Do we need another hero?

1.4.4

Heroes are somehow better than us.  They exist, or more correctly we create them, in order to show the rest of us the way to greatness.  Heroes can tie us to our past and give our traditions meaning, or they can fill our current needs for a role model.

Often their greatness is simply myth but their reputation and the outcome of their deeds spreads in to legend.  In today’s electronically connected society a hero’s shelf life can be much shorter and those heroes created simply by virtue of celebrity are quickly replaced.  Celebrities shouldn't really qualify as heroes anyway, as they haven’t contributed any real great action, but apparently our society has a need to create role models of fame and excess.

In the political arena heroes are even more subjective than celebrities, aligning to parties or causes.  Even if a political hero is widely revered, there are those of the opposite philosophy who will not agree.

The 2008 presidential election was a very interesting one for hero watchers.  On the right, John McCain brought his war hero status with him, being a former prisoner of war, and then a long-term political public servant.  On the left, Barack Obama’s hero status was quickly created, representing the hopes and dreams of the civil rights movement, and providing a role model not only for the African American population but young voters of all races who wanted a president more closely related to their American dream.  President Obama’s future heroic story will certainly include his rise past adversity but the rest, that based on his deeds, will be told in time.

Some might say that President Obama already possesses a heroic status akin to a cult of personality.  Dictionary.com defines “cult of personality” as an intense devotion to a particular person.  It would also refer to the person who is arousing such devotion. 

During that 2008 election that seemingly lasted forever, Barack Obama emerged as a larger than life figure.  He won the resolute of the African American community and used the media to ingratiate himself as a man of the people, though critics claim he was cultivating celebrity instead.  The currently divided political landscape helps to create more controversy and inflate his presence even more, polarizing his unwavering fans to his defense against his vehement opponents.  Books are written to broadcast his greatness.  Pundits and critics compare him to the power or charisma of Stalin, Hitler, or Kim Jong-Il.  Some churches call him the anti-Christ, while school children make venerating videos for You Tube.  Selwyn Duke examines his phenomenon in “Beyond the Idea of an Icon”, written for New American in 2009, but ends with an ominous thought.  What if this is less about who Barack Obama is, who comprises his legions of fans, and what his presidency means, and more about the need for the American people to find a deity for a leader?

I am not sure if the adulation for President Obama is as strong as it once was.  I expect to see a great deal more media coverage as we get closer to the November election in order to renew his cultish stature.  I do not see Mitt Romney garnering the same kind of fame and that may seal his fate—to be beaten by Obama’s celebrity and not his record.