heroes

nah, i'm not going to talk about that programme on tv3, which i followed for a while in the first season before i got bored with it. i started thinking more about real life heroes today, when i was listening to coverage on the oscars.

ok, so let me explain the wanderings of my mind. i started thinking about all the glitz and glamour, and basic adulation these people (namely the a-list) will get as they walk down the red carpet. they are the people who are supposedly successful, the ones who have "made it". and the criteria for them having made it are:
1. that they are there (ie at the oscars and walking down the red carpet)
2. that they are rich
3. that they are famous.

and not too much more than that. now let me note that i do actually believe film is an art form, and i think it's totally legitimate to recognise those who have excelled in this particular form. i don't have a problem with the notion of the oscars, and there are many actors, directors, writers etc who have done some amazing stuff that well deserves to be celebrated.

but it seems to me that many of the people receiving attention these days don't really deserve it. i think back to previous times, of people like martin luther king, mother teresa, mahatma gandhi, nelson mandela (ok, i know he's still alive). these were people who touched millions. they reminded us of what we should be, they encouraged us to strive for something better. they showed us an ideal and the way to work towards it. they showed us our current weaknesses and the way to overcome them. if they were famous, it was a by-product of their activism. and none of them, at the height of their activism, had much in the way of material possessions.

who is that person today? which one or two people could you point to and say "this is the person who inspires me to be better"? i look around and find it hard to think of such a person. i know people who inspire me in my day-to-day life, i wrote about one of them a couple of days ago. i know many people who go out of their way to do things for others, big or small, or who show courage in unexpected ways. i think of them as heroes. but i can't think of someone who's doing that on an international level right now.

i think it's sad to be living in a time without such people. especially when there is so much that needs improving.