|
Holding out for a hero
he*ro \he - ro\ 1. a: a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent
endowed with great strength or ability b: an illustrious warrior c: a man
admired for his achievements and qualities d: one that shows great courage 2. a:
the principal male character in a literary or dramatic work b: the central
figure in an event or period
- definition from Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary I write about heroes (and for purposes of this blog, rather than the awkward term "heroines" I'll just lump the women into the category "heroes"). Luckily for me, people like to read about heroes. Let's look at a Greek definition (not quite Aristotle's but closer to my work, being a purely dramatic interpretation rather than a dictionary one): 1) usually comes from a royal or divine birth To me, that's a bit too restrictive, though I use elements of it. So on to my
own. Central to my concept of heroism is its voluntary nature and that sacrifice
be involved, and the overall result of the hero's stepping forward and
sacrificing himself serves mankind (and not in the Twilight Zone "it's a
cookbook!" sense). Just surviving a plane crash or an abusive relationship doesn't make one a hero; survival doesn't involve a choice. But let's say a woman with an abusive spouse puts her body in between her husband's fists and her children. Then she's a hero, she moved (making a conscious decision) to take the blows (sacrifice of her physical self) meant for her kids (in service of mankind). Madonna wants to be called Esther. I'm a bit appalled, because Esther is one of my favorite heroes in the Bible. Maybe Madonna gives a substantial portion of her income stream to charity, that would make her a limited hero in my book, but I wonder... Anyway, back to Esther. I find her story interesting because unlike Noah or Moses, there's no big, God-commands-her scene. Queen Esther chooses to reveal her faith to the King (who in the first chapter has already offed one problematic spouse), though it might mean her own destruction, at an opportune moment -- thus saving her people and her uncle Mordecai. In a device that a novelist might have come up with, she also sees the evil Haman swinging at the end of a gallows of his own devise. There seem to be a lot of anti-heroes running around nowadays (see Chronicles of Riddick). I like a few...John Wayne's Ethan in The Searchers, Gollum in LOTR, and Max in The Road Warrior are probably my favorites. Anti-heroes usually don't have the voluntary element (Hell Tanner in Zelazny's Damnation Alley comes to mind). They're often interesting but they just don't convince, I always get the feeling with anti-heroes that the betterment of mankind part came about by accident rather than choice (Gollum is a great example of this though I think Tolkien's point was that evil is self-destructive) -- though as the climax approached Max demanded to drive the truck at the end of Road Warrior. To me, most of the good in the world has come about thanks to good people making a conscious effort to do good, setting others above self (and yes, I believe in objective reality, and that good isn't a culturally-defined value). Mother Teresa wasn't getting rich off a child-prostitution ring and just happened to tend the sick and destitute for most of her life by chance. Alvin York would have lived a good, quiet life, happily turkey-hunting every fall, except for the fact that his country needed him. I think ultimately true heroes triumph at the box office, or on the bestseller lists (since the rest of the world seems to equate moneymaking with intrinsic value, I might as well go along with the flow). Let's look at the Hollywood list: 1 Titanic Dec 97 Paramount 600.8 Titanic has plenty of dollops of heroism (Rose leaves the safety of the lifeboat to find Jack, knowing there isn't enough space for all; Jack puts Rose on the headboard rather than himself, knowing he'll freeze to death). Star Wars is obvious. In ET though ET does the neat tricks, Elliott is the real hero. Jurassic Park is sort of a survival story, but loaded with incidents of risks being run to save others. "They say people don't believe in heroes anymore. Well damn them! You and me,
Max, we're gonna give them back their heroes!" |