Where Are the Heroes? Part I
Where Are the Heroes? Part I
By: claycormany in Life in General
My friend, Alice Farnya, recently posted this sad comment on her Facebook page. “I am in mourning. No problem believing that Hollywood moguls are slimebags or that politicians prey on vulnerable staff. But Charlie Rose? The ultimate gentleman on camera? Are there no heroes anywhere? We are experiencing a culture shift in which women will finally be believed, but in which trust has disappeared.”
I can empathize with Alice’s dismay. I’ve been disappointed by some of my “heroes” too. First, there was Pete Rose. The all-time major league baseball hit leader was a model of determination, competitiveness, and athletic prowess. A home-grown Cincinnati kid, Rose played a key role in the Reds’ 1975 and 1976 World Series championships. He managed the Reds in the late 80s, and it was during that time he was found to have gambled on games in which he participated. A lifetime ban from major league baseball, including its hall of fame, followed.
Then came Lance Armstrong. I began to follow his exploits more closely as my interest in biking grew. With his much-publicized battle against testicular cancer as well as his triumphs in the Tour de France, Armstrong seemed a genuine hero. That is, until charges of using performance-enhancing drugs were leveled against him. Armstrong admitted that at least some of those charges were true, which led to him being stripped of his Tour de France titles.
Finally, there was Kevin Spacey. While I didn’t idolize him, I immensely enjoyed his performances as the fiendishly clever serial killer in Seven, the infatuated father in American Beauty, and the conniving math professor in 21. Off-camera, he came across as down to earth. One video clip of Spacey leaving the 2009 Sundance Film Festival shows him signing autographs for numerous fans before saying “Sorry guys, I gotta go.” Unfortunately, a flood of sexual misconduct accusations against Spacey strongly suggest that signing autographs wasn’t the only way the Hollywood star interacted with those around him.
Perhaps Alice made the same mistake with Charlie Rose that I made with Pete Rose, Lance Armstrong, and Kevin Spacey. Specifically, I assumed (or at least hoped) the positive qualities they displayed on screen, in athletic competition, and in other areas of public life paralleled similar qualities in their respective private lives. To put it another way, I wanted to believe that what I saw them do was a true reflection of who they are. Yet, in retrospect, that belief seems to be little more than wishful thinking. After all, the talent that makes someone a skilled athlete or actor has little to do with kindness, honesty, loyalty, self-sacrifice, or other qualities that make one a hero or even a decent human being. Moreover, people change with the passage of time or as their life circumstances undergo transformation. A hero today can become a scoundrel tomorrow or even a villain.
Consider the case of Lt. Randy Cunningham. As a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, he shot down five enemy planes, making him the Navy’s only ace during that conflict. Whatever one might think of that war, Cunningham’s courage, devotion to duty, and piloting skill make him a worthy candidate for heroism. Now consider the same man, years later, as a Congressman. Rep. Randy Cunningham was far from being a hero. In 2005, he received an eight-year prison sentence for receiving over $2 million in bribes and underreporting his taxable income.
As I bring this blog essay to a close, I realize while I may have shown why it isn’t wise to place the mantle of heroism on high-profile public figures, I have left Alice’s question unanswered. Are there no heroes anywhere? In Part II, I’ll do my best to answer that question.
Tags: Armstrong, Cunningham, heroes, Rose, Spacey
I have to start with those closest to me..those whose lives are interwoven with mine, knowing there may still be skeletons in the closet. So my parents are heroes. Immigrants from Poland which Pre-WWI held no promise of opportunity. They still did not get the education they craved, but through hard manual labor made sure that all 4 children got it. There must be many more like them.
That’s interesting, Alice. We are more likely to find genuine heroes closer to home or within our own families. I would like to believe that my great-grandfather, George Washington Cormany, was a hero. He fought for the North in the Civil War and apparently was wounded either at Stones River or Chattanooga. I don’t know too much about his life; he died in 1911 before my father was born. It’s possible that George was a very chivalrous, well-mannered gentleman. My father was and he tried to make me a “gentleman” too.