I
feel strongly about the place of Heroes with a knowingness that the presence of
in contemporary culture. If I am being pop-psychology and the awareness of
confessional it is fair to say that I think PR practices have expedited.
the Hero is a role filled with relevance.
The primary difference between what
By Hero I mean the classical Hero of I will call a real-Hero and super-Hero is
myth; think Lawrence Olivier astride a that the super-Hero has a clear division
flying horse with the head of the Gorgon of the person and the persona, the actual
Medusa in his bum-bag. By way of an old and the heroic. There is a duality that is
copy of the Oxford Encyclopedia of the obvious, Batman fights crime and Bruce
Classical World, a Hero is more powerful Wayne attends parties. For the real-Hero
and more interesting than an ordinary the distinction is invisible, in fact when the
human and they are not gods. For my distinction is highlighted it can destroy or
intentions then a Hero is not only a role at least disrupt the Hero image.
model nor a remarkable brave person,
but a full character who is often built on Barack Obama is not a Hero, but the
the foundations of a real person. construction of a Hero image is happening
fast and as the person struggles to keep
The peculiarities of a Hero tell us a great up with the persona a mythical version
deal about the culture from which they of the US senator is what his supporters
sprang. Giving an image of the favoured are really consuming. He has a very
modes of behaviour and also the moral real dimension, political ambition and
qualities. The Hero then is a beacon or a private life that we no bits about, the
blueprint. fact that he is married for example. This
does not explain the response of large
How is that reflected today, do we live numbers of people across Europe,
in an un-Heroic age. There are examples including the media.
of people in recent history that may be
considered to fulfil the requirements Obama is relevant for two reasons, what
of a Hero. Consider Mother Theresa, a he represents actually and what he
highly mediated personality her Hero represents ideologically. The two overlap
image was built on the foundation of a and this is where real-Heroes live, Obama
real person. Her position relative to the is quickly becoming more powerful and
average person was outsider rather than interesting than ordinary people but still
central, admired rather than emulated. not a god.
Compare this to the impact that So we do not live in an un-Heroic age, rather
Hercules had on the ancient world, we live in an age when the mechanics of
Sparta and then later Rome had a the Hero image are so well understood that
culture which fundamentally relied on we approach the very idea with cynicism.
Herculean ideology, and Spartans even The military activities (heroics? antics?) of
told that they were descended from the Princes William and Harry are excellent
that son of Zeus. examples of Hero construction, an example
that has consumed the attention of Royalty
The Hero role in a broad cultural sense back into antiquity.
is often juveniles. Bright coloured outfits
and clear definitions of right and wrong The British media has generally and
relegate the comic book superhero to maybe unfairly been critical of the
childhood naivety. This misses the real Princes’ recent military exploits and yet
cultural value of comic book Heroes represent Obama in his star-spangled
and other fictive forms. The stories of Hero image. An article in the Guardian
‘obvious’ Heroes are as relevant today covering his UK visit in July made an
as they were when Homer recited his allusion to Julius Caesar and a reference
epic poems. to Jesus Christ.
Holding out
_By T
f
ery Sawyers
or a hero_
The super-Heroes of the comic books are Let me be clear the Hero image and
keenly reflective of wider cultural issues. role is artificial and to a limited extent
Different archetypes are played out can be constructed from the top down.
sometimes even by the same character The most powerful Heroes are not those
at different times. Batman has a wider created by spin and publicity but those
significance than simply the popcorn generated organically out of the needs
that someone eats when watching the of the society. Have Obama’s Hero
movies. Chris Nolan’s Batman movies credentials been built around him by
(Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) the culture he belongs to, or are they
are interesting as the characters in the publicity tricks. Probably a bit of both,
movies openly discuss the philosophical and if they continue to act invisible
mechanics of the Hero role, and the as ‘common sense’ he may just get a
methods with which to communicate constellation named after him.
them to the public. This suggests that
the contemporary Hero is constructed
Substance_30_
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