance, declared the battle for the Philippines over while intense fighting raged on, and was disliked by many serving under him. Go listen to/read Max Hastings' 'Retribution: The Battle for Japan' for a great deep dive into the Pacific War."
fushiao
Evil Empress
"Coco Chanel- I have recently found out she was apparently a Nazi agent who went under the code name 'Westminster'. She spent most of WW2 in Paris in the Ritz sleeping with Nazi officers and had direct contact to Himmler and Goebbels. She even insisted all Jewish directors of her brand be removed."
peachy-tree
Greedy
Streaming Live Music GIF by XinanimodelacraGiphy"Henry VIII. Let's be honest, all he did was strong arm the church so he could marry another woman the fat greedy sod."
Dynwynn
That Henry is a real disaster. It's amazing we still talk about him.
Ioannis
"Ioannis Metaxas. He was the leader of Greece from 1936 to1941. Most famous for not surrendering to fascist Italy during WW2. The only problem is that Metaxas was a fascist dictator himself."
Dinosaur_from_1998
Oh my Fawkes!
"Guy Fawkes."
"He was a minor cog in a conspiracy that he didn't even know all that much about. He was tasked with a dead simple objective, and he failed. He gave up the names of all the co-conspirators that he knew about, but most of them operated on a much higher level than this chump, so they got off moslty scot-free. He had one job and he f**ked up three, basically. He doesn't deserve the pages that his story is written on in history books."
thetimujin
Not so motherly afterall.
"Mother Teresa believed the suffering of the poor was 'beautiful.'"
warmhandswarmheart
"She also let the sick people she 'helped' go without medicine to 'bring them closer to God.' Different story when she became sick though."
bats_and_glitter
"Oh yes. This is the perfect answer. She didn't heap anything. She was an evil woman. She believed suffering brought you closer to Jesus/God, so all her 'hospitals' didn't really help anyone. And she duped millions out of the rich to achieve this sick goal!"
twatchops
Genius?
the beatles dance GIF by US National ArchivesGiphy"John Lennon. Don't hurt me, I'm a big Beatles fan, but somebody had to say it."
Al-Anka
"George was the true genius."
We really put too many people up on pedastels.
