"When the world begins to believe extraordinary things of an individual there is no telling where its extravagance will stop." Mackay. p 241. 'Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.'
****
I recently watched A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood.
The unique and pure soul that was Fred Rogers was played out very well by Tom Hanks.
The movie tells the tale of a jaded investigative journalist who has to cover Fred Rogers. His cynicism slowly gets chipped away as he comes to terms with his own inability to forgive his father mostly through the power of Rogers' angelic guidance. At first, he's reticent and defiant but by the end he's overcome finally letting those demons to be whisked away by angels.
I'm not here to critique the movie but to pull out one tiny exchange between the reporter Lloyd and his boss. Lloyd tries to explain to her that Rogers is too complex to be stripped down to 400 words. His boss quips 'this isn't Gorbachev' and to do as he's told.
This seemingly innocuous exchange served as a poignant point hitting me like a bolt.
It seems to me publications put a lot of effort into trying to turn non-heroes into heroes. The writers who create this image have to set aside the obvious flaws - and in some cases knowing full well the person isn't a hero - and present a false narrative for the reader.
No wonder some get so jaded and cynical.
What makes Gorbachev so much more complex or interesting than Rogers? That he's a politician? Big deal. Most politicians aren't half as interesting as believed and still more are just plain corrupted individuals who do what they have to do to survive in one of the most cut throat human activities we have in politics.
Imagine being a writer that has to make Justin Trudeau or Hillary Clinton a 'hero'.
It should be enough to make them to take a shower afterwards.
Instead of focusing so much energy into tuning people with questionable ethics and moral compasses into heroes, we can just plain accept the heroes who walk among us.
Therein lies the problem. How to glamorize a hero who doesn't work a job that keeps them in the limelight?
It's a challenge but tell you what.
It would be honourable writing and we'd all feel so much better with ourselves if we did.
You sense of cynicism will be neutralized by the feeling of writing about a person who really is a hero.
It may be boring but it's raw and real.
Mr. Rogers was truly an interesting man. He lead so many people to be a better version of themselves. To see outside their own existence.
It was Heidegger's Daesin in full play. 'I am please with my existence'. It helped discover a sense of being.
No wonder Lloyd found his way back.
Rogers gave him sense of dignity and humanity back.
That's something no false hero, no matter how hard one may try, can never do.
****
I recently watched A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood.
The unique and pure soul that was Fred Rogers was played out very well by Tom Hanks.
The movie tells the tale of a jaded investigative journalist who has to cover Fred Rogers. His cynicism slowly gets chipped away as he comes to terms with his own inability to forgive his father mostly through the power of Rogers' angelic guidance. At first, he's reticent and defiant but by the end he's overcome finally letting those demons to be whisked away by angels.
I'm not here to critique the movie but to pull out one tiny exchange between the reporter Lloyd and his boss. Lloyd tries to explain to her that Rogers is too complex to be stripped down to 400 words. His boss quips 'this isn't Gorbachev' and to do as he's told.
This seemingly innocuous exchange served as a poignant point hitting me like a bolt.
It seems to me publications put a lot of effort into trying to turn non-heroes into heroes. The writers who create this image have to set aside the obvious flaws - and in some cases knowing full well the person isn't a hero - and present a false narrative for the reader.
No wonder some get so jaded and cynical.
What makes Gorbachev so much more complex or interesting than Rogers? That he's a politician? Big deal. Most politicians aren't half as interesting as believed and still more are just plain corrupted individuals who do what they have to do to survive in one of the most cut throat human activities we have in politics.
Imagine being a writer that has to make Justin Trudeau or Hillary Clinton a 'hero'.
It should be enough to make them to take a shower afterwards.
Instead of focusing so much energy into tuning people with questionable ethics and moral compasses into heroes, we can just plain accept the heroes who walk among us.
Therein lies the problem. How to glamorize a hero who doesn't work a job that keeps them in the limelight?
It's a challenge but tell you what.
It would be honourable writing and we'd all feel so much better with ourselves if we did.
You sense of cynicism will be neutralized by the feeling of writing about a person who really is a hero.
It may be boring but it's raw and real.
Mr. Rogers was truly an interesting man. He lead so many people to be a better version of themselves. To see outside their own existence.
It was Heidegger's Daesin in full play. 'I am please with my existence'. It helped discover a sense of being.
No wonder Lloyd found his way back.
Rogers gave him sense of dignity and humanity back.
That's something no false hero, no matter how hard one may try, can never do.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Mysterious and anonymous comments as well as those laced with cyanide and ad hominen attacks will be deleted. Thank you for your attention, chumps.