Remember when we used to have heroes? You know, those people you could look up to, admire, maybe even want to be a little like? And I’m not just referring to the really special iconic individuals like Martin Luther King Jr. or Mother Teresa. I’m talking about those day-to-day cultural heroes we’d hold dear, bring up at dinner, and maybe even hang up a picture of if we found them particularly inspiring.
Back in the ’70s, for example, I had a friend whose bedroom was adorned with a signed, framed picture of the Oakland A’s pitcher Rollie Fingers. And it wasn’t there just because my buddy was an A’s fanatic and someday wanted to play in the majors. He also treasured that pic because Fingers was an upstanding guy who sported, what my pal considered, the best handlebar mustache ever. A ‘stache like the one he someday hoped to grow himself. (Granted, that’s not the most heroic thing to aspire to, but it was better than selling dope.)
Sure, nowadays there are firemen or soldiers that we deservedly tip our cultural hats to once in a while. But isn’t that something of a rarity? Things have definitely swung in an unheroic direction, particularly in our entertainment culture. Television is dominated by a being known as the antihero. And most of the people in our current cultural high beams are far from being worthy of imitation. Our athletes can’t stop spouting their bling-worthiness long enough to realize that some kid might actually be watching and emulating their cheesy behavior. Standards have tumbled. Hey, in today’s world, kids are as likely to put the likes of Kim K. or Miley on the heroic pedestal. Oh, my.
Now some may say that’s a sign that we’ve “matured” as a society. We’ve “grown” out of a need for good people to look up to. I read an article recently that talked about how our society actually longs for lots of moral muddiness in our entertainment. We crave flawed protagonists in our TV shows and movies because we’re bright enough now to examine and appreciate the “true complexities of human nature.”
“Contemporary pop culture, going back into the past decade, is willing to explore so much more than it used to,” said Richard Greene, a professor of political science and philosophy at Weber State University. “Even in the most despicable character, people see a little bit of themselves. And if they don’t exactly see themselves, they see similar moral situations.”
I wonder if that’s true. Or are there other, shall we say, less erudite reasons that viewers gravitate to the more morally mucky amusements being offered. For that matter, are we really better off seeing “a little bit of ourselves” in despicable characters on the screen … or a little bit of them in us? Do we really want to give credence to some form of nastiness that lurks deep within us? Or should we be shooting higher?
If you want my two cents, I think we would all benefit if our cultural pendulum swung back a bit toward a more hero-friendly set of sensibilities. Even an unenlightened Neanderthal like myself can see that having a hero to look up to can be positive, especially for kids. Heroes convey worthy values. They strive for something bigger and better than themselves. And generally, they reflect the best society has to offer. They act as role models and shape those watching them through positive words and deeds. They even instill a bit of hope, in a way, making us feel a little better about the world in which we live. And couldn’t we all benefit from an extra splash or two of that?
So I say, go out and find a hero. Hug her. Lift him up for your kids. Yes, we’re all flawed, we all fail. But the striving for better is worth the risk. Start a new trend. Make it fun to be nice to the neighbors down the street. You know, like in that old TV show we all used to watch. Cheer for that teacher that goes the extra mile. This kind of mindset may not be as “complex” as today’s vogue musings, but I think it can once again be cool if we work at it hard enough. Sorta like growing a curly ‘stache.
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