I agree with Penko here regarding "why" the 747.
If I remember my PPL books correctly from all those years ago, the PIC of a Cessna 152 has the same responsibility as the PIC of a 747.
The reason why the 747 catches the imagination is because of its size. Come on guys, lets all agree that whilst flying is flying, and a plane is a plane is a plane, even though sitting on a 744 for 10 hours plus is boring, the fact that you ARE a 744 Pilot/Captain is a pretty cool thing to be.
Which is why in large legacy carriers that operate 744s, there will always be a seniority "list" to get there. I know a SIA 773 SFO who was offered the A380 but decided against it. He is barely over 30. Could end up being Captain on the 773 in a few years. So surely it is "cooler"to be a 32 year old 773 Captain rather than a 37 year old 744 Captain??
Why doesn't the 773 Captain get any special praise?