Why is it that a hero is perceived to be infallible?Why must he (or she) be raised to such a pedestal from where it is most likely that he will fall?Why is a man(or woman) not looked upon as just a man? Why is he a demi-god?
Hero worship is a very harmful practice that has been followed by mankind over the centuries.
We all look up to people who have achieved the extraordinary. We admire their courage and their determination.But when you raise a person to the heights of Mount Olympus we must realize that he is as human as we are and that he belongs right here on earth.
When we worship a person we dilute his essence. We undermine the message that he wants to deliver. We praise his persona and not his cause. What we then tend to associate are individual qualities and not the endeavours which brought these qualities to the forefront.
It will always be that we must possess a Gandhi like tolerance, not a Gandhian outlook.
We must always have Herculean strength, but not the courage to rise against the tide.We all want to be as invincible as superman. What we don't want to do, is to crusade against injustice.
So Superman will be just that a symbol of superhuman strength. Not a man fighting injustice, not a man whose ideology we wish to emulate, but instead a supremely powerful hero who can do no wrong.
2 comments:
Check your blog's name. its romantic alchemist. it shows most of us aspire to be someone with magical powers or at the very least we wish to romanticize those who could become our idols. a person with great powers does sound more interesting than an average person who fights injustice, which in any case is a rather subjective thing. one man's food is another man's poison.
all of us want people to look up to. the more glamorous the better.
anyways as it is said aim at the stars, you may at least reach the top of the tree. if you aim at the top of the tree, probability is you may reach nowhere.
A Hero is worshipped so long as he makes himself useful by living up to OUR expectations...we worship the person cause we desire the glamour and fame that comes along with it...we desire emulation...but what we fail to see is the responsibility that comes hand in hand with that post...we overlook the hardships and instabilities and only focus on the qualities which WE WANT TO SEE...every hero conveys a message to his admirers but this message is rarely understood...or should i say,it is a message which we do not wish to understand !!!
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