Who Are Our Heroes?

With my ‘Ramblings’ I usually go on about whatever inspires me at the moment.  I tend to tiptoe close to the line of social commentary….but at this writing; I’ve been pushed over that line.  What is this obsession we have at the moment with Charlie Sheen??!!

Really, enough already!!  Whatever his excuse, drugs, alcohol, mental illness…whatever, the man has made his choices and as a result, he is a mess and I don’t want to see, read or hear anything more about him!!

It is interesting that at the moment I am ranting about him, I was watching a DVD borrowed from my friend Lynn.  Lynn and I share something of a common passion, among others, of a fascination with the British Isles.  A piece of that fascination is around the ‘standing stones’ of the British Isles.  Stonehenge is the most famous example but there are literally thousands of prehistoric stone monuments throughout the Isles. 

In the middle of this DVD the commentator, Rupert Soskin, does a sidebar on the topic of ‘heroes’.  This sharing is out of context, but he pointed out that one of the reasons as an English culture we cling to heroes such as Robin Hood and King Arthur is for the values they represent…bravery, nobility, love, honor, fidelity, etc.   Rupert then goes on to point out that due to our on-going movement away from nature and all things natural that today our heroes are the celebrities that our culture idolizes. 

I’ve heard this explanation before and it makes my skin crawl.  Because the rest of the commentary was about how our heroes/celebrities reflect the values that as a culture we embrace.  This is where I digress from Rupert’s words. 

We all know that celebrities today reflect the values of youth, glamour, wealth, greed, drugs, sex, etc., etc.  So if they are our heroes and these are the values they reflect, what does it say about us?  Do they reflect OUR values? 

I think not.  I’m not sure I can actually identify a current hero of mine, but it certainly is not the celebrities of our culture. 

Another scary point that Rupert made in his sidebar is the notion that our technology is changing so fast that it is disengaging us from nature and as a result our heritage becomes irrelevant.  In the past our heritage was closely interwoven with the natural world and our heritage was relevant because our reality was based in the natural world. 

I don’t think many of us experience our heritage that way anymore. 

The perfect example of that disengagement was demonstrated not too long ago on the TV show ‘The Amazing Race.’  One of the episodes took the contestants to England and to Stonehenge.  As one couple was leaving, a punk couple, the woman made a comment that she was so excited to be in England, but very disappointed that what she saw of it was just a ‘pile of rocks.’  This woman has no notion whatsoever of her heritage, and sadly, I fear she speaks for many of us.

And that brings me back to heroes.  I can’t help but wonder who her heroes are.  I can’t name any for myself, but I know who they aren’t….and they sure as hell aren’t Charlie Sheen!!!