Myths and heroes : what impact do "heroes" have on our society ?

Myths and Heroes :

the notion I’m going to talk about is the notion of “Myths and Heroes”. To begin with I would like to give a definition of the notion: A myth is a story that may or may not be true. All cultures have myths and this mythology has been developed over time. Mythology includes the legends of our history, our religions, stories of how the world was created, and our heroes who can be defined as a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. These stories have great symbolic power, and this may be a major reason why they survive as long as they do, sometimes for thousands of years. As humans we always try to look for something that stands out of the ordinary, that’s how we created somehow heroes and heroines. This leads me to wonder: What impact do “heroes” have on our society? to answer this question I’ll focus on the document I’ve studied in class: The article from the Washington Times, the video about William Wallace of Braveheart and Leonardo Di Caprio's speech a call for awareness.

the history was marked by people who have defended the populations, fought for causes, tried to deliver messages...Today they are considered as myths or heroes by society. however, sometimes these heroes that we admire and respect can be a bad influence. for example in the Washington Times, the journalist talks about how we humans idolize celebrities and turn them into some kinds of heroes and cultural elite when they’re actually not heroes. they are humans like us the unique difference is that they did something out of the ordinary. In addition to this, he shows us that the celebrities that we consider as heroes can be sometimes a bad influence, he gives the example of Tiger Woods, an American sportsman that got involved in many infidelity cases,  he was admired by many young and old people. Following these scandals, Charles Barkley another sportsman talked about whether or not we should consider celebrities as heroes, he said no “ I’m not a role model” and I think he’s right but unfortunately not many people are aware of that. Thankfully, some celebrities are aware that they should deliver great values and use their influence and notoriety to the fullest, that’s the case of Leonardo Di Caprio who decided to talk about climate change to raise people’s awareness, he delivered a speech in front of the United Nations about global warming, and insisted on concrete aspects to make people react. His speech may not be influential in a short time period but, I believe that thanks to him and his personality some people are more aware of climate change. After learning about new heroes, I think that William Wallace deserve to be called a hero and a legendary figure, not only because he is a historic, patriotic, national hero who put his life at risk, rallied his fellow countrymen to his cause, and engaged in warfare against the enemies of Scotland, but also because his story has been adapted to the big screen by the Hollywood cinema industry and he has been embodied by an extremely famous and popular actor. Obviously the characterization of this real historical figure has been modified for the film, and the romantic side of his adventures must have been embellished so as to turn him into a mythic and eloquent warrior who championed a national cause and summoned the people to rise with him in this quest for freedom, even if it meant exposing themselves to certain death. Even now we can see William Wallace spirit’s in young Scottish politician but also teenagers who are fighting for the independence of Scotland.

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