We Don't Need Another Hero

This weekend it was reported that actress Christina Applegate has breast cancer. Which woulda been crappy enough if that’s how it was announced. Instead, the headlines read things like “Applegate Ill”, “Christina’s Brave Fight” … you get the picture. The news sources are practically writing up her obituary when describing who she is and what she’s done in all of her 36 years. Nice – I’m SURE that she just loves reading that. Show of hands – did you know that Christina is on a current show? Can you name it? Do you know which network carries it? Do you watch it? Do you wanna bet that show gets an incredible boost in ratings this week? Don’t you think that, as an actress, Christina would prefer being acknowledged and appreciated for her acting skills vs. being displayed by the media as the “amazing cancer-fighting actress” that they’ve already started to prep her to be?

As it is, I can’t tell you how much of a non-fan I am of Lance Armstrong, and it’s really not even his fault. He’s an amazing athlete in his field, I’m sure. (Full disclosure - I’m not a “biking-sport-race-fan” type person.) And his doctors helped him through a particularly nasty cancer, it’s true. But combining those two “achievements” (using that term loosely) doesn’t make him any more brave, heroic, or admirable than the person sitting next to you in the Cancer ward of your local hospital. What he’s done since his recovery is very nice, don’t get me wrong – but he’s still just a guy who found a tax-shelter that supports a health issue he’s VERY interested in, yanno? I’m sure he still thinks nasty stuff when the driver in front of him won’t turn right on a red light. And that should be alright – but we don’t allow ourselves to believe that of him. Nope – Lance is a nifty guy *always*. He was a nifty guy when his marriage didn’t work out and he left his family. He was a nifty guy when his ex-girlfriend was diagnosed with cancer and he called her to say some version of “wow – sucks to be you”. He’s always just a swell guy. It’s not very fair – or realistic - to hold someone to that standard twenty-four, seven.

Society has this NEED for heroes. We, as a body, want to elevate those that meet or exceed certain requirements, be it in political office or sporting, music or entertainment venues, and hold them up as the ultimate in their field … they are what we all hope to aspire to be. But I promise you that Christina and Lance would have been just as happy to be “just” an actress or “just” a cyclist.

Sadly, the only thing that society craves more than heroes are targets. As fast as we can elevate one person to impossible heights, we’ll find three to push off and watch them fall to the ground so that we can examine, in the publicly-available microscope of “the press”, each flaw, every crack, and any possible “difference” in order to crow, laugh or ridicule. How else could we possible feel better about the ugly mess that our own lives have become but to find someone in worse off shape to point out as "well, there ya' go. That's what happens."

So while Christina, Lance, and the rest of “the club members” may be viewed as being especially brave, strong, courageous, spirited, plucky, and/or gutsy (words I've all been told, btw), just remember that they not only put their pants on one leg at a time, but they have their “I don’t want to get out of bed” days just like everyone else.

They just get more press when that happens.