Loading ...Hero - it’s a nice boy notion that the real world’s gonna destroy.
- Steve Taylor
In the last couple of days I’ve seen two blog entries from totally unrelated blogs about “heroes”. Not the TV show, actual heroes. Our personal heroes. There’s another blog that brings up heroes too, but in a completely different way.
The first two blogs are beingfrugal.net and cpyu.org (you may have to scroll to the 3/4/2008 entry). The third (Quit Your Day Job) mentions a documentary about the lives of people who are attempting to make a living by dressing as superheroes on the streets of Hollywood for photos.
To quickly deal with the third entry here, it looks like an interesting movie. These people are basically pan-handling and there is something intriguing in seeing how they justify their life to themselves and others. It’s a bit more interesting to see that they’ve chosen superheroes - essentially savior figures - as their method of survival. How much of their character’s persona leak into their real life? Are they happy with their situation (it doesn’t appear so from the trailer)? Are they doing anything to escape that situation? Do they even see any of the options they have? It could be a moving story.
The other two blogs focus on personal heroes. People who inspire us. People whom we respect. I like what Walt says on his CPYU blog:
If you asked me to write down a list of my heroes I’d stumble a bit. I had heroes when I was a kid. … I suppose that as an adult I don’t often use the word hero. Instead, I talk about people that I respect and admire.
I’d agree with that (and actually, Walt is one of those people for me). It’s interesting that both of those blogs move away from the typical definition of a hero as someone to idolize.
Anyone who knows me knows I’m a fan of superhero stories. Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, and others are great reading/viewing, and (as with many fictional characters) can be inspiring and can teach some great lessons. They’re also great escape-ism. But they are fiction and ultimately are simply a figment of imagination. Many kids look to sports figures as their heroes. There is ample evidence (especially with the recent revelations of drugs in sports) of the failure of those athletes to be worthy of the title “hero”.
The lines of a song from the 80’s keep coming to mind: “Hero - it’s a nice boy notion that the real world’s gonna destroy” (Steve Taylor: “Hero” [see below*]). Earthly heroes will always fail.
Now, that’s not to say that there aren’t people to be looked up to - to be respected and admired. It’s just to be aware that people will fail so be sure you aren’t moving from admiration to worship or idolatry. (For what it’s worth, I believe the authors of those two blogs have that concept down.) As a parent, I think it’s extremely important to make that point to my kids. That’s not an issue yet for me — my kids are too young to have to deal with this — but it’s something that will, at some point, need to be taught.
*for those of you who thought this was going to be about the TV show “Heroes”, here’s a YouTube video that uses clips from the show against Steve Taylor’s song (and here are the lyrics):
Technorati Tags: heroes, cpyu, steve taylor, parenting
Let’s face it: this movie had a lot to live up to. The first two movies were unqualified successes by any measure. It could be (and has been) argued that 
Personally, my anticipation was as high as anyone’s. I couldn’t wait for the next installment. But then I heard the news: they were going to have two villains. My anticipation levels dropped a bit. From a writer’s perspective, the more primary characters you have, the more difficult it is to write a quality story that fits into two hours. It’s hard to fit that many relationships into that time with a deep sense of quality. Then I heard that the rumor was wrong—there weren’t two villains, there were three! My anticipation dropped like a rock. All I could picture was Batman and Robin, the film that almost single-handedly killed the super-hero movie.
So, did it meet my expectations? Sadly, no. But it didn’t miss by much, and that’s saying a lot. It wasn’t an improvement on the previous two films, but I still put it head-and-shoulders above most other movies of its type (especially sequels). It had the drama and character development I expect from Spider-Man films. It certainly had the top-notch effects. Lots of action, which was good, but they stumbled a little bit there; maybe it was my seat (I was forced to sit very close to the screen and off-center), but I had a hard time following all the action at times—especially during the first fight scene in the alley. I think they were using too many “hand-held” shots and tight framing for my taste. The same kind of thing that put me off in The Bourne Supremacy, though nowhere near the same levels.
Speaking of parallels, this trilogy nicely parallels the ’70s/’80s Superman films.
John Bubber (Andy Garcia) is the homeless guy who gives Bernie LaPlant (Hoffman) a ride back into the city and becomes the only person to learn the true story of the crash and Bernie’s role. When a million dollars is offered for an interview with the mysterious “Angel of Flight 104″, Bubber steps forward and takes Bernie’s place in the spotlight (and the money). The media turns him into a national celebrity and heroic inspiration to all, while Bernie is forced, through various circumstances, to watch the growth of the pretender’s legacy.