Is the Era of Heroes Dead?

What happened to our love of heroes? When I was a kid Luke Skywalker, James Bond, John Steed, and Indiana Jones were who I looked up to. Now, it's Darth Vader, Hans Gruber, Anton Chigurh, and Hannibal Lecter. Since when did villains become who we aspire to be?

I don't believe I came from a simpler time. Nixon resigned as President when I was three years old, not that I was aware of it. We supposedly entered an era of cynicism, and distrust of our government. But then we elected a senile, B-Film actor as President for two terms. That's not cynicism: that's psychosis! So, once we came out the other end of this idiocy, we began to worship villains? I am not religious, but I am not without spirituality. This is not some holier-than-thou rant about how evil must never triumph over good. This is about elevating people who harm other people unnecessarily, almost to the status of heroes. This is not about revenge, or some kind of justifiable violence; which is regrettable, but human history has taught is unavoidable.

Does this mean we, as human beings, have always been like this? Are we, as Americans, alone in this fetish? Is the rest of the world better than us? No. I believe this is part of a ludicrous plan by the ultra-rich in this country. This plan pretends to ignore history, particularly the French Revolution. In the 18th century, the mega-wealthy ignored the plight of the poor, and middle classes. They filled their coffers with all the gold they could, and waved away the cries, and complaints of the masses. Then, one day, the masses had had enough, wheeled out a guillotine, and you know the rest. When you look at the rise in cost of living, next to the lack of rise in wages; when you look at the stagnation in the rise of the minimum wage; when you look at the utter stagnation in our government's ability to work for the general population; I think you can guess where this is going.

The problem is the people, and the awareness of their options. Voting is one way, but then the mega-wealthy will continue to exert their influence. Elected politicians are only human, and susceptible to influence. In other words, they can be easily turned.

If this is the world we live in, and perhaps have always lived in, is it any wonder we now worship villains? I first saw the movie My Favorite Year when I was ten years old. It remains one of my all-time favorite films. Why? It had never occurred to me that my heroes might be flawed, might be human; just like me. I loved Benjamin Steinberg's attempts to seduce Kasey, the intern/secretary on King Kaiser's variety show. But the seminal moment for me is when Benjy confronted his hero, Alan Swan, over his cowardice, and human fragility. It was life-changing. I never looked at my heroes the same way again.

But, is that any reason to throw away heroism altogether? Blame the media, blame social-media, blame the internal-monologue we all seem to live with. It is no excuse to elevate villains. Why do you think there is a mass-shooting per week in the United States? Agree with me, or not, I can't help but make a connection between glorified villainous behavior, and the horrific acts committed almost every day in this country. Our heroes have not abandoned us: we have abandoned the ideals of our heroes.