The Greatest Man in the World story
"The Greatest Man in the World" is the 17th and final installment of The American Short Story television anthology series produced by Learning in Focus and Sea Cliff Productions for the Public Broadcasting Service. This installment is based on the 1931 James Thurber short story of the same name. Synopsis: Reporters Ames Herbert and Mr. Smidgeon are covering the story of Jack Smirch attempting the first ever solo flight around the world. Jack, however, turns out to be an irreverent rascal with a criminal past. When he completes the flight and attains unanticipated levels of fame, politicians and journalists alike struggle to harness Jack for their various purposes. Jack resists all attempts to make him behave. He then falls out of a window and dies. It is implied that he was killed by the establishment because he refused to cooperate.
20 total · 1 choice · 11 major · 8 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| irreverence | choice | Jack Smurch was an ungovernable rascal who refused to obey any societal norms even when he became a celebrity. He ended up paying the ultimate price for his irreverence when he was unceremoniously defenestrated, or defenestrated himself. |
| coping with a loose cannon | major | Jack Smurch was such an unpredictable and ungovernable character that the various people who tried to control him had no choice but to govern him by force in the end. |
| coping with being famous | major | Jack Smurch did his stunt because he wanted to become famous. He anticipated "parties", "dough", and "broads". What he got was to be hounded by establishment figures who wanted to exploit his fame. |
| duty vs. conscience | major | Mr. Smidgeon, a newsman, struggled over whether to follow his editor's orders to make up lies to glorify Jack Smurch. |
| heroism | major | Jack Smurch was celebrated as a national hero after completing a harrowing nonstop flight around the world. Toward the conclusion of the story, Jack was laid to rest at Arlington Cemetery, a traditional final resting place of American patriots. |
| journalism | major | The story follows the two newsmen Ames Herbert and Mr. Smidgeon in their attempts to make a story about Jack's aeronautic daring-do. |
| mass media in society | major | The press built up Jack Smidgeon to be a great man who was worthy of public admiration. In reality he was a cantankerous character of ill-repute. Ames Herbert, a veteran newsman, had no qualms with the media deceiving the public in this manner. Ames' greener colleague, Mr. Smidgeon, saw it otherwise. |
| passion for flying machines | major | Jack Smurch was a stereotypically vehicle-obsessed young man. His father said the boy could fix anything at 16. Jack later became obsessed with airplanes. |
| professional politics | major | The latter part of the story follows politicians of the highest echelons, the president included, who tried to exploit Jack's fame for their own purposes. |
| recreational activity | major | Jack Smurch flew around the world in a biplane. [recreational aviation] |