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myth: noun, from Greek
mythos, 18301. A popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or someone; especially: one embodying the ideals and institutions of a society or segment of society.2. An unfounded or false notion.It is hard to dismiss the fact that so much of our history is little more than myth. Crafted over time and retold many times to each new generation, such myths are too often inaccurate; yet they generally enhance or alter either someone’s place in history or the events surrounding a certain moment in time. Ultimately the myth acts as cultural shorthand; and retelling the story solidifies what we believe and admire about a person’s contributions to the history of a generation. Most myths are based on some fact. But most also tend to strip the story down to the (inspirational) teachable lesson – which is why America’s historical myths both oversimplify the person and often overstate his or her accomplishments.Promotional PandemoniumIn the entertainment field, think Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse. A struggling and onetime bankrupt artist’s do-or-die last attempt to achieve some sort of fame, the silent short "Steamboat Mickey" hit big in 1928, securing Disney’s place in history. But Disney couldn’t draw: Mickey Mouse was created by Ubbe Iwerks. Even the famous signature that opens each Disney Studios entertainment feature is not Walt Disney’s own. Oh, and Walt used to pound back a strong Scotch mist at the afternoon’s end; more than one author remembered his being so inebriated at the opening of Disneyland that he fell into the river on the steamboat’s maiden outing. None of this alters the fact that he was an American original and a true visionary of film.Likewise, it is widely believed that Brian Epstein hired the girls who showed up at JFK International and screamed uncontrollably as the Beatles arrived on their first US visit. Other historians have discovered that some girls were paid to perform the same screaming act during the Beatles’ appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.Again, neither reality alters what the myth says — both Walt Disney and the Beatles are remembered as 20th-century legends, and rightfully so. But what these facts do prove is that most of what we remember about legends is not what really happened in their lives. Most often what we "know" about legendary people resulted from situations that they (or their publicists) created – to make them appear to the public in an even more mythic light than their accomplishments warranted.Took Credit with a High HandA similarly false halo often crowns our automotive legends. Take Henry Ford: Most believe that he alone created the Model T and invented the moving assembly line – and for those two inventions he also gets credit for altering the 20th century. These common myths highlight the problem with the way we remember our history: It’s so sanitized and over-simplified that we mistakenly credit with greatness of action people who merely had great foresight.
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