I pride myself on having friends who are pretty intelligent, not just in a academic sense but in a philosophical and worldly sense. Recently I earned my Eagle Scout rank. During a discussion for it, I was asked what the difference is between Hollywood hero's and everyday hero's. My response is that Hollywood hero's do what we think of as heroic things. While everyday hero's do what should be done, so basically hero's really don't exist.
Now, back to the first sentence above. A friend of mine, who when waxing philosophically and religiously, can easily trump me when she puts her mind to it. We were discussing the people who stopped Flight 93 from being used for terroristic gains. She surprised me when she said that it was all crap calling these people hero's because they were just doing what any normal person would. The more I thought about it, the more sense it made to me.
Hollywood has taken these people and made them into heroes with the phrase, "Lets roll." But are they really heroes? Yes, they saved us from a worse terrorist attack, but how does that make them any different from the person who saves a child from a bus? It doesn't. They are doing what is right, or expected of them, however you want to look at it. They just happen to either be at the right place at the right time, assess the situation faster, or are doing what they believe is right.
I believe most will say that I am slaying the definition of hero, but the definition of hero is, this brought to you by Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
1 a: a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability b: an illustrious warrior c: a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities d: one that shows great courage
2 a: the principal male character in a literary or dramatic work b: the central figure in an event, period, or movement
3plural usually heros : submarine 2
4: an object of extreme admiration and devotion : idol
A hero is a human construct basically, it is a mythical figure, it doesn't exist. Another defintion of hero is one that does what is deemed noble and right by their culture. However, if that is the case, then everyone is a hero. Because we do heroic things everyday. When you take the time to get to know someone and it saves them from killing themselves, that is heroic to the person you helped. Giving up a meeting to go watch your child play a baseball game is heroic. How so you ask? Because it is deemed right and noble to place family above work, at least by most society. And it is deemed noble to befriend someone when it ends up saving them. Heroes exist, but only in the human mind.
If the idea of hero did not exist, then the Flight 93 passengers would be looked on as a standard that has been set for those who love their country and their love of humanity. As much as I dislike humanity, and do not follow what I have laid out, it still is the case for everyone. Heroic things happen everyday (even though most don't do a heroic deed everday), maybe we just need to actually understand the defintion before we throw it around like so many frisbees. And take a step back to realize that heroes don't truly exist outside of the constructs of humans.
Your thoughts on this? Create a discussion, it is what this website is for.
Well-written blog. However, I don't completely agree with you on one little thing. I still think the people on Flight 93 were heroes because not everyone is willing to do what they did. Not everyone can summon up such bravery and kiss getting killed--sooner--to stop a terrorist attack. I don't think the same outcome would have arisen if the passengers were different people.
Just my thought. Still, it was a good blog entry.
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I understand where you're coming from. I understand the outcome could be different, but that doesn't necessarily equate to one group being more heroic than the other. If you're going to do, you're going to die. Most peoples reaction is based on animal instinct and they will fight for life. I think the passengers who fought back on that flight realized that they were going to die, so they decided to change the outcome, they didn't change it, but they didn't really fail either. Like I said, I dislike humanity, but I expect this from people. So the other flights didn't fight back, there could be a number of reasons, or they could have fought back, but it was repelled. We really don't know.
Glad you liked the blog though. And I appreciate your thoughts.
When I think of what a hero is I guess its kind of a combination of definition number 4, 1c, and 1d. I think you're absolutely right that anyone can be a hero. That's the beauty of it. An every day hero doesn't necessarily mean that its someone who does something that should be expected of them. Instead, an every day hero who comes out of the woodwork to do something great. Somewhere along the line an everyday hero became translated to run-of-the-mill hero, average hero, regular people doing regular things. To me it really means that its an everyday person who becomes a hero. We all have the potential to become a hero, but not everyone is willing to put someone else before themselves. The people of Flight 93 were everyday heroes, regular people who stood up and did something courageous. I don't think they should be portrayed as action stars, but they still deserve praise for making a difficult choice.
I agree with what you said about the people on Flight 93.