The discussion from the first few days of class got me thinking. Heroes do play a very prevalent role in the culture our generation grew up in, and the culture we are experiencing now. The idea of a hero comes through to us in the form of movies, comics, TV, books, media, etc. Superheroes, local heroes, antiheroes, and even vigilantes have become the basis for huge blockbuster movies, comic book story lines, and books; even media, whether done ironically or not, has its tendency to make everyone a hero.
A common question is "Who is your hero?" I interpret that this question is asking about a "personal" hero aka who inspires me, what person is so grand and flawless that I could write a whole paper on them and aspire to be like them? My answer is that I don't have one person I could pin down as my hero but I could very easily label the my role model, motivator, or mentor. I think it's hard for me to label someone a hero in real life, because personally I find the term "hero" to be very revered.
The band AWOLNATION has a song called "Kill Your Heroes" This song alludes to the idea that heroes could potentially curb potential. The lyrics "I say you kill your heroes and fly"are extremely autonomous. AWOLNATION's idea is to disregard the standards set by your heroes and instead make your own. Aim higher than your hero, do all you can regardless of how or how well your heroic successors did. Kill your heroes and set the bar higher than them. (Now I understand that this idea is extreme and maybe even a bit pompous, but I found it extremely interesting to have a vision in which the hero isn't seen favorably. And not in the sense that the hero is corrupt or anything, just that maybe within yourself you have the capacity to become greater than those you've labeled as heroes.)
Now some clarification. I do enjoy hero and hero's journey narratives and stories very much. I like to read articles of real life heroes and find I find their actions brave, respectable, and yes, heroic. But the idea that I need a "personal" hero seems a bit silly and makes me feel reliant. Yes, I have those who I look up to, and people that I take inspiration from. But the idea of a hero is so prevalent and revered, I feel like I'll stick with my role models and mentors.
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Current blog for Coming of Age 2017
(Former blog for Hero's Journey 2016)
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I totally agree with what your saying in this post! Especially now when I'm doing college essays and I don't really have one "here" per say, but rather role models and mentors. Like I belive we as humans tend to make heros that embody the mold of a perfect being. However true in liturature, in real life, we risk disillussionment and having our hero in realy life turned into a myth or developing a mythic character in the bounds of your "real life hero".
ReplyDeleteps. ur blog theme is SO CUTE
Hmm I agree with you, but don't you think that if you were to choose a hero, they'd have the same ideals as you? The point of a hero is to have someone to look up to I guess - when you obtain the same status, they no longer are really your heroes anymore, but more like a well respected equal. From there, you can develop another personal hero, and continue from there.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I have no personal hero either. lol. Not that I don't look up to anyone, but like you said personal heroes kinda sound dumb to me. Just keep improving and be yourself - or if you're like me, have some basic "self-aspects" and have the rest of the world morph you.
Great post Leah! I really agree with you a lot. Throughout my life, I haven't just had one influence affecting me. I have had a number of people who have significantly impacted my life. I think that the idea of having a hero is more of a dream. Everybody wants to be able to say I had that one person who really inspired me. It's sort of like an expectation now. A lot of people expect you to have just that one person who made a huge impact on you life. However, from my personal experience, it's more of a bunch of influences coming together that help define who you are.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Adam. I also have many people that I look up to. We all know that no one is perfect which makes it very hard for me to choose one exact (real-life) person to label as a hero or role model. In this sense, the term “role model’ or “mentor” is preferable, as mentioned in this post, because of the implication that heroes are perfect (or very close to it). Thus, I believe that it is better to have multiple role models in my life because the more influence I receive, the more I learn which can help me become a better person. Thus, as Leah said, the idea that you have to have one hero does seem silly.
DeleteFirst off, I love AWOLNATION so I was super excited to see them mentioned in your blog. Ok, as for the rest of your post, I can totally relate to what you are saying. In today's society, our perceptions of heroes have changed and I think it's hard now to say that I have a "hero". For one, it only takes a couple of minutes to dig up the past of our heroes and discover something contrary to the hero definition. We could certainly find admirable traits in role models but that doesn't necessarily make them heroes.
ReplyDeleteI really like this post because it matches my ideas about personal heroes. All the same, I'd like to play devil's advocate for a second and say that isn't the term, "Personal Hero" almost the same in a sense as mentor and role model? In earlier times, it was easier to differentiate heroes from regular folk. Now, the line between being heroic and just simply doing what's right is much more blurry. Hero is a much more casual term; we say: "You're my hero" to individuals who simply help us with a task when we need it. So maybe society has leveled the status of a hero to no more than a mentor or role model because maybe we understand/ believe that true heroes we read/see in media aren't real/what they seem.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on having heroes but not calling them heroes. I feel like 'hero' is kind of an outdated term in today's time. Being a 'hero' seems like such a huge responsibility to take on, because for me, the term entails a super being who can do everything and be everything, so it doesn't feel right for me to call someone I merely admire and/or adore my hero. I usually admire special characteristics in a certain person that make me like the person as a whole, so I could find those traits heroic but the person would not necessarily be heroic.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you, and this idea of a "personal hero" is kind of a pet peeve for me. There are definitely people I look up to and respect, but I don't want to use their lives as a template for mine. Rather, as you say, we should treat them as role models, learn from their successes, and then apply that knowledge to improve our lives. It makes no sense to pick only one of the billions of people who have walked on Earth and try to follow in the footsteps exactly - there are just so many heroes to choose from that picking one limits your potential to learn from all the others.
ReplyDeleteAWOLNATION may or may not be riffing on an earlier song, with a similar theme, by Sonic Youth, called "Kill Yr Idols." It's a statement of artistic freedom, essentially, denouncing any effort to try and impress music critics (a sentiment that could be expanded to include all kinds of authority) and affirming the free spirit of innovation and novelty in music (or any art form). Sonic Youth--one of the most important innovative/avant-garde groups in rock history--clearly had influences and "idols" that shaped their music, but it was important for them to declare their creative independence early on.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting way to think about influence and originality--a necessary "rejection" of the "hero's" influence in favor of forging one's own identity.
I applaud your taste in music! But besides that point, I do find your take on heroes pretty interesting. I've never actually heard that particular song by AWOL but it sounds like something they would do XD. I definitely do feel like it isn't the worst idea to try to keep getting better, even better than the seemingly perfect heroes. And yah, why only choose one person to be your role model when there are so many good qualities out there?
ReplyDelete