Time Magazine has a habit of making decisions or lists that pretty much just exist to drive you crazy-- what, did you already forget when they put a mirror on their Person of the Year issue and declared it was "you"? But today's list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World seems specially designed to push buttons, with choices that seem totally reasonable-- Barack Obama, Harvey Weinstein, Stephen Colbert, Warren Buffett, Princess Kate-- and then picks that are just a way to get someone famous on the list. It's most egregious when they include people in Hollywood, people whose names have been bandied about in the last year but who, thus far at least, are more "popular" than "influential." Here's the list of Hollywood people who made the list; see if you can figure out who I mean.
Asghar Farhadi
Harvey Weinstein
Claire Danes
Matt Lauer
Stephen Colbert
Listen, I like Viola Davis as much as anybody, and think she totally deserved to win the Oscar over Meryl Streep. But the fact that she didn't-- and that Harvey Weinstein is on that list partially because he made Meryl's win possible-- kind of speaks against her actual influence, no? Same goes for Jessica Chastain, who had a fantastic year as an actress and is obviously a major new talent, but thus far doesn't seem to be influencing anyone other than the many directors who cast her. Same for Claire Danes, whose performance on Homeland is terrific, but doesn't seem to have changed a lot of lives so far. And Tilda Swinton might be the coolest person on the planet, but if she were as influential as Time seems to think she is, the world might be even as fraction as cool as she is.
I can't argue with the rest of these choices-- though Matt Lauer seems a little fishy--since like those people or not, they're having an impact that goes beyond their awesome careers. But it just makes me wish Time would actually stick to the meaning of their list, and pick a few more people in the industry-- like indie savior producer Megan Ellison, or lightning rod Community creator Dan Harmon-- who are having an influence and not just a good year. Any other picks you guys wish had made the list?
