NOTIONS

BY   Apathy

…..OF HEROES AND CARTOONS

Many may consider me a cynic, and I have to admit that nothing much surprises me in this world we live in. Even less inspires me. But certainly there is much on our television that amuses me.  Daily, all across the country multiple murders, break-ins, robberies and assaults have become the norm instead of the news. It would seem that, like me, much of our society has become jaded and barely even notice the atrocity of the crimes committed.

But wonders never cease – or maybe I am not the cynic I believed I was, as I was quite unpleasantly surprised at the most preposterous news piece that I have seen to date and there have been plenty.  To seek to idolatrize even the most common criminal returned home in disgrace; deported from another country – unwanted there because of crimes committed and time served, really is a disservice to our society.  To receive the cast off of the white men as if they were heroes coming home in glory instead of convicted criminals banished in disgrace is absurd.  I might add here that they didn’t come of their own free will but were unceremoniously ejected and are here because they have no other choice.  Are these the heroes that our people need?   Is this the best that we can come up with?  If so, then maybe we deserve our just rewards.  Must we glamorize the exact gang lifestyle that so many problems have brought us?  It is all well that one has sought self improvement but let us not fool ourselves – it is notoriety that rappers have and it is directly because of their relationship to gangs, their glorification of violence and their lifestyle.  To make this infamy seem appealing to young impressionable minds, to allow them to believe that this kind of living is attainable is folly pure and simple.  Please, let us not forget that a rose by any other name is still a rose.

A hero is defined as a person who commits an act of bravery or who has shown an admirable quality such as great courage or strength of character.  Recently I have had the privilege and indeed the pleasure of meeting such a person.  No, he is not on television, he has no video credits or albums to his name, but undoubtedly possesses such great courage as would put to shame so many of us that dare to complain about the trivial tribulations we face in our daily pursuits.  That without the crutches of drugs, self pity or foolish excuses he faces life head on even with its sometimes seemingly insurmountable obstacles looming ahead of him. Faced with serious health issues, he chooses to live with quiet dignity and pride, facing whatever may come with serenity and peace of mind even when a lesser person in the same situation would have crumbled.  This person humbles me and teaches me how to live even as he dies.  That is courage and strength of character, doing the right thing even when the TV cameras are off. But these virtues are not the stuff that makes great news, it doesn’t beget good ratings, it’s boring – it neither glitters nor shines.  So for now we are stuck with phony heroes…cartoon characters, but I believe the people of this country won’t for long be fooled and will soon realize that there are real heroes out there, and that you can’t always believe what you see on TV news.

I think that it’s high time that we extol real virtues like honesty, integrity and dignity.   In their absence, let’s not feign or profess to possess false merits or try to force a fairy tale ending out of what clearly is a tragedy not an odyssey.  The morale of the story must be to tell it like it is, don’t sugar coat it don’t romanticize it; don’t try to make it what it is clearly not.  If you’ve made errors in judgment in the past by all means correct them but don’t go around trying to make yourself out to be a shining example fit to be emulated by our youth.

| | | | | |