What Ever Happened to the Heroes?

no, i'm not talking about the 5 seasons of the NBC sci-fi drama that started out strong and just didn't really know where it was going, i mean real life heroes. i recently heard a song by Joss Stone, aptly titled: What Ever Happened to the Heroes? now, it was included on the soundtrack for the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, so chances are it didn't get much play by anyone outside of only the most loyal of Marvelites (can i coin that phrase?), but when one puts deep thought into song lyrics (as i often do, to usually fruitless ends), it raises interesting questions. so in the second verse of the song, she starts naming off famous "heroes." Joe DiMaggio, MLK, Princess Di, etc. it used to be we had heroes like that, that stood up for something, where as now a days, (she says, though i don't totally disagree with her), its Kurt Cobain/take a pill for the pain, etc. now we can discuss all day about an over medicated society, but pharmaceutical juggernauts aside, she's kinda right. and granted, this song is at least a few years old, but still. i mean, John and Kate? The Kardashians? Snookie? i mean, these people have reached single name level icon status, for what? helping the poor? creating jobs? rescuing the economy? no, because they're on tv! and for whatever you wanna call "reality" tv, you need to realize, its really not real. what happens happens, but in the magic of editing, they can make it look like anything happened. thats just the way it is kids. you have to go back to the real world new orleans (the first one) to get the last real vestige of Reality tv. nowadays the real world is just pretty people filled with agression, dreams of being famous, and alcohol. (lots and lots of alcohol). it is statistically harder to get onto the real world than it is to get into harvard. i mean really? but anyways, as always i digress. back to the topic, Heroes. so these people are at the top of the popularity heap? i mean really? don't get me started on "musicians." i mean, you can argue that sampling is, in and of itself a musical artform, and i've met people who do tend to do that well, but i mean really, what happened to the beatles? what happened to elvis? what happened to queen, and the ramones, and the yardbirds? i mean, what happened to people playing real music on real instruments? Hendrix didn't play the guitar, he was that guitar. that was an extension of him, now i'm not saying that today's crop of "young talent" isn't talented, but one internet video does not a legend make. (rebecca black, justin bieber, etc.). sorry, HEROES.

why don't we have heroes any more? does it take money to be a hero, and since we're in such a bad economy, we can't have them? well, any die hard fans of JP Morgan and or Batman would say yes, but i disagree. and it's not that there aren't people out there with alot of money, i mean look at sports stars, they're "heroes" and they've got money. but i think it's something else.

this country was founded on having no money in your pocket and making something, or making something of yourself, so that can't be it. is it the politics? well, looking at the current state of people in the "ruling class" you might say that, yeah probably, and there i might have to agree with you. i mean, Roosevelt, Lincoln, Washington, all politicians, but in a time when politics was alot more boiled down, more real. today its all about constituencies, and party lines, and all this crap that just ends up impeding good ideas, and pushing through bad ones. flip floping to serve the moment rather than serving the country. it's terrible, and there are no plans to rectify it in the near future. so, we don't have political leaders as heroes any more, but not all great heroes are politicians, so politics can't be the only answer.

Hellen Keller was, to many a hero. now before you get all up in arms, i'm not gonna argue against something i just wrote. (though i'll admit i do that alot.). but she did something that almost all heroes have in common. she overcame. she was blind. she was deaf. she was a woman. (again, before you get up in arms, she comes from a different time and place than today's world, though i'd argue its still like that in some places). she over came what looked to most like insurmountable odds, and became a great speaker, leader, and of course, hero.

Jackie Robinson is looked on by most, and labeled, as a hero. he existed in a world of heroes, so why should his story be any different? because he was left out because of who he was as a person. he was a black man in what, at the time, was a white man's game/society/world. he over came that, and became a hero to many in the black community, and many black athletes today.

Theodore Roosevelt, arguably one of the greatest presidents of the modern age, and undoubtedly the greatest naturalist ever to work from 1600 Pennsylvania. Roosevelt was not an overly intelligent man, and had a very weak immune system his whole life. he went to harvard, but in the late 1800's only the richest went to college at all. his mother and his wife died on the same day. the same day. but he over came. he kept moving forward.

so what's my common element in these references? today. now, youre thinking, that answer does not properly address the question. let me back up. what happened to the heroes? why don't we have them any more? the real answer: Today. today's world is very different from 100, or 50, or even 25 years ago. technology, medicine, communication, everything moves at an incredible pace. humanity hasn't changed in over 50,000 years. we have no hellen keller's because obstetric, optometric, and audial medicine has come so far since her time. we have no jackie robinsons because we live in a "race-less" society, (although that'll always be arguable at some level). we have no theodore roosevelts, (well, again back to the politics, but) because we have advances in medicine, sociology, and psychiatry, that would mean he wouldn't have to overcome. take a pill. tell a shrink. vote for a black guy. we've solved the worlds "ills" so we don't have problems to overcome.

at least that's what the media will tell you.

do we have problems? yes. are they anywhere near the same problems we had 20 years ago? absolutely not! with every advance in technology and medicine, we solve one problem. but like every coin we earn, it has two sides, and simply presents us with another problem. we can cure cancer, but we can't sell it, so it doesn't happen. we can move mountains, but we can't see the destruction caused by that movement. we can talk to people around the world, but we can't have a conversation across the dinner table.

we need new heroes. we need new leaders. it's like Micheal Douglas says: "we've got serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them." the American President addresses, i think, one of the most important issues in today's political arena, (and that's the quickest and surest way to make true heroes, either be the first, or put your name down on paper, because every sports record will be broken, and every mountain will be climbed), that people don't own up to their shit. i'm serious. i mean, you did something bad, come out and say it, don't try to deny it, (Richard), or try and confuse everyone, (Bill). Honesty is the best policy, is actually the best policy. we need new heroes. we need people with integrity, we need people who want to get things done. we don't need the same old same old. Albert Einstein once said: "the same thinking that caused a problem cannot be used to fix it." we need something new. we need fresh blood. we need another wind. we need the next generation to step up and step out and start getting things done!

You wanna be a hero? Say so.