Who is a hero and how do you identify one ??
Now since its subjective I would limit the scope of the blog to our Indian movies. Here too there are some very unique individuals who are beyond the laws of physics ... like one "Thalaiyva" - he would be termed above hero and close to God !! Lets talk about the more mortal ones.
The definition that I always liked was "Heroes are ordinary men who do extraordinary things in extraordinary times" - this was the tagline for the movie U-571.
The dictionary would probably describe it as follows...,
he·ro [heer-oh] noun, plural -roes; for also -ros.
1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.
3. the principal male character in a story, play, film, etc.
4. Classical Mythology .
a. a being of godlike prowess and beneficence who often came to be honored as a divinity.
b. (in the Homeric period) a warrior-chieftain of special strength, courage, or ability.
c. (in later antiquity) an immortal being; demigod.
That was what I thought till a week ago. Then it changed !!
Happened to see a couple of movies in hindi, tamil and a blockbuster telugu one. The gory set of fights the mindless killing in the name of bashing up the goons - butchering people in the most horrific manner which would probably put the most brutal murders of our times to shame !! I was left wondering if the protagonist even has a conscience ?? He seemed more like the villian when it came to killing people with least hesitation - almost a serial killer. Where is the nobility and righteousness associated with a hero ??
It seemed like the rise of the Demonic Hero - a sweet looking, romantic loverboy turned to a devilish schizophrenic mass murderer !!
To top it I was appalled with the whistling men, swooning and crooning teenage belles, family folks calling him a superstar. It made me feel sick. Do people even realize that in the name of promoting a macho image they are promoting such senseless violence and more importantly justifying split personalities and calling them heros ??
This again translates on the streets to silly and needless machismo by teenagers keen on impressing their equally mesmerised femme-fatal s !!
At this rate and considering the level of ignorance about mental disorders - such personalities would be considered normal even a hero - albeit a demonic one !!
Will the real hero please stand up ?? !!
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