"A person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities." This is the definition of a hero from Oxford dictionary. The status of hero is given to few and although the definition is simple, becoming one is not so simple. To become a hero you must do something so awe inspiring that it can never be forgotten. Most heroes are only fictional and do not exist in the real world, but there are times when there are real life heroes. These are people who we believe fit the definition and have committed an act worthy of out awe, but what happens if these people aren't truly heroes.
The biggest question we must ask ourselves is,"why do we make these people heroes even if they aren't really heroes?" The answer is very simple yet complex. First you must look at how we find out about their stories. We find out about them through the media. We see their story plastered on the news banner or in a movie theater. You may wonder why this is a problem but with so much money involved with these sources it becomes a major issue. The perfect example of this is Captain Richard Phillips. His story has become very prevalent the past few years due to the release of a movie based on the hijacking of his ship. The movie portrayed him having great courage and risking his life for his crew, but the story told by the real crew was very different. Before and even during the hijacking his crew said he failed to follow protocol and ignored multiple warnings of the danger. Although these new reports from the crew have come out, there has been little coverage over them. How could these reports be so overlooked and not cared about? The answer goes right back to money. If the story had been portrayed correctly it wouldn't have been as appealing and it wouldn't have sold as much. In order to make sure the true story would remain secret, Sony paid most of the crew to stay quiet. Many believe this was a tactic to help the fake story sell better.
At an even more basic level with no money involved, these heroes make better stories than their fictional counterparts. We are thrilled by these stories and they make us believe in ourselves and think, "If they can do something so courageous, so can I." So if a person were to not be so heroic in reality they leave out the parts that make them seem not so heroic so people still believe in them.
There are many other issues involved with creating false heroes. One issue is that the people who were also involved and did heroic deeds get left out of the story or are overshadowed. These other heroes fail to receive the compensation they deserve from the media's earnings. The other major issue is that some fake heroes use their new found fame negatively like to spread false information and commit some forms of defamation to other people. For example, Chris Kyle used some of his fame to spread lies about Jesse Ventura. Chris Kyle has done some amazing things but has also lied about many of his actions to help gain supporters.
The creation of false heroes is a real issue in American media that does need to be addressed. My challenge to you is to learn the facts before you put that person on a pedestal and make them a hero.
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