Devaluation of the word 'heroes'

C_Felix

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C_Felix
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(This is more of a rant/vent.)

I heard the four Americans who were killed by pirates reffered to as "heroes".

Really?

What does that do to the word, especially when one considers somone like Pat Tillman or Neil Peart*?

What did they (the sailors) do that made them heroes?










*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Rider:_Travels_on_the_Healing_Road If you've watched "Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage" you'll see that Neil could be the eptiome of a renaissance man (and one hell of a drummer)
 
C_Felix said:
(This is more of a rant/vent.)

I heard the four Americans who were killed by pirates reffered to as "heroes".

Really?

What does that do to the word, especially when one considers somone like Pat Tillman or Neil Peart*?

What did they (the sailors) do that made them heroes?



*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Rider:_Travels_on_the_Healing_Road If you've watched "Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage" you'll see that Neil could be the eptiome of a renaissance man (and one hell of a drummer)
Click to expand...



Strictly speaking to be a hero you have to have one mortal and one immortal parent.
 
Media stories always try to use the most hyperbolic language possible in order to generate interest. Hence the inflation of anything sad to "a tragedy", anything unfortunate to "a disaster", anything sentimental and positive to "touching" and anything sentimental and negative to "heartrending". Oh, and all notable court cases are the "case of the century".

No doubt those intimately involved in the events feel the terms are appropriate, but the reading public as a whole tends towards detachment. There used to be a division between "journalism" and "yellow journalism" in whether that detachment was acknowledged or actively fought against, but that doesn't appear to be the case any more. Which is, of course, a heartrending tragic disaster.
 
TragicMonkey said:
Media stories always try to use the most hyperbolic language possible in order to generate interest. Hence the inflation of anything sad to "a tragedy", anything unfortunate to "a disaster", anything sentimental and positive to "touching" and anything sentimental and negative to "heartrending". Oh, and all notable court cases are the "case of the century".

No doubt those intimately involved in the events feel the terms are appropriate, but the reading public as a whole tends towards detachment. There used to be a division between "journalism" and "yellow journalism" in whether that detachment was acknowledged or actively fought against, but that doesn't appear to be the case any more. Which is, of course, a heartrending tragic disaster.
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True. Artificial inlfation.

Its like watching a pulp-info-tainment show on History Channel or something.
"Could this be where the Ark of the Covenenat was stored?" Well, yes.
"Coudl this be the cave where Jesus was buried?" Well, by the definition of the word "could", yes it could be. Then again, it could not.
...they try to stir up some fake drama, some fake tension...
"Could this be where Fozni jumped the shark?" Well, yes, it could be.
 
C_Felix said:
True. Artificial inlfation.

Its like watching a pulp-info-tainment show on History Channel or something.
"Could this be where the Ark of the Covenenat was stored?" Well, yes.
"Coudl this be the cave where Jesus was buried?" Well, by the definition of the word "could", yes it could be. Then again, it could not.
...they try to stir up some fake drama, some fake tension...
"Could this be where Fozni jumped the shark?" Well, yes, it could be.
Click to expand...

Good heavens! They've found the actual location where Fonzi jumped the Ark of the Covenant while carrying Jesus's corpse?! That's the discovery of the millenium! Those archaeologists are heroes!
 
C_Felix said:
(This is more of a rant/vent.)

I heard the four Americans who were killed by pirates reffered to as "heroes".

Really?

What does that do to the word...
Click to expand...
I've noticed the word hero being used a lot when victim is more appropriate. The biggest most recent example being the miners in Chile.
 
I think the bar for "hero" has been set pretty low for quite some time. I saw a post on another forum lamenting the 10-year anniversary of the death of their "hero": Dale Earnhardt.
 
It's used extensively... I think wrongly as well. In police circles, the easiest way to get labeled a "hero" is to get shot. Even if getting shot was the result of being an absolute dummy tactically..
Post 9/11, we heard "hero" tossed around a lot; even to the guys who were trying to clean up the site...
 
ZirconBlue said:
I think the bar for "hero" has been set pretty low for quite some time.
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Indeed; lower than a libated limbo-dancer could possible lever their lumbar region.

When it's used in the context of film or music celebrities (as in role models that young people look up to) then you know all is lost...
 
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C_Felix said:
(This is more of a rant/vent.)

I heard the four Americans who were killed by pirates reffered to as "heroes".

Really?

What does that do to the word, especially when one considers somone like Pat Tillman or Neil Peart*?

What did they (the sailors) do that made them heroes?









*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Rider:_Travels_on_the_Healing_Road If you've watched "Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage" you'll see that Neil could be the eptiome of a renaissance man (and one hell of a drummer)
Click to expand...

Thank you for bringing up these incredibly important questions! You're my hero!
 
I would take it a step further and say that, in maybe 99% of the csaes, "war hero" should also stop being used.

I'm not being sarcastic.
 
I believe the Sun newspaper in the UK is contractually obliged to use the word 150 times a paper!

I remember when they reported about a hero of the failed tube bombings. This guy had stopped, pointed at one of them and shouted "what are you doing" as the guy ran off. It wasn't this guys fault they were going ape about it, I'm fairly sure they tracked him down after seeing the CCTV footage rather than him selling his story.
 
I Am The Scum said:
I would take it a step further and say that, in maybe 99% of the csaes, "war hero" should also stop being used.

I'm not being sarcastic.
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I'm with you.

I hope my example were good.

Pat Tillman. Left everything he had behind (and it was quite a bit) to fight for the US. That's up there in my book.

Neil Peart. If you watched Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, you know that this man is something special.
 
C_Felix said:
I'm with you.

I hope my example were good.

Pat Tillman. Left everything he had behind (and it was quite a bit) to fight for the US. That's up there in my book.
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I agree, it takes a special kind of person to give up wealth and fame to go to war.

A reason why I can't stand when they air John Wayne movies during Veteran's or Memorial Day.

Neil Peart. If you watched Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, you know that this man is something special.
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I think he is more like a modern day tom sawyer ;)


I feel the same way when the word hero gets thrown around. When it comes to EMS, most of us don't look at it like we are hero's. Yeah we may have done something to save someones life, but thats our job. Thats what we do.
 
NYCEMT86 said:
I agree, it takes a special kind of person to give up wealth and fame to go to war.
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Apparantely after 9/11 Bruce Willis tried to join the US Army but he was turned down because he was "too old".
 
NYCEMT86 said:
When it comes to EMS, most of us don't look at it like we are hero's. Yeah we may have done something to save someones life, but thats our job. Thats what we do.
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To be fair, if you feverently reject the title of "hero" for your self, it's probably a good indicator that you might be a hero.

I consider "heroism" to be something of a sliding scale. I consider certain people to be more "heroic" than your average by virtue of their choice of career. These are those who do often difficult and dangerous work, often poorly paid by comparison with other job options, that society as a whole benefits from. This would include emergency personnel and military.

However, well beyond that base level of heroism are the individual acts of courage and selflessness which such people from time to time perform.

For example, the other night in Christchurch an NZ firefighter crawled deep into the debris of an extremely unstable collapsed building to locate a survivor and pull them to safety. That man is a hero for being a fireman, but the heroism of that specific act is of several magnitudes greater.
 
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