Heroes and Celebrities

April 27, 2014

Heroes and Celebrity When looking up the definition of hero, I came across some slight variation. I looked up online the Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s (n.d) definition an is defined a hero as “a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability” and an” illustrious warrior, a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities, a man that shows great courage, the principal male character in a literary or dramatic work.” The online Oxford Dictionary (n.db) defines a hero as “A person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities: The chief male character in a book, play, or movie, who is typically identified with good qualities, and with whom the reader is expected to sympathize” Both sources cite the same definitions for heroines as well. The variations between the two online definitions is Merriam-Webster reefer’s to a hero as a mythological figure while Oxford simply refers to a hero as a person. When talking about a celebrity, some may confuse the definition of a celebrity with a hero, but the definition, according to Merriam-Webster is that a celebrity is the state of being famous or celebrated. This is not mention of outstanding achievements, quality of character, or displays of courage or is endowed with strength and abilities. Although the definitions don’t show the similarities, they do exist in our pop culture and the line between the two can become blurred. Today it is very hard to separate the concept of heroism and celebrity because we tend to call those the we admire and wish to be like our heroes. In today’s American culture, actors, actresses, and sports figures command huge salaries and have become famous and this type of celebrity has become the earmark of what qualifies as a hero because we want to be like them. Remember the ad slogan “Be like Mike” for Gatorade. Michael Jordon was every young boy’s hero when it came to basketball. But what made him a hero? It was how we perceived his celebrity status. Young basketball players aspired to play like Michael Jordon. Some could argue that his skills and abilities were extraordinary (the famous foul line dunk) that made him a hero to young players but to me, this only solidified his celebrity status, and should not elevate him to a heroic status. It is important for us as a society to have heroes because heroes help define the limits of our aspirations and also helps define our ideals by the type of heroes we choose. Ideas on what we consider courage, bravery, honor, and justice (LaBarge, n.d). This applies to real heroes as well as pop culture heroes. It is even more important in today’s society to try and help shape the choices of heroes, it becomes a sense of morality. In a poll of teenagers, more than half could not list a single real personal hero. More than half referred to pop culture heroes or celebrities (North, Bland, & Ellis, 2005). The latest trend is the cult of celebrity, in other words, being famous for being famous or for attaining celebrity status for no apparent reason. For example; Paris Hilton. What did she do that warranted her celebrity status? She is the granddaughter of Conrad Hilton who built the Hilton Hotels’ empire. She is a socialite, in other words, has money but doesn’t work. She claims to be an actress, but I haven’t seen any of her work, and she claims to be an entertainer. If she considers me laughing at her antics and behavior as entertainment, then OK, I’ll give her that one. In today’s society, young people would look at her behavior and would aspire to be her, her fashion, her looks, her seemingly never ending shopping sprees, it would be a dream come true. It is this fascination with celebrities that has degraded our moral sensibility in today’s society. We look at what they do, and say and we excuse it for no other reason than they are celebrities. Our children see this behavior and see that as a society we don’t hold them accountable to they in turn think its ok to behave that way. The fascination with celebrities has undermined our moral judgment of what is and is not acceptable in society. I will use this as an example: Pete Rose, one of the all-time best players in the MLB has been banned from the game for life for betting against his team. In today’s game, players are accused and found guilty of using recreational and performing enhanced drugs and they get a slap on the wrist and continue on. If a non-celebrity person were to be caught, you can guarantee some jail time. We do need heroes and celebrities in our culture because they do fill that place between reality and fantasy. They give us goals to aspire to and help establish our own ideas and personalities. Real heroes help define who we are and what we want to become. Real heroes do have to be “super’ they just need to inspire us. Pop culture heroes are way of escaping reality and fills that childhood fantasy of being the hero and saving the day. Both types of heroes can and do have an effect on us, our children especially because at their age, they are very impressionable. It is important that as a society we understand the differences between a hero and a celebrity.

References
Hero. (n.d). Retrieved April 25, 2014, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hero
Hero. (n.db). Retrieved April 25, 2014, from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/hero#hero
LaBarge, S. (n.d). Heroism: why heroes are important. Retrieved April 25, 2014, from Markkula Center of Applied Ethics: http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/ethicsoutlook/2005/heroes.html
North, A. C., Bland, V., & Ellis, N. (2005). Distinguishing heroes from celebrities. British Journal Of Psychology, 96(1), 39-52. doi:10.1348/000712604X15473
Rosenburg-Javors, I. (2008). Redefining Heroes. Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association, 35. Retrieved April 25, 2014, from http://0-web.b.ebscohost.com.olinkserver.franklin.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=116f49a9-8385-43c1-8285-675e2962283b%40sessionmgr110&vid=1&hid=118