Lost Heroes

I remember laying on the floor of my grandma's house, running my hands through the shag rug as I flipped the pages of LIFE magazine. LIFE magazine was really a neat magazine. It was larger than normal magazines with bright huge pictures. I remember staring at the picture from the ticker-tape parade for the Apollo 11 astronauts for what felt like hours. Here were men who defied the odds and landed on the moon. Men of solid character that we stood behind and as a country opened our arms and embraced.

My Grandma told me at the time that if I worked hard enough, I too could be a hero like them. It gave me a chance to dream and though I grew up far from being an Astronaut at least I had role-models and for a while, as I played in the yard, I relived the landing and I was an astronaut.

 Maybe it is childhood fantasy but it really put the notion that good always triumphs. Since then as I grew into an adult nothing ever gave me that same sort of hope. Nothing quite brought me back to that young man playing in the yard. I really grew to appreciate ordinary people who managed extraordinary feats.

But times change and as the years passed so to did the time of heroes. The world is smaller now with the advent of technology, and there still seems to be an appalling absence of heroes in the world. I would like to think there is still room for these extraordinary people in the world, but all the evidence points to the contrary. I suspect I am not alone in noticing this. I believe the success of all the comic books turned movies are a direct reflection of us fulfilling a need we might not even understand we have.

 It is pure speculation on my part but I think people want to be taken care of and there is a sense of security knowing these great people are running around solving the worlds problems. People who have the courage and integrity to follow their ideals and see them through. Men and women of great conviction that fight the good fight.

I am not saying there are not great people in the world. There are so many great minds, great speakers and talented people that we know of, it is impossible to not consider all of the other great people who are sitting and writing blogs, or curing diseases, or any number of other equally great things that will never get recognized. People who do little things daily that make the world a better place. These people are surely heroes in their own right but will remain largely anonymous.

Where are the people who could move a nation to tears with words? People who fought for equality and humanity. Men and women who stuck to their convictions and could see beyond today and dream of a future. We need the Martin Luther Kings, JFK's and Reagan's of the world. If you can not call these people heroes then surely you can acknowledge them for role-models. People we can point to as parents and say "you would be doing alright if you followed in his or her footsteps." I do try to be that person for my son, but I want him to follow the examples of people greater than me. When he is in the yard playing I want him to be more than a network engineer. I want him to be so great, perhaps he will be my hero.

In losing our role models we have lost the good part of ourselves. Our children are left to idolize people with questionable intentions. Do you really want them following the Lohan's on the world?

And what about athletes? We have become so forgiving of people with money I think we have come to expect the let down so it is no surprise when a "great" player is discovered to be on steroids. We are immune when we are told that some famous QB might have raped some waitress. We shrug and wonder what sort of year they will have? Knowing that with enough money thrown at the problem, it will go away. The Babe Ruth's and Johnny Unitas's are gone.

Our core values have been compromised. We used to celebrate things that were noble and now we seem bent on tearing these same ideals down. We eat up the personal lives of these people we call stars and drag things out of the past shadows, perhaps forgetting that they too are human and capable of mistakes. I think in this age of technology where we have so much information that it is irresponsible to report every shred of news that can possibly be squeezed out of a subject. Perhaps we should remember that maybe some of the best reporting is that which is not reported.

And Hollywood? Hollywood died when it needed to use scandal to drum up business because they ran out of ideas for movies Actors and Actresses should be ashamed at how they encourage the media and we should be ashamed for feeding them. Tell me, when they went to the Talent Agency for a part, was there an Agency to shoot the future "leaked" sex tape across the hall? When did it become sexy to show everything and leave nothing to the imagination. And talent? Again, when Hollywood had respect, the Stars were stars because they could sing, dance as well as act. They were not simply a pretty smile.

Obviously I am making blanketing statements when I know they don't include everyone. I know Hollywood still has its classy actors and deep meaningful scripts. My point is that none of these can overshadow the brand which Hollywood is marketing currently, so it is hard to identify someone of the current class of stars that I would consider worthy of role-model status. I am not expecting them to be saints but I wish I could point to someone who reminded me of Robert Montgomery or Martha Raye. Both had amazing lives, serving in the war and representing America by helping our troops as well as acting.

 As I father it is my deepest desire that my son becomes everything I will never be. I want for him to succeed in ways I never imagined and I sincerely hope he finds inspirational people who motivate and educate him. He will benefit from having the world at his fingertips and the vast amounts of knowledge at his disposal and it is my sincerest wish that he uses these tools with restraint. It is o.k. to not know everything and enjoy the journey of discovery. It is reasonable to not read what others have done before you but to find and forge your own path. And I hope in his journey that he can again find something lost and find his heroes. As I look around I suspect they will need them.

Can you name three people today you would tell your child is a hero?

 In conclusion, I imagine we must look at this in one of two ways. We either acknowledge that heroes exist and are distinguished by ability, courage, and conviction. Champions who move through life with grace and nobility and the fault lies in society for failing to truly rally behind these individuals and give them the credit they are due. Acknowledging them for more then 15 minutes of fame before they are overshadowed by the next big thing.

Or...

There is no room left in this age of convenience and information for the heroes of old and the years of great change are past. We are in a rut as a society and our morals have been compromised. We no longer expect great things from our role-models and in turn we have let our values slip. We have redefined what it means to be a hero and if they should be better than us, we will dig through their past until we can find a way to bring them down to our level, because at the end of the day, we really don't want heroes, we want fallible people who create distraction. These people will only ever be heroes in hindsight when we can look back and recognize them for contributions made after the lights of the media of died.

If this is then the case and heroes simply cannot exist because we are hell bent on destroying them then perhaps we need to look at our morals and what we are teaching or children.  

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