Perhaps Andy Warhol Was Wrong, For a Fascinating Variety of Reasons[Updated with new wrongness!]
Andy Warhol famously predicted that in the future, everyone would be
famous for fifteen minutes. Now that the future is already here, there
are those who beg to differ with Andy, and for a fascinating variety of
reasons!
In his novel
Rant
(2007),
Chuck Palahniuk suggests that "Andy Warhol was wrong. In the
future, people won't be famous for fifteen minutes. No, in the future,
everyone will sit next to someone famous for at least fifteen minutes."
Movie
critic Frank Schneck posits that the word should be
film, not
fame: "
Andy Warhol was wrong. It's not just that
everyone is going to have 15 minutes of fame. In the not-so-distant
future, every person on the planet is going to have a film made about
him or her" (
Hollywood Reporter,
2000). Others seem to agree, in a roundabout way:
"
Andy Warhol was wrong. Today it seems that
anyone can parlay their 15
minutes of fame into 15 cable episodes, with an option for a second
season."
—"It's Unreal How Easily Reality Shows Pop Up,"
Rocky
Mountain Daily News, July 20, 2002
"
Andy Warhol was wrong. Everyone's not going to be famous for 15
minutes; instead, we will all have our own talk shows."
—"Ex-Dancer,
Ex-First Son Tries a New Career: Talk Show Host,"
Buffalo News, Aug.
16, 1991
Then there are those who argue that the 15 minutes are recurring:
"The couple who wrote and performed the
theme to the 1970s TV series "Happy Days" are on a media blitz in
Colorado Springs this weekend, proving that Andy Warhol was wrong. Not
only will everyone in the world get 15 minutes of fame, they'll get
another 15 minutes when the nostalgia factor kicks in a couple of
decades later."
—"These Days Are Happy for Couple," The Gazette, March 6, 1997
"Andy Warhol was wrong ... People don't want
15 minutes of fame in their lifetime. They want it every night."
—"Pseudo's
Josh Harris," BusinessWeek,
Jan. 26, 2000
"Andy Warhol was wrong. With the release of the
film, Factory Girl, he and his 'superstars' are about to get another 15
minutes of fame."
—"Straight to the Point," Daily Mail, Sept. 27, 2006
"As it turns out,
Andy Warhol was wrong: not everybody will be famous for 15 minutes. But
with bad prospects and a good agent, those who once were can now extend
the clock thanks to unprecedented TV demands for the vaguely familiar."
—Vinay Menon, "More Dancing with Quasi-Celebs," Toronto Star, March 19, 2007
Not
fame, but Hitler:
"Andy Warhol
was wrong. In the future, everyone will be Hitler for 15 minutes."
—"Originality
is the First Casualty of War," Austin
American-Statesman, April 1, 1999
"Andy Warhol got it
wrong. It's not fame everyone will have in the future; It's a chance to
scream at someone else on TV."
—"Clinton Vs. Dole About Ratings, Not
Discourse," Witicha Eagle,
March 11, 2003
Not fame, but privacy:
"Andy Warhol was wrong. The wild-eyed artist
boldly proclaimed that in the future everyone would have 15 minutes of
fame. Warhol's fortune-telling skills were nowhere as visionary as his
art. Warhol should have predicted with the explosion of reality
television that in the future everyone will have 15 minutes of privacy."
—"One Day, We'll Beg for Privacy," Fresno Bee, Aug. 3, 2000
Not fame, but
Colorado citizenship:
"Andy
Warhol was wrong. It turned out we were all from Colorado."
—Barry
Fagin, "Montel Williams and Me," Independence
Institute, Nov. 1, 2000
Fame, yes, but in the past,
not in the future:
"Andy Warhol
was wrong. Everybody already has been famous––some time last week. It
just depends on who’s telling it and who’s listening."
—"The
Remembering Game," Depot Town Rag,
Sept. 1990
Fame, yes, but not 15 minutes exactly:
"The culture-shock doctor explained that
science had discovered that Andy Warhol was wrong about fame; He had the
right idea, but his figures were off."
—"The Sting of Cable
Backlash," Miami Herald, Oct.
9, 1983
"'Andy Warhol was wrong,' Neal Gabler said. 'He was right
when he said everyone will be famous, but wrong about the 15 minutes.'"
—Marjorie Kaufman, "Seeking the Roots of a Celebrity Society," New York Times, Dec. 11, 1994
"Andy
Warhol got it wrong by 12 minutes. People have three minutes of fame;
long enough to walk down a catwalk and back."
—Guardian, July 7,
2002
"Warhol was wrong ... cos he was 10 minutes off; it's really
five minutes now."
—"Meat Loaf Criticises Academic 'Laziness,'"
TVNZ, March 9, 2010
Fame, yes, but for more like 15
seconds:
"Andy Warhol was wrong.
Everyone can be famous these days, all right, but the renown lasts more
like 15 seconds, not minutes."
—"Smile! You're Part of a Video
Society," Greensboro News and Record,
May 20, 1990
"Andy Warhol was wrong when he said that everyone
would have 15 minutes of fame; extras can look forward to having only
seconds of movie glory."
—"12 Hours' Extra Work for a Brief Moment
of Glory," Derby Evening Telegraph,
Nov. 9, 2006
"[A cuckoo clock bird speaking:] Andy Warhol was
wrong; I only get 15 seconds of fame."
—Mike Peters, "Mother Goose
and Grimm," July 27, 2005
"Andy Warhol was wrong. In my case, at
least, fame clocked in at only 6:42 minutes, and that was before the
final cut."
—Wilborn Hampton Lead, "Confessions of a Soap Opera
Extra," New York Times, Dec.
31, 1989
"Andy Warhol was wrong when he said that everyone will
enjoy their fifteen minutes of fame. The time frame he referred to might
one day be measured in seconds."
—Warren Adler, "The Dividing Line,"
Aug. 10, 2009
Fame, yes, but for more than 15 minutes:
"Andy Warhol was wrong. You can be famous
for a lot longer than 15 minutes, if you're clever enough."
—"Oliver's
Brand of Revitalisation," Marketing
Week, April 7, 2005
"'We were sure that Andy Warhol was
wrong, that it would last more than 15 minutes,' says Hilary Jay.'"
—"Maximal
Art and Its Rise from the Ashes," Philadelphia
Inquirer, July 25, 1993
"When it comes to the Super Bowl,
Andy Warhol was wrong. Its cast of characters has been famous for 25
years, and will be 25 years from now."
—"Simply the Best," Denver Post, Jan. 27, 1991
"Andy
Warhol was wrong. Long after the buzzer sounded on Mark Fuhrman's 15
minutes of fame, he just won't go away."
—"Fuhrman Overstaying His
Welcome," June 10, 2001
"Andy Warhol was wrong: sometimes you do
get more than 15 minutes of fame, even if you're not Greg Louganis."
—National Review, Dec. 10, 2004
"Andy
Warhol was wrong. Not everyone gets 15 minutes of fame. Many people get
more than that. Like Dr. Bernie Dahl."
—The Nashua Telegraph, Dec. 3, 2000
"Andy Warhol
was wrong. In the Ultimate universe we’ve got more than 15 minutes."
—"Hack
Meets Hacker," Aspen Magazine,
Midsummer 1996
"Andy Warhol was wrong … you can have 45 minutes
of fame, not just 15!"
—"Invitation to Present at the OTM SIG
Conference in June 2009," Dec. 22, 2008
"Andy Warhol was wrong in
my case; my fifteen minutes of fame have been more like three hours."
—Ken
Eichele, My Best Day in Golf:
Celebrity Stories of the Game They Love, 2003
"Andy Warhol
was wrong; I was a hero for at least fifteen hours."
—Gene GeRue,
"Tomato Madness," Dec. 17, 2006
"Andy Warhol was wrong. People
aren't famous for fifteen minutes; they're famous forever."
—Arthur
Black, Black & White and Read All
Over, 2004
Fame, yes, but "in" 15 minutes, not "for"
15 minutes:
"Andy Warhol was
wrong, when he predicted that in the future, people would become famous
for 15 minutes. This is the future. Now people become famous in 15
minutes. Take Duran Duran."
—Ethlie Ann Vare, "New Echoes of Duran
Duran," New York Times, Nov.
24, 1985
Fame, yes, but without measure:
"Andy Warhol was wrong. In the future,
everyone will not be famous for 15 minutes. Everyone will just be
famous."
—"Cooking Up Celebrity Storm," Boston Globe, Jan. 21, 2000
"Andy Warhol was
wrong. No one Is famous for just 15 minutes. These days you get to be
famous whenever you feel like it. Just like everyone else."
—"Now,
Everyone is Famous! Who Knew?" Associated
Press, July 16, 1999
"'Andy Warhol was wrong,' says
Newman, who completed his trek in 1987. 'If I wanted to be boring, I
could live on this for the rest of my life."
—"Book Lists
Sometime-Dubious Firsts," Dallas
Morning News, July 31, 1988
"Andy Warhol was wrong about
one thing: His own 'fifteen minutes of fame' have never ended."
—Barnes
& Noble, review of Andy Warhol
Treasures, 2009
"In the internet age, bad headlines no
longer go away and Andy Warhol was wrong about his fifteen minutes of
fame. If you are infamous now, you are infamous forever."
—Peter
Walsh, "Curtis Warren: the Celebrity Drug Baron," Telegraph, Oct. 7, 2009
The
opposite of fame:
"Milwaukee
futurist David Zach says Andy Warhol was wrong: We aren't going to get
that 15 minutes of fame after all. 'It's just the opposite,' Zach says."
—Tim Nelson, "The Skinny," St.
Paul Pioneer Press, Aug. 27, 1998
"I think Andy Warhol got
it wrong: in the future, so many people are going to become famous that
one day everybody will end up being anonymous for 15 minutes."
—Shepard
Fairey, Swindle #8, 2006
"Andy Warhol was wrong. Most of us will
never come close to being famous—even for 15 minutes."
—"Stepping
into the Spotlight," Wall Street
Journal, Nov. 8, 1999
Fifteen, yes, but not minutes:
"Andy Warhol was wrong: not everyone
deserves 15 minutes of fame. Some people deserve 160 words of
recognition ..."
—"Unsung Heroes," What
Magazine, Jan. 1, 2004
"Andy Warhol was wrong: for 15
minutes, everybody gets to be a starting quarterback for The Saints."
—"Tyson
Still Has Issues," Atlanta Journal,
Oct. 16, 1998
"Andy Warhol was wrong: in the future, everyone
won't be famous for 15 minutes, but everyone will have their own Web
site."
—"Book Review: The Non-Designer's Web Book," Information Management Journal, July
1, 1999
"Andy Warhol was wrong. We've all had our 15 minutes, now
we all want a mini-series!"
—"Boy First Believed On Runaway Balloon
Found After Frantic Search," New York
Post, Oct. 16, 2009
"Andy Warhol was wrong. Everyone won't
just have 15 minutes of fame. One day—soon, I suspect—we all will have
our very own talk shows."
—Linda L.S. Schulte, "Word's Worth,"
Baltimore Sun, Jan. 31, 1996
Fame, yes, but perhaps 30
minutes:
"There are times in life
when you just hope that Andy Warhol was wrong and that a merciful God
will grant you a second 15 minutes of fame."
—"Confessions of an
Embarrassed Viagra Expert," University
Wire, Sept. 24, 1998
Just plain wrong:
"The endless parade of disposable rock bands,
special-effects movies, potboiler thriller novels and TV sitcoms makes
me think that Andy Warhol was wrong."
—"Longtime Newsweek Art Critic
Peter Plagens is Also a Painter," Newsweek,
April 25, 2002
"A TV producer played by Joe Mantegna muses that
Andy Warhol was wrong about everybody being famous for 15 minutes."
—"Allen's
'Celebrity' Witty, Wicked But Shallow," Wichita Eagle, Dec. 9, 1998
"Andy Warhol was
wrong - everyone does NOT have their 15 minutes of fame and the
overwhelming majority of You're a Star hopefuls would have told him
that."
—"The Fame Game's Just Not Worth It," The Mirror, Aug. 25, 2006
"Andy
Warhol was wrong. When you’re a Vanderbilt running back, you’re not
famous for 15 minutes."
—Anthony Lane, Nashville City Paper, Nov. 5, 2004
"My main
conclusion: Andy Warhol was wrong—we won't all get 15 minutes of fame."
—"Using
the Internet to Examine Patterns of Foreign Coverage," Nieman Reports, Sept. 22, 2004
"Warhol was wrong! He neglected to factor in the 15 minutes of one's own
alter-egos."
—"Warhol was Wrong," GenderFun.com, May 29, 2009
"Warhol was wrong. The message is clear: we do not want your 15 minutes
of fame, you can shove it."
—Alix Sharkey, "Saturday Night: The Techno Ice-Cream Van is on its Way,"
The Independent, June 26, 1993
