I love TV specials, especially ones that involve lists. (Yes, I’m funny that way.) Perhaps it’s the closure fiend in me that appreciates a good definitive ranking or it may just be all of those years growing up with Casey Kasem’s Top 40 — who knows!
Each year, Barbara Walters offers her own take on the 10 most fascinating people for the year – sometimes they make sense; other times, they seem to come out of nowhere. But no matter how many years I watch it, I always feel like the list doesn’t reflect who I would include. Last year, I ranted to my Facebook friends and shared with them my own list but THIS year, you get to suffer, too.
So it only seemed fair that I also INVITE you to join in the merriment when I posed this week’s Kuhnspiration blog question: Who would you feature in your own “10 Most Fascinated People of 2012″ TV special?
Have you thought about your choices for the year? I do hope that you’ll share your picks, too. Remember: this is my list, so I can put whoever the hell I want (as you can, too). So please, no whining about who did or didn’t make the cut. I have my own definition of “fascinating” as I’m sure you do, too. So without further delay…here we go!
10. Kate Middleton. The chick got married last year but she was everywhere in 2012. As the future Queen of England, she found herself quite busy — touring the world, representing the host country with her main squeeze at the Summer Olympics and giving people plenty of opportunities to ponder both her outfits and the status of her biological clock and baby-making desires. Poor thing. Talk about a walking spotlight. She has one built into her perfectly stylish stilettos, I’m sure.
9. Zombies. They were everywhere — books, TV, movies, music…embedded in our brain voluntarily though no doubt for the pure pleasure of devouring that zombie-obsessed brain later!
And if the growing popularity and surprisingly good ratings of the AMC hit “Walking Dead” indicate, we won’t be rid of these mind-gnawing mongrels anytime soon. And. That. Is. Okay. By. Me.
8. Ryan Murphy. Okay, you probably won’t find this talented producer, writer, TV innovator on other people’s lists this year BUT YOU SHOULD. He just may become this decade’s David Kelley with one big difference – all of HIS shows don’t feel or look like the same show. Armed with the challenge of keeping Fox’s “Glee” interesting despite most of its graduating class members being scattered across the country, Murphy has managed to introduce some new intriguing characters and still highlight old favorites. It hasn’t always worked this season though there have been a few standout episodes including one featuring not one, not two, not three…but FOUR break-ups in one hour-long episode. And though viewers were sad as hell as they watched, Murphy was still able to deliver an entertaining and poignant show. Let’s add to this existing show two new ones earning both critical acclaim and a fan following – “The New Normal,” a half-hour sitcom on NBC, and FX’s sophomore installment and completely haunting and addicting “American Horror Story,” and you’ve got one talented, and fascinating creator.
7. Whitney Houston. No one ever doubted her talent but she hadn’t really been on anyone’s mind lately. Then, one unbelievable news day and she became all that anyone talked about for months. In much the same way Amy Winehouse left following an all-too-soon, truly sad way to go, the iconic singer seemed to become more popular and revered after her early 2012 death. We knew the talent was still there but were saddened to see it get buried and lost deep under a long-time and ultimately, life-ending addiction. This was a tramautic year for music fans who saw so many of their favorites besides Houston depart – from Dick Clark, Don Cornelius, Davey Jones and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees to Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, Donna Summer, Run DMC’s Jam Master Jay, Etta James and The Band’s Levon Helm, and unfortunately, so many more. Whitney was just one more heartwrenching final note.
6. Mitt Romney. There are going to be some people surprised to see this guy on my list, particularly since there is an absence of the other guy… you know, the one that won, the one I actually voted for and have been behind since 2008. Again, this list is about fascinating — and it was fascinating to watch this guy running for the most important office in the land come up against his own party’s leadership and their lack of enthusiasm and backing at times. Sometimes his own mouth got himself in trouble. (We on the other side understand this only too well — we’ve got Vice President Joe Biden in our camp, remember?) Still, it was never a dull moment to watch his campaign unfold from waaaaay back over here and see how campaign progress and platforms changed on what felt like a daily basis sometimes. Which Romney would we see today, some late-night talk show hosts joked but there was some truth to the levity.
Separated at birth? I’ll let you be the judge. You must admit – he looks an awful lot like Lyle Waggoner of “Wonder Woman” fame.
As Election Day neared, I do believe we got closer to seeing the real Romney. I wonder now had he run a little bit closer to home and owned up to representing what he truly believed from the get-go — what appeared to be a more moderate mix of views — and worried less about pleasing more conservative factions in his party, if he would have been able to beat President Obama. Quite possibly. I was originally worried that Romney’s religious affiliation as a Mormon being somewhat unknown or understood by many Americans might hurt him, but I really don’t think it did and for that, I was relieved. I do believe someday there will be an openly atheist, Muslim, Buddhist or Jewish president but it will be a while probably, but I hate to see anyone unfairly treated because of their religious beliefs or lack of them. No, I wasn’t rooting for the guy, but I’d never want to see that happen and besides, for me, there were plenty of good reasons having nothing to do with infringing upon his freedoms that led me to vote against him. But it doesn’t change the fact that he was a fascinating dude to follow this year.
5. Justin Bieber. Disclaimer: I do not own one CD by Mr. Bieber nor have I downloaded anything from iTunes or viewed his concert film, seen him perform live (and with no intentions of changing this anytime soon)…so I would by all definitions of the word NOT be considered a fan. That being said, the world ate this kid up like he was chocolate-stuffed pizza all year! Whether it was what he was singing, what his hair looked like this week or who he was or wasn’t dating anymore, everyone was oozing Bieber Fever…still! Wait a second. I thought this kid was supposed to fade away by now. So if that’s the case, why is he still so popular? I just saw a headline last week that he was even the most searched celebrity online for 2012, so just running into news stories is apparently not enough. People are actually out there LOOKING for more of them, too! I don’t get it. I just don’t get his allure. He seems like an okay kid, a little awestruck with himself but nice enough, but his singing is nothing special, only a few of his songs the slightest bit memorable and his dancing does nothing for me. Don’t forget I watch all of the superstars over on “So You Think You Can Dance?” Now that’s dancing. But clearly the world disagrees with me. Hmm. Maybe I’m missing something. Oh well, I’ve got books to read and books to write, so I’ll just have to miss the ferry for that one.
4. Christian Grey, et al. Nope, Grey’s not a real person but a fictional character from the best-selling Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy but I haven’t seen this much fervor about the casting of a character for the big screen since the selection of the young actors to bring Harry Potter to life many years ago. Unlike that casting, I find myself caught up in this cinematic frenzy myself. This year, people began following movie producers’ every move to get one step closer to finding out who is going to write it, who is going to direct it, and of course, topmost on the minds of a predominantly female reader fan base, who will play the dangerously sexy object of their affection. I could have listed the book’s author E.L. James like Barbara Walters will and Entertainment Weekly already has, and it would certainly make sense, but let’s remember that the title of this list is not the BEST people of 2012, the SMARTEST people of 2012 or the most LIFE-CHANGING people of 2012. The word is “fascinating,” people. And it is this character that has completely captured the attention, hearts and minds of readers across the world, and this year demonstrated just how deep that infatuation lies with book-inspired product sales and social media melee over movie production and casting news (legitimate or otherwise) with no signs of waning anytime soon. Unless they take too damn long to cast the part. Oh, and if you want to know who this writer thinks should play the part, ahem, it’s this fella right here. One Mr. Henry Cavill…and you’re welcome.
Another fascinating development stemming from this Grey infatuation has been the transition of these readers to other contemporary romance as well as erotica authors as they continue their quest to uncover other intriguing characters and dream lovers among the pages. Female readers especially are starting fan pages and Twitter handles for their favorite characters and leading in-depth story discussions online and in book clubs about everything, including dialogue, character drive and motivation and fantasy casting for these other beloved characters not yet destined for the big screen. These range from the similarly intense and complex Gideon Cross (Bared to You/Reflected in You, Sylvia Day) and Professor Gabriel Emerson (Gabriel’s Inferno/Gabriel’s Rapture, Sylvain Reynard) to the charming bad boy (is he or isn’t he?) Travis Maddox (Beautiful Disaster , Jamie McGuire) and Cash and Nash Davenport (Down to You , M. Leighton) to the nice guy with just a little bit of an edge Will Hooper (Slammed/Point of Retreat, Colleen Hoover) and Lucas (Easy, Tammara Webber). If you are a woman and romance, lust and emotional connections to characters were requirements on your reading checklist this year, you probably have been introduced to every single one of these sexy men on the list and have read (and in most cases, RE-READ) these books. You will be happy to know (as am I) that nearly all of them will be back in 2013 sequels. Sigh.
3. The American Voter. And that means those of you who voted for that other guy (see #6 above), too. Thanks. That’s right, thanks. For coming out and doing your job. Not everyone expected you to do so, but I had faith that you would. It was mesmerizing all year to watch the various people who came out from the shadows to speak up about their candidates – sometimes people whose support you never expected to see thrown in a particular direction or words emerge out of some mouths that should have perhaps stayed behind their lips. (Yeah, that’s right, Donald Trump and Jack Welch – I’m talking to both of you.) But most fascinating was watching to see people rally behind their candidates and in some cases, major policy changes about everything from gay marriage to legalization of marijuana. All of the political “experts” thought they knew exactly what the American Voter would do on November 6, but many of them were quite surprised at the outcomes for various races and initiatives across the nation. I was just pleased to see so many people speak for themselves and come out to the polls. Good job making yourself heard, America – again, whatever your message was. It was heard – loud and clear.
2. Malala Yousafzai. One young girl may have changed the way many people view education and what it really means for other people across the world. The little girl from Pakistan could be voted Time Person of the Year, and it all started with an anonymous blog about wanting to go to school. Once she revealed her identity, her name and face and the reaction to her plea became synonymous with what is wrong in the world that a young girl not only can’t speak her dreams aloud but that they can be taken away with force and brutal violence. She was shot in the head for wanting to learn and telling other people this. No matter how many times I repeat that sentence in my head, it will never make sense that this is the same world that I live in and where I make my dorky, off-the-wall comments about anything and everything (as I am doing right now), and here is this brave, pensive young girl that gets nearly killed for stating what would make her happiest in her life. It’s such an important lesson for us all to be vocal and expressive about what we want because we have the right and the ability to do so. We must. For Malala.
And finally, the most fascinating person in 2012, according to moi…
1. Lucy Marie Kuhn. No, you haven’t heard of her yet but you will. Someday.
My little granddaughter was born early one Tuesday morning last month and has already mesmerized those around her. She truly is the most fascinating person of 2012…if you ask me.
I’d love to hear about your list, too. Do tell.
Have a wonderful rest of the weekend, and as always, thanks for reading.
Cheers to finding that daily spark in your life.
~Chris
Kuhn Stories 