Firefighters rescuing someone from a burning building, or a person fighting back against an armed mugger, yes, that's genuinely heroic, but someone who brings down a cat stuck up a tree - no, that's not heroic, that's just helpful.
Patrick Hutchinson, a black man who carried another man to safety at a far-right protest rally in London on Saturday, has been described by the media as a hero. Well no, not really, because he was shielded by his friends as he did his "heroic" act.
Likewise all those health workers who've been hailed as "heroic" for months. Most of them dislike the word and say they're just doing their job, treating illness and saving lives just as they did before the virus outbreak.
Likewise people delivering food to the housebound are described as heroes, when all they're doing is looking after the vulnerable and making sure people don't starve. That's not heroism, simply altruism and kindness.
The word heroism is always applied to something physical, but to my mind it can also mean something mental or emotional.
Someone who overcomes crippling fear and self-doubt to make a big change in their life they've always shied away from - that's heroic. Or someone who overcomes the memory of a horrific sexual assault to start dating again. Or those who're always true to themselves despite others trying to push them along a different path.
Like Professor Gail Dines, the American anti-porn campaigner, who has been heavily criticised by other academics but carries on regardless.
And then of course there's refusing a second slice of chocolate cake or a second helping of ice cream - how heroic is that?
Yes heroes (and heroines or sheroes) is a word bandied about a lot these days.
ReplyDeleteI would put JK Rowling down as a recent one. She didn't have to face the onslaught of rape and death threats she has received. She could have kept her mouth shut and counted her billions quietly (not that she's ever done that before as she gives so much to charity).
But if you're just doing your job are you a hero?
We pay health care workers and firefighters for what exactly?
XO
WWW
www: J K Rowling for sure. She dares to have an unfashionable view on transgender and gets pilloried and threatened by the trans lobby. But she's not going to just shut up and do what she's told.
DeleteMy English teacher would have been very pleased with your dissertation. Semantics at its best! I respond to comments on heroes as "I am just a zero".
ReplyDeleteRamana: Not just semantics, some important distinctions. But the word "hero" always looks good in a tabloid headline.
DeleteThe word does get overused, no doubt. I think the medical professionals have been called heroic lately because most were treating Covid patients without proper protective equipment. Many ended up getting Covid and some died. Under normal circumstances, doing their job was not risky, though beng bitten by a patient or accidentally jabbing yourself with a used needle is dangerous,
ReplyDeleteBijoux: It's disgraceful how many health workers haven't had adequate PPE (and still don't). But again, I think that's not so much heroism as having to get on with the job despite the obstacles.
DeleteNot a great deal of point in calling people heroes if their acts are heroic because you have starved them of the equipment they need to do their job safely.
ReplyDeleteFly: Indeed. It's like saying that people who can't afford food and are struggling by on one meal a day and tiny welfare payments are "subsistence heroes".
DeleteI can tell you have never been up a (very tall) tree in the quest to rescue a kitten. Neither have I. One of our builders' did. Don't say men don't have a heart. My own line, at the time, that I can charm a man up a tree and/or that that which will go up will come down - given time.
ReplyDeleteAs to "heroic(s)". You are right. The term is bandied about with wanton abandon. Losing currency. Soon we'll all be declared heroes by being (and staying) alive. Despite of it all.
U
Ursula: You're right, I've never rescued a cat from a very tall tree. For that matter I've never seen a cat stuck up one.
DeleteYes, it'll soon be the case that just about anything slightly challenging will be seen as "heroic". In fact anyone who's caught the virus and survived must surely be a "pandemic hero".
Like the word "epic" hero has lost its meaning.
ReplyDeleteLinda: True, epic is another over-used word. Like an "epic" struggle to get a refund on a faulty pair of scissors.
DeleteI'm for using the term loosely. When faced with adversity I think of myself as the heroine of my life. It's not only empowering, it makes life a lot more fun.
ReplyDeleteJean: An interesting idea, that you're the heroine of your life. So am I the hero of my life? (mental image of SuperNick swooping on an unsuspecting bank robber)
DeleteSorry, it only works when you're facing adversity. It sounds as if you're not, so you'll have to wait until you do.
DeleteI think we call anyone heroes who is doing something we would never do ourselves. They just do what is needed. You are right, calling someone a hero has lost its impact.
ReplyDeleteHeroes are doing something we would never do ourselves - that's a good definition. But it also means, as you say, that the word is over-used and loses its impact.
DeleteHeroes can be big and small
ReplyDeleteBoth are important
Nailed it
DeleteJohn: I guess so. But I think it undervalues genuine heroism when some very minor bit of bravery is described as heroic.
DeleteWe're currently watching an Apple TV+ series called "Dear..." It profiles people like Spike Lee and Oprah Winfrey and people whose lives they have impacted. Are they heroes? I'm certainly feeling uplifted just from watching them.
ReplyDeleteLinda: Well, I don't think being uplifted means you're in the presence of a hero. It just implies someone charismatic or joyful or full of life.
DeleteIt's the people whose live they changed that makes me think they are heroes. BTW, Big Bird was one interviewed. And Jane Goodall. And Stevie Wonder. An olympic gymnast. A ballet dancer. It amazes me what an impact these people have had on others who, in turn, set about changing their world.
DeleteI've changed my mind. Those people were just doing what they do. The fact that others were inspired by them to make changes doesn't mean that's what they set out to do.
DeleteLinda: I agree. People don't necessarily aim to inspire others, that's just something that happens.
DeleteI get your point, but I guess the word 'hero' just pops out when we want to praise someone for doing something we consider to be special.
ReplyDeleteSx
Ms Scarlet: Maybe. But that means it's in danger of being trivialised, and genuine heroism doesn't have the weight it should have.
DeleteEverybody is a hero now a days. The word has lost its meaning.
ReplyDeleteMary: Exactly. People are called heroes simply for doing something a bit out of the ordinary.
DeleteCatching up on blog visiting. I think this is a bit harsh. What word would you use instead of hero for, for example, the NHS staff who go out of their way, work long hours, put up with much unappreciation? It is beyond work I think.
ReplyDeleteLiz: I recognise that NHS staff were and are going the extra mile in all sorts of ways. But what alternative did they have? To refuse to treat sick people? To resign? They really just had to put up or shut up. I think the heroes were the people who didn't have to work with covid patients but volunteered to do so - the retired doctors and nurses etc.
Deleteagreed Nick. spot on.
ReplyDeletewhat I always feel as heroic is when a human saves an animal's life. like a puppy out of a deep well in icy conditions. or something like that. it's an extra effort that one might not otherwise make. but then I think anything with animals like that feels heroic.
so maybe I don't really get it! xo
Tammy: I would say saving an animal's life is praiseworthy but not in the same league as (say) saving people from a bomb explosion or a plane crash. Unless maybe the animal is being deliberately killed or tortured by someone violent who might turn on the rescuer.
Deleteso true. and if the 'hero' was rescuing while endangering himself.
Deletemy brother feels the very same as you do. he has long been weary of the overuse of this word.
people don't realize how it has been exploited.
Tammy: The word is absurdly over-used. Everyone wants to be a hero nowadays!
DeleteI agree, the word gets used far too freely. I remember after 9/11, people were calling not just the firefighters who went into the buildings "heroes" (which seemed fair enough, but also the folks who died in the Twin Towers and on the planes. No, for the most part they were victims. My son is a FedEx driver out braving the virus to deliver packages and while that is helpful, it's not heroic. My husband is a nurse and again, vitally important and even a sacrifice to be put in harm's way with patients, but not a hero. I especially don't like the word hero used to describe athletes playing whatever sport. That's just absurd.
ReplyDeleteAgent: Your son and your husband are doing important but vulnerable jobs. I hope they don't catch the virus. I agree about athletes and the 9/11 victims. Every other person is a hero nowadays!
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