Showing posts with label heroes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heroes. Show all posts
Thursday, February 27, 2020
From Hero to Zero
“Show me a hero and I'll show you a bum.”
-- Gregory “Pappy” Boyington
World War II Fighter Ace
Back in December, the Internet was a-twitter over a transphobic remark made by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling on a social media site.
Predictably a vocal group of fans who felt betrayed by one of their heroes, immediately called for all self-respecting followers of sci-fi and fantasy to immediately boycott her work. While I understand their desire to punish her for her views that run contrary to the generally liberal and inclusive nature of the genre, this latest controversy got me thinking about how fickle our hero worship is and the rise of Cancel-Culture in the early 21st century.
First, let me get one thing out-of-way:
I am in no way, shape or form, defending or condoning what Rowling said. In fact, I find it very disappointing especially coming from a woman whose most well-known series was centered around the friendship between a group of social misfits.
That said, I think we all need to learn to separate the art from the artist and realize that our heroes aren’t always going to be as perfect and pure as we’d want them to be.
Let’s start with one of my heroes from my youth: “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry.
There is little doubt that “Star Trek” is one of world’s most popular and influential TV shows / multi-media franchises. Its positive view of the future showed what mankind could become if we learned to leave behind all (or most) of our negative instincts and it inspired countless people to do amazing things in pursuit of that vision.
Yet Roddenberry himself was a womanizer – possibly boarding on Harvey Weinstein levels of sexism and abuse – having affairs with both Nichelle Nichols and Majel Barrett whom he employed in his productions while still married to his first wife.
By many accounts he was also a money-grubber, who, according to Leonard Nimoy in his book, “I Vulcan IDIC pin as a ploy to sell more merchandise to fans. More infamously he also wrote some outstandingly bad lyrics to the “Star Trek” theme just to cut in on composer Alexander Courage’s royalties.
Am Spock” (first edition, pp. 66-67), invented the now famous
 |
| Gene Roddenberry: More Ferengi than Federation? |
In my head, I’d like to think “Star Trek” was Gene Roddenberry’s way of banishing the evils he saw in himself by creating a world (or worlds) where humans had overcome the things he couldn’t in his real life. But then again, I’m an optimist, and always try to see the good in people whenever I can.
Which in a round-about way brings me back to Rowling....
While I’m very disappointed by her views about LGBTQ+ people it doesn’t diminish my respect for her work on the Harry Potter novels.
Why?
Because none of those negative or hostile views are promoted there. (Yes, I’m sure if you went through the seven novels with a fine-tooth comb you might be able to point to some very obscure references to her anti-trans views. But I think you’d really have to work hard and bend their meaning to find them.)
I also will respect her for giving me a way to engage with and connect to my then three young nieces who loved those novels. Who knows if I would have been able to do that otherwise and my memories of talking to them about the books are things I’ll always treasure.
Will I think twice about buying any of her future works?
Probably.
But I won’t outright dismiss the idea of ever buying any of her novels again. I will judge them on their content, the same way I do anything else (only now, I’ll tend to give that content extra scrutiny).
The other thing I also keep in mind is that people are a product of their times. Their beliefs in what’s right and wrong and views on the sexes were formed when they were younger, and as I’ve been learning the hard way recently, as you get older, you tend to become less flexible in the way you think.
This of course does not excuse anyone’s intolerant behavior. It just no longer surprises me when someone can’t quite accept views that are significantly different from the mores of the time they grew up in.
I guess this is my very long-winded way of saying that our heroes and idols are always going to be flawed. As human beings it’s inevitable. So instead of just dismissing or cancelling out all their accomplishments in a knee-jerk reaction to something they may have said or done, let’s all just slow down a bit, take a deep breath and then calmly take a look at their past work.
Is that ugly view reflected in their past (or current work)?
Are they using the fame and fortune they made off that past work to promote their unacceptable views?
Does this newly discovered unacceptable view invalidate any good or inspirational effect that others found in their past work?
How you answer each of those questions greatly depends on your own experiences and point of view. For some the negative effects of the ugly comments will outweigh the good, while for others it won’t.
And that’s OK.
At least you’ve through it through yourself instead of letting someone else tell you how you should feel. Then after careful consideration, if you determine those flaws make’s a person’s achievements no longer worthy of your admiration, at least you will be able to explain why in a cool and logical manner.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Nimoy's legacy is more than just Mr. Spock
“Accepting death - by understanding that every life comes to an end, when time demands it. Loss of life is to be mourned, but only if the life was wasted.”
-- Spock to his younger self“Yesteryear” Star Trek – The Animated Series
 |
| Leonard Simon Nimoy March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015 |
Childhood heroes hold an unusual place in our psyches.
They are often the first people to spark our fledging
imaginations and inspire us to do something we’d never dreamed of before, even
if all we do is to pretend to be like them at first.
As we grow older and more jaded, these childhood heroes tend
to maintain their place of honor in our personal pantheon of role models even
as other heroes we idolize later in life fall away as we become aware of their
all-to-human flaws and we begin to cynically pick them apart.
So it was with a profound sadness that yesterday I learned
of the death of one of my very earliest childhood heroes – Leonard Nimoy and
his alter ego Mr. Spock.
We never picture our heroes dying, especially those who have
accompanied us so long on our trek through life. We just we assume they will
always be there to inspire us and lift our spirits when we need it. After all
that’s what heroes do.
But now, like that
Robert Frost poem about two paths diverging in the wood, I find I must continue
down my path alone, while my hero takes the path to “the undiscovered country
from whose bourn no traveler returns.”
I mention poetry here because as well as being a talented
actor whose career spanned multiple decades, Nimoy was also an accomplished director (“Three Men and aBaby,” “The Good Mother,” “Vincent” and the third and fourth “Star Trek”
movies); a poet (“A Lifetime of Love: Poems on the Passages of Life,” “Come Be with Me: A Collection of Poems” ,
“Will I Think of You?” )
and a very active member of the Jewish community.
Yet despite his many accomplishments, it seems he will
always be remembered for playing a half human, half alien on a campy sci-fi
television series for three short years in the late ’60s and again in a couple
more times in the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s. But to paraphrase from his obit on NPR,
“instead of being a punchline, Leonard Nimoy gave the role of Mr. Spock
gravitas.”
Like the golem of Jewish folklore, he breathed life into the
role of the starship Enterprise ’s
logical science officer, a role that in a lesser actor’s hands might have come
off as a caricature of robot in a human body. He gave the part a quiet dignity
that convinced this 6 or 7 year-old who watched the show religiously in the
early ’70s that Mr. Spock was as “real” a person as the actor who portrayed
him.
“Star Trek” was my “gateway drug” into the world of science
fiction and for the longest time it was my only drug, mostly because – if you
will excuse the expression – of my fascination with the character of Mr. Spock.
When my friends and I used to play “Star Trek” there would
inevitably be arguments over who would get to be the captain. But I didn’t
care. I never wanted to be James T. Kirk. I always wanted to be the Vulcan science
officer.
And apparently I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.
Talking with my friend Christina soon after we learned of Nimoy’s passing, she
recalled one of the last conversations she had with her grandmother. They were
discussing their favorite “Star Trek” characters, and her grandmother said she
preferred the dashing, swashbuckling Captain Kirk. But Christina told her she
preferred nerdy characters like Mr. Spock.
“What does that say about me?” she asked, laughing.
Well it says she was a lot like a legion of fans who learned
from Nimoy’s portrayal of Mr. Spock, that there was nothing wrong with being
smart – and showing it – and that math and science could be cool.
But perhaps the biggest thing I learned from him, and the
reason he’s always remained my hero, is that he taught me to be comfortable in
my own skin.
Like Spock, who was the only alien among a large crew of
humans, I too felt like an outsider when I was growing up. Until fifth grade, I
lived in Rhode Island
where there weren’t that many Jews, and while the anti-Semitism wasn’t always
overt, I still remember a time I came home to find neighborhood kids had
scrawled swastikas on my family’s garage doors. I also vividly remember being
shunned because I didn’t celebrate the same holidays as the other kids. This
combined with the fact that I was never interested in the same things my peers
were made me feel like I had my face pressed against a window watching other
kids playing in a room I wasn’t allowed in.
But every night, I’d come home, turn on the TV and see Mr.
Spock dealing with the same sense of isolation as I was and watched how he earned
the respect of his crew. Suddenly I no longer felt like I was alone. I had a
role model I could emulate, and if I did, I’d eventually “fit in” and be
accepted.
And he was right. Eventually I found a “crew” of my own who
accepted me as I was and all those people who used to make fun of me for being
into weird and geeky things like computers suddenly need my technical expertise
to fix all their stuff. (Okay, some of those people still may not really accept me; I’ll settle for the cash they shell
over to me for fixing all their high-tech gizmos).
Recently I’ve also come to believe that being the “outsider”
or “observer” wasn’t such a bad thing afterall. I’d like to think it’s
benefited my writing, giving me a keener insight into human nature.
So, for giving me self confidence, a lifelong-love of technology
which I’ve been able to turn into a comfortable career, and for, I hope, making
me a better writer, I thank you Leonard Nimoy. May you go to your rest knowing
that to me and your legions of fans, you won’t be remembered as only Mr.
Spock.
You’ll be remembered for your most import role of all.
As our hero.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)