What Happened to Our Heroes?

The first time I mentioned heroes in my blogs, was on September 11, 2011. I quoted Merriam Webster's use of the word "warrior" to describe a hero. The heroes celebrated that day had given their lives to save others. But attitudes change. Word usage changes. Some terms are expanded while others are watered down. Today, news media call politicians who wield nothing more than a pen, heroes. I disagree.

According to Dictionary.com a hero is:

1. a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character

2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has special achievements, abilities, or personal qualities and is regarded as a role model or ideal

Since the English word "hero" comes from the Greek word heros, which probably had an original meaning of "protector," I tend to see the hero as someone willing to risk his life for others, although he may incorporate the other definition as well. There are those people who run toward the gunfire and the flames, rather than away. They qualify as heroes in my lexicon. And I'm really grateful for those warriors: police officers, firemen, soldiers. They have a rare calling on their lives.

I guess what I'm thinking about as I write this may more correctly be Super Heroes -- fictitious, but nonetheless inspiring and worthy of admiration.

"Who was that masked man?"

Growing up with much less media available, my heroes were found in comic books (OK, graphic novels), black & white TV, movies -- notably in serial form. Superman and Wonder Woman were my favorite heroes. Followed closely by The Lone Ranger and Tonto. They were honest, fearless people of integrity. Our heroes were perfect. They didn't mess up. They didn't have fatal flaws. They were clean-cut, clean-shaven men (mostly) in neatly pressed clothes. Of course, there was always the secret identity.

In Westerns, the good guys mostly wore white hats and the bad guys wore black. Then there was Hopalong Cassidy. At least he rode a white horse. In any event the good guys were easily identified.

Not so today. We are asked repeatedly to identify with heroes and heroines that have shady pasts, who cut corners and violate laws to get the bad guy. True, they have a personal moral code which they mostly refuse to violate, but they cannot compare with the likes of Superman and the Lone Ranger. Let's face it, our early heroes were Boy Scouts. You could depend on them. They weren't going to suddenly do something evil, break our trust. Show up with five o'clock shadow.

In retrospect, perhaps our heroes can be better defined as vigilantes. Google defines vigilante as:

a member of a self-appointed group of citizens who undertake law enforcement in their community without legal authority, typically because the legal agencies are thought to be inadequate.

 According to the Claremont Journal, "Vigilante justice . . . is the 'actions of a single person or group of people who claim to enforce the law but lack the legal authority to do so.' Vigilantism itself is not illegal under U.S. law but involves actions that are oftentimes illegal." The article addresses citizen arrests as well. Check it out.

Stephen Amell

Most of those early heroes turned the bad guys over to the local law enforcement officers. But the masked men on TV today, like the Arrow--a true vigilante--kill bad guys. (They probably had it coming.) Although he did try to change his behavior after getting out of prison. Oliver Queen is a very dark character, but also sexy, so we can't look away.

Prison! The heroes of  my childhood NEVER were convicted of crimes. 

The heroes of today are deeply flawed. They are continually "messing up." They're supposed to be more like us. Far from perfect. But with time line changes, deaths of innocents, mass destruction of whole cities, not to mention alternate universes, they are getting in unimaginable trouble. 

I have my favorites, like the Arrow and the Flash, but now there is a plethora of new ones. Too many to keep following. And with all the crossover episodes, it's easy to get caught up. What started out as a male dominated arena, Wonder Woman notwithstanding, has grown to include many kick-ass women as well as out-of-the-closet gays. If you include Guardians of the Galaxy, trees and raccoons, too. Profane raccoons!

Now there, you see, my superheroes never swore! What is UP with that? Oh, yeah. Right. More like us flawed regular people. 

Perhaps these guys would more aptly be called Anti-heroes. According to the Reedsy blog,"the anti-hero is a protagonist who lacks some of the conventional attributes of a traditional hero — like courage or morality. While their actions are ultimately noble, they don’t always act for the right reasons."

Sound familiar? Take Captain Jack Sparrow, for instance. He kind of "fell" into doing the right thing.  Or Gregory House, the brilliant opioid-addicted physician who saved lives even while he crushed the hearts of those around him.

The lines are blurring more and more. I think this has a lot to do with the audience's willingness to tolerate vengeance. We can indulge our desire to see someone "getting even," while comfortably ensconced in our easy chair. I'm not going to list all the TV shows with that theme. You know them already. And the Avengers, who I love to watch in action on the big screen, while very popular, are by definition "out for revenge." Captain America, being from another time, retains true Hero qualities. But the others, even Fury himself, are willing to do whatever it takes, no matter how questionable, to stop the very bad guys. It's a moral dilemma, because we WANT the bad guys stopped.

To sum up, to NOT avenge a perceived wrong is counter intuitive to our human nature. According to Dictionary.com, the opposite of avenge is forgive. The true hero forgives the wrongs against themselves and instead brings the villain to justice.

The greatest hero of all time gave up His life so that I could have forgiveness. He did not avenge Himself on His enemies. He forgave them.

And on His team, I give you the Non Avengers. Superheroes who believe in forgiveness rather than revenge.