No, just the treatment and exploitation of the people in third world countries who get the minerals and such for Apple products.
Oh, I see. I mean, I feel as bad for those people as anyone. I really do. But does that really make someone’s life not matter?
Yeah, it truly is awful, but I doubt Jobs had much a say in the matter. 
It’s just how the world works unfortunately.
This isn’t one specific person, but one group of people I admire are firefighters.
^I agree 
Long list!
*Gandhi
*Marquis de Lafayette
*Alexander Hamilton
*George Washington
*Hillary Clinton
*Chuck Jones
*John Lasseter
*Buster Keaton
*Charlie Chaplin
*Orson Welles
*Abraham Lincoln
*Theodore Roosevelt
*Jesus Christ
*Sacagawea
*Abigail Adams
*Harriet Tubman
*J.K. Rowling
*Lady Diana
I LOVE that list e-j-e! I’ll make a new one when I’m not so plum tuckered out haha.
Thanks! I’m trying to think what it’d be like if they all went to the same party.
Long live Gangnam Style!
One recently-famous person I admire is South Korean rapper and music sensation, PSY.
Yes, I’m a fan of the man of a billion Youtube views, despite the many naysayers who complain that they’re sick of hearing his Gangnam Style, praying for his downfall, wishing the parody videos and TV appearances would end.
Why? Because this is a guy who loves what he does, and is fearless in his convictions.
Born Park Jae-sang into a rich family (his dad owns a conglomerate), PSY grew up with a love for music after seeing a performance of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. As a class clown, he entertained his classmates with lewd jokes, much to his teachers’ disapprovals.
He was supposed to study business administration at Boston University, but spent his tuition funds on instruments and computer programs instead. The aspring musician reached a low point in his life when he was arrested for marijuana possession and missed his grandfather’s funeral. After a brief stint at Berkley College of Music, he grew impatient and returned to South Korea without obtaining a degree from either institutions.
This is a man who’s not afraid to speak his mind. He was fined by the South Korean government for his first album, for “inappropriate content”. His subsequent albums generated no less controversy - a 2004 performance of a song by a South Korean rock band that criticised the United States and its military for their role in the Iraq War returned to haunt him 7 years later, for which he has since apologised.
But he was also humble and self-effacing. During his first appearance on a foreign network in Japan, PSY introduced himself to his Japanese fans with a sign that read “I’m a famous singer well-known for driving the audience wild in Korea, but here, today, I’m just a little chubby newcomer”.
His mega-hit music video, Gangnam Style - in which the chubby singer pranced about Gangnam in a blue blazer, skinny jeans, and bow tie - flooded Youtube and forums with memes and spin-offs. I, myself, discovered him and the song through a Tumblr entry from brony artist John Joseco. His shot to superstardom earned him guest appearances at Saturday Night Live, Ellen, MTV Music Awards, and even a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon.
When the Youtube video broke the one-billion-views record, he even said of his fans: “I can’t believe they didn’t get sick of it!” His satrical take on the rich elite of South Korea’s wealthiest district has singlehandedly rejuvenated the Korean “Hallyu” Wave, kickstarted his home country’s tourism industry, and has been appropriated by political and environmental activists like Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei and NGO Greenpeace for their campaigns.
But, despite his sudden rise to meteoric fame, he will always be known to his fans as the “Bizzare Singer” (his stage name is derived from the word “psycho”), a man who is not afraid to stick it to The Man and have a laugh at both their expenses. In a world of drop-dead gorgeous pop artists with no substance to their music (just think of how many popular songs are about rave parties and binge drinking nowadays), his unconventional voice is the one we really needed to hear.
Again and again and again.
I like Gangham Style, that song is amazing. And yes, Psy is talented. With this I agree.
It is fine to speak your mind. But I believe some of his more controversial talents are rude and tactless. Which is why I can’t admire him. But his contribution to music and talent can’t be ignored.
Yeah, controversy is a pretty thin line to walk. I find that people who swear or offend others just for the sake of it extremely annoying. For example, I just discovered that Sarah Silverman - who I’ve never heard of before Wreck-It-Ralph and whose character I absolutely adored - drops a lot of expletives on her Youtube videos and Facebook page, oftentimes just for the heck of it (although her recent political video on voting barriers is compellingly-presented).
I find those who are rude but have something important to say are those whom I admire more. Sacha Baron Cohen, for example, in Borat, was excellent because he played a character who revealed other people’s insecurities and prejudices. And I greatly admired him in that outing. Bruno, on the other hand, is such a repulsive character in his movie (sexually harrassing people like no sane gay person would), that I lost all empathy for him. I have yet to see The Ali G Show movie and The Dictator, but I’ve seen a few of his Ali G TV show episodes, which were kinda okay.
‘Clean’ funny guys like Gabriel Iglesias and Russell Peters are the ones who get the most laughs out of me, although a few ruder Eddie Murphy and Dave Chappelle stand-ups got me chuckling too.
Yeah, it can be a love-hate relationship. But when we get down to it, all great men have their vices.
I admire Charlie Chaplin so much. His talent and perseverance are admirable. But he is a man who had many relationships with under aged women. (Same is true with Gandhi) A great deal of the founding fathers owned slaves, despite admitting that it was a despicable business. Churchill was a racist. JFK was well known for his libido, despite being in a marriage. Dr. Seuss’ wife committed suicide, in part because of his affairs.
And I won’t even touch Woody Allen’s personal life. He is an intelligent and talented film maker, but dear lord, have you read about the drama and shame he’s brought to his family?
It’s an interesting topic. How great intelligent men and artists have done such immoral things.
Wow, remind me not to compete against you in a history quiz. Now I feel like going on a Wikipedia stroll!
Your “founding fathers owning slaves” statement reminded me of this excerpt from Horrible Histories The USA (one of the books in the series that I own, the rest being France and The Barmy British Empire):
"Did you know…?
Abraham Lincoln was ready to go to war to abolish slavery in the southern states of the USA, but he was still a racist. He wanted free blacks but he didn’t want equal blacks. He said…
I am not, and have never been, in favour of equality of white and black races. I am not, and never have been, in favour of letting Negroes have government posts or marry white people.
That’s nasty."
Was it the fact that he had many wives and affairs? Forgive my ignorance, I haven’t watched any of his films, although I did write about that scene where he cameo-ed Marshall McLuhan in Annie Hall for one of my Media Studies essays.
Don’t forget well-loved bad women like Queen “Bloody Mary” I, romanticised criminal Bonnie Parker (of Bonnie and Clyde) and man-eater Elizabeth Taylor.
Aristotle once said: “No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.” (Thanks Google!) 
Well I am a History major!
You should read into it, it’s interesting. Woody Allen lived with his girlfriend Mia Farrow. They adopted children together, and had their own. He also lived with children she adopted before previously meeting him. Allen and Farrow separated after she discovered that Allen was in possession of nude photos of her 20 year old adopted daughter Soon-Yi. Allen admitted that he cheated on Farrow with Soon.
Soon and Allen then married, and have been happily together for 15 years. Because of his relationship with his step daughter, his biological son hasn’t spoken to him for years.
I do hope however that you see more of his films. They are brilliant, especially Annie Hall and Midnight in Paris.
Aristotle was completely right. It seems that all great men have something off with them, particularly great artists. I’ll have to remember that quote! (My pet fish’s name is Aristotle, btw)
Wow, Allen’s affair certainly is scandalous. I mean, technically, Soon is not his biological offspring, but it still is strange (or I suppose, socially-unacceptable) to marry an adopted family member. And of course, extramarital affairs are a straight no-no, imho.
I love Paris as a city, so I was tempted to watch Midnight. I might give that and Hall a go.
It’s also really cool to name your fish after a Greek philosopher! That’s very… philosophical.
hehee thanks! Aristotle isn’t that smart of a fish though. I’ll put food in his tank, but he won’t eat it because he doesn’t see it?
It’s interesting, of that whole thing Allen said “I’m glad I got to go through life with one juicy scandal”. Affairs are horrible as it is, but his just is extra odd.
I can’t recommend Midnight enough, especially if you love Paris. The film is very poetic and enthralling.
Haha probably he didn’t crave the food as much as the real-life Aristotle’s student did for air. Wait, that’s Socrates. 
I’m only really interested in it cos’ of the dopey-looking Owen Wilson and the lovely Rachel McAdams. I’ll take your recommendation! On a sidenote, I once snuck into another cinema hall in a theatre in Sydney and I actually saw it playing. I watched for awhile, then I got bored and left! 
…
Yes, folks, she’s the voice of Timmy Turner.
One person I admire is the talented and versatile voice actress Tara Strong. I didn’t know of her existence until I Googled her after discovering she was the voice of Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Apparently, she’s the modern-day, female equivalent of the late Mel Blanc (who died on my birth year).
From movies (The Rugrats Movie, The Iron Giant, Spirited Away, Ice Age, Bolt) to TV shows (The Care Bears, The Powerpuff Girls, Histeria!, Codename: Kids Next Door, Filmore!, Teen Titans, Phineas And Ferb) to video games (Lego: Batman The Video Game, Rango, Rage, Batman: Arkham City) to shorts (Bravest Warriors, Thundercats: Butterfly Blues), chances are she’s probably breathed life into a character of at least entertainment entity you can remember from your childhood.
It also helps that she has a wicked sense of humour (she regularly trolls fans on her Twitter account) and is super supportive of the brony community.
She was practically the only reason I bought a copy of Lolipop Chainsaw (well, okay, there’s the hot cheerleader-killing-zombies aspect too). I’m still kicking myself for missing out on the Bronycon documentary funding on Kickstarter, I coulda got an autograph from her, Lauren Faust (another person I admire, who I’ll write about in another post) and John DeLancie of Star Trek.
It has a great cast! Wilson and McAdams, of course. But also Michael Sheen, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Marion Cotillard. And Tom Hiddleston as well, although it’s odd hearing him with an American Accent!
Ah yes, Miss. Strong is extremely talented, the range of characters she has is fantastic.
Well hey, TDIT, you reminded me of the fact that I am obsessed with voice actors. Like, really. I’m not even gonna name all the dudes and dudettes I admire when it concerns voice actors, 'cause I like too many of 'em, haha!
I never really heard much of Tara Strong’s voicework (I grew up in a place where everythin’s dubbed to Dutch, ya dig) except for her role as Twilight Sparkle but yeah, heard a lot of praise about her!
Also, I really admire the voice work in my favourite cartoon Regular Show. The voices sound really natural and not forced, especially in earlier seasons.
Michael Comet–he gave me a private tour of Pixar because I met him at the Kehoe Center in Shelby.
And also, Jack Black. Along with Owen Wilson and Steve Martin. All three starred in a movie called the Big Year.