Maybe you’ve heard it as much as I have. In America we have traded heroism for celebrity.
Instead of looking up to the men and women in our community who sacrifice and give of themselves, aspiring to be inspiring to others in simple, legitimate ways – like teaching/tutoring kids in our community, talking to a homeless guy with an actual conversation instead of excuses why you can’t spare the dime or buy him a hotdog, or simply remaining faithful to your wedding vows and wife – we all want to criticize Britney, be enlightened by Oprah and Tom, or eat our Wheaties and just be like Mike. (I appreciated a recent commentary on this from Leonard Pitts, Jr. here).
Say what you want about the sad state of North American heroism shifting from men and women of honor, sacrifice and courage to the constant barrage of tabloid celebrity rehab sightings. Its a reality that won’t be going away anytime soon.
The right question isn’t, “How can we change this?” as much as it should be, “How can we redeem this?”
I personally think that George Clooney gets it right:
“We tend to not get to see enough of what we need to see anymore,” he said, adding: “It seems as if at times celebrity can bring that focus.”
“It can’t make the policies, it can’t change people’s minds really, but you can bring a camera where you go because they’ll follow you and you can shine a light on it. That seems to be my job.”
Check out the full story here.
Intersection 