In class, we attempt to wade through the multiplicity of definitions. Suggested:
- no alter-ego
- characterized by struggle
- start in poverty
Has anyone ever saved anybody's life?
Couple examples:
- pulled friend out of traffic, saved from reckless oncoming car
- saved young boy from sliding down pyramids
- interfered in domestic violence
- removed drunk girl from clutches of bad people, put her in cab
Kathleen's story:
- jumped in moving Volvo, applied brakes to stop it sliding downhill
Objections are raised, what about a quieter definition of everyday hero: teachers who change their students' lives, etc. We discuss the meaning of "everyday hero" with "accidental hero".
Accidental Hero
- element of chance
- lack of preparation
- lack of reward? (common theme in all heroism, rewards may be offered and may be accepted, but aren't the point of the act).
Kitty Genovese story brought up - why didn't a hero step forward to stop her murder?
Groupthink and sheep - does heroism require acting before thinking? We also discussed Rosa Parks, who was the one person in the crowd not willing to go along. Where was Kitty's Rosa Parks?
Talked a lot about Wesley Autry.
Laundry as Destiny:
Vince Carter as superhero? Shot of him in Olympics looking an awful lot like Spider-Man....
How about the man who organized MLK's civil rights on Washington? You never hear his name (and, in fact, I've already forgotten it and it was just mentioned thirty seconds ago in class).
What about the Guardian Angels? At what point does a power trip become the "reward" that a hero is supposed to eschew?
And what do you do with someone who doesn't want to be saved? The beginning of The Incredibles was mentioned by Kathleen - the guy who wants to kill himself, doesn't want to be saved, and sues the hero who saves his life.
Real life plays against archetypes. There's no template for dealing with the gray areas that life presents. Brightly-costumed archetypes slugging it out in a mountaintop retreat or hovering over the city is one thing, but life rarely presents in black and white. Human life operates almost exclusively in the grays.
Sometimes standing up to authority is an act of heroism:
This was a watershed moment in media - comedy becomes the new political voice. A third opinion is added, breaking the artificial duopoly of opinion. No longer the same network views, but Stewart is the coming of the Internet, the New Media, the moderates and the hard-to-contains.
"If you're going to tell the truth, you'd better make people laugh. Or they'll kill you." They thought he was going to be a goofball - they needed him to be a goofball - but he spoke instead the truth.
Words from the jester.
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