Heroes and Zeros
A Hero is defined as a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability, a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities, one that shows great courage. And a celebrity is defined as a famous or celebrated person, according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2007). These definitions are merely that, they don’t really define a person, just an idea of one. Our society needs heroes, so we can keep our faith in the human race; faith that there are still people out there, willing to go that extra mile, not for themselves, but for someone or something else, a greater good. What defines a hero are the acts that follow the heroism, how does that person take the new found attention? Was it a selfless act or was it planned out in advance just for the attention? There are a lot of con-artists out there today wanting that five minutes of fame and will do most anything to get it, so you have to be careful who you label a hero, they might be a zero in disguise.
Celebrity Heroes
Celebrities can be heroes, it isn’t impossible for them to be both, there are a lot of celebrities that support charities and their fame helps bring awareness to those charities that may not have gotten the attention before. Also, there have been many celebrities that gave up their wealth and fame to serve in the Armed Forces, such as James Stewart who was a bomber pilot in World War II, to which he receive the Distinguished Flying Cross among other medals and commendations. He entered two years before Pearl Harbor and was at first rejected by the draft board because of his weight (Washington (AFNS), 1997).
FANtastic
Celebrities tend to be worshipped by people for their fame, fortune and status in Hollywood, whether it is the “bad boy” or the “party girl”. Paris Hilton is a famous for being famous, her antics in the media have landed her on a pedestal in the eyes of her fans. They are idolized not for their contributions to society, but for there selfishness and extreme behaviors. New York’s finest First Responders were recognized briefly for their contributions during 9/11, they were in the limelight for a while, congratulated and embraced by America. Where is the media coverage for these individuals now, they are still contributing. Society tends to get caught up in the “latest and greatest” and then move on without blinking these days.
Reality
It began with MTV’s “Real World” debuting in 1992, placing regular people in artificial surroundings to see what they would do; and most reality television shows are borrowing from the ideas it established. Now with the writers strike in full swing, more “reality” based TV shows are going to be showing up, and they may stick around even after the strike is over, because this is what people want to watch right now (Dehnart, 2008). In the 1980’s we had reality television that seemed to serve a purpose, such as, “America’s Most Wanted”, where if you watched you may be able to catch a criminal and do some good. Today’s reality is based on the shock value, and not much reality.
Makeovers and the Quick Fix
Dr. 90210 is a reality based cosmetic surgery program, that lets you be apart of real breast augmentations and liposuctions of the vainest of vain in Beverly Hills. It focuses on his everyday life with his family, career and hobbies such as Karate. Dr. Rey who is the star surgeon of the show leads you to believe he is worried about the patient and I’m sure he is to an extent, what you don’t see are the big paycheck he gets for the surgery. Dr. Rey comes across as a caring doctor who also does volunteer surgeries in Mexico for children with cleft lips. This show is mainly about breast augmentations and strippers/porn stars that continually get cosmetic procedures done. This show and others like it, give society the impression that perfection is the only acceptable form, that if you have imperfections then you should get something done about it, by going under the knife. Cosmetic surgery is available and helpful to some for self esteem issues they may have, however are some of those issues due to the precedence that has been set by society and these shows?
As a society we are always looking for a shortcut, or the “Quick Fix”, whether it is weight loss, pills for anything that ails, cooking or a quickie-divorce. Weight-loss is always an issue, you see it on television everyday or hour, the newest pill to lose those unwanted pounds without exercise. Or get cosmetic surgery to take care of your love handles or even more extreme than that, get gastric bi-pass surgery to lose weight. Society like the skinny, perfect people and the reality shows endorse that, even with the show “Biggest Loser”, it is all based around getting to that ideal weight and being accepted, not rejected.
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