Scatterplot Artists

Here is a scatterplot of writers placed, very subjectively, by J. Chen at htmlgiant on scales of Mediocrity to Genius on the horizontal axis and Modesty to Arrogance on the vertical.  Some eclectic combinations along straight lines: Tom Wolfe, John Updike, T.S. Eliot, Jonathan Swift(?), and D.F. Wallace along a line of decreasing arrogance and increasing genius. He's also produced similar scatterplots for musicians: rappers and rockers (+Miles Davis?). For the writers, those that are Mediocre and Modest appear under-represented in his evaluation. Perhaps not surprising for writers, but check out his third quadrant for rappers.

This type of scatterplot is regularly published in the New York Magazine. Last year, the actress Meryl Streep was treated to a scatterplot that place her various movie roles on the axes from Cold to Warm and Frivolous to Serious.

And here's another from New York Magazine for Bruce Willis.

And in 2001 Newsweek magazine did the same for TV shows. For several years I referred to this in my lecture on scatterplots for Basic Statistics students. Of course, it's quite dated now. My current students were six years old when these shows were on TV!