Myths and Heroes

MYTHS & HEROES

I am going to talk about the notion Myths and Heroes.  First of all, I would like to give a definition of this notion: a myth can be defined as an ancient story about gods or heroes; it can be a popular belief, a tradition or an unfounded notion. A hero can be a mythological or legendary figure, a person who is admired for his or her achievements, the main character in a literary work or maybe a role model. We must not forget that the definition of a hero is subjective, it depends on us. Defining someone as a hero is acceding to its causes, goals, which can sometimes be good and just as bad or faked.

We can wonder to what extent prominent figures can be considered modern time heroes. First, I am going to talk about historical characters. Then, I will speak about celebrities.

Since the beginning of mankind, some people or groups of people have distinguished themselves by their actions, their words or their qualities. Some of them are considered as heroes in people’s mind.

Firstly, some people are considered as heroes because they wanted to change History as a defender of common values. Malala YOUSAFZAI is the perfect example. She is fighting for girls’ education right. She is the first Pakistani and also the youngest girl who got the Nobel Peace Prize. Her story is extremely emotional. On October 9th 2012, she was shot in the head by a group of Taliban. Their goal was to discourage girls from going to school. Fortunately, she supernaturally survived. In spite of the fact that she almost died, Malala keeps on her fight for the right of education for young women. A great deal of people gathered to show her their respect and their support. It is an example for the world population.

Moreover, many people who personally fought for freedom and equalities between Blacks and Whites are considered as heroes, like Katherine JOHNSON. Katherine, who was a gifted child, became a “computer” for NASA in 1953. Then, she worked on Glenn’s flight, the moon landings and the 1970 rescue of Apollo 13. It was very difficult for her to climb the rungs of the social ladder because she was a woman but especially an African American woman who worked in a predominantly white and male environment. In 2015, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Despite this reward, she stayed modest and matter-of-fact about her achievements. By working for the NASA, she indirectly challenged stereotypes on Black women. She proved that they can succeed as the same level as men. Her story was summed up in a movie : “Hidden Figures”.

 These two examples weren’t well-known when they started fighting. Now, let’s consider celebrities. Can celebrities be considered heroes? Nowadays, our world is increasingly influenced by well-known people. But the question is can they really be considered as heroes just because they are role models for many people or are committed to important causes?

A kind of “fashion” has been created: celebrities supporting charities. At first sight, we can think that they do a good deed because they help the charity to have more money. They can raise awareness because as they are international celebrities and good speech givers, they’ll convey the message in a clear way. As a consequence, the charity will seem more reliable and people will tend to give more money. But on the other side, the purpose of these actions may be petty. Promoting a celebrity can help the celebrities to be more popular. We may wonder whether they are really philanthropist. Moreover, they usually don’t give much money; they do that just on principle.

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