"It's hard to beat a person who never gives up." Babe Ruth

[fading_light]

After hours of desperately trying to come up with a clever and witty idea that would fit miraculously with Babe Ruth's quote, I realized I had nothing. While I had vague ideas about my life, my mother's life, my grandma's life, my dad's life, and even the lives of my D&D characters, it all still amounted to the same type of story about how despite all odds, someone never gave up. These stories are supposed to be inspirational and occasionally awe inspiring, but when they are about regular, everyday people, these stories fail to conjure up the same feelings one would have while reading or watching a story about how some famous person overcame all odds to become someone great (unless it was some kind of miracle).

Thankfully, this cynical thought process lead me to wonder why these famous people are thought to be role-models. Many young boys, back in the day, looked up to Babe Ruth due to his amazing ability to hit a ball. Make no mistake, Babe Ruth had athletic ability that most people only dream of having. He was also known for being rather charitable too without wanting publicity for his good deeds to help those less fortunate than himself. Despite his good deeds, Babe Ruth was notoriously known for being a cheating drunkard which he openly admitted to. Overall, Babe Ruth was just another person that worked his way up from nothing to become another embodiment of the so called American Dream.

As I have aged, the people that I thought to be remarkable have turned out to be just people. They have managed to do great and horrible things throughout their lives. Benjamin Franklin, for example said, “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” After reading his autobiography, I am of the opinion that he lived his life according to his quote (as he was very much a man of his word). He wrote things that were worth reading, and he did remarkable things that helped develop the United States which were worth writing about. Though, despite his remarkable discoveries and accomplishments, he was still a person. He had a hatred for Native Americans, and he kept slaves (even though he did eventually set them free, he remained rather non committal towards the issue of slavery). Despite his flaws, so many people still look up to him because he was one of the first people to become something from nothing simply by working as hard as possible. He was the first embodiment of the American Dream.

Even though people like Babe Ruth and Benjamin Franklin were just people, they are honored for doing remarkable things. Both Babe Ruth and Benjamin Franklin have statues honoring their greatness, and these statues and honors allow the people that look up to them to forget that they weren't as great as they appear to be. As Malcom Reynolds from Firefly said, "It's my estimation that every man ever got a statue made of 'em was one kinda sombitch or another."

Comments

[fausts_dream]

All heroes have feet of clay in one way or another. Good post.

[fading_light]

Thank you.

[rayaso]

Every role model is human, and to be human is to be flawed. Sometimes we can look past those flaws, and sometimes we are blissfully ignorant of them. A thoughtful post.

[sorchawench]

I like where you took this. Sometimes people see the shine but don't look too closely for flaws.

[fading_light]

Thanks. I really liked the direction I took this piece.

[the_eternal_overthinker]

Ah! An interesting take on the prompt..I liked what you did there and it's true what you say. Good Job!

[fading_light]

Thank you!

[thephantomq]

This was an interesting direction to take this prompt in. :) Examining how everyone, even our heroes, are super flawed is not something you see every day. Shining light on them and seeing how they're human kind of makes the ordinary folks' and their accomplishments, as mild as they are, stand out more, too.

[bleodswean]

Thought-provoking!

[tatdatcm]

A very thought provoking post, and nice take on the topic.

[adoptedwriter]

Yes, reminds me of the time I tried to get Pete Rose's autograph. What a great player. What an ass as a human being.

[murielle]

Interesting take on the prompt. Thought provoking.

[bewize]

Great ending to an interesting take on the prompt!

[megatronix]

It's true, our heroes are not without their flaws. Very thought provoking!

[moretta]

The fact that you quoted that particular quote of Mal's absolutely made my day. I'm still waiting for a way to use it in real life.
But I agree - at the end of the day, we're all just people doing our best to get by.

[fading_light]

Jaynestown was probably one of my favorite episodes. Don't get me wrong, I liked Jayne, but he was a horrible person that ended up with "hero" status because he had to drop the money he just stole on the people so that he could escape, and the money was the very last thing that he dropped.

Canton's hero worship of Jayne had more to do with hope. It was something that those people were desperately in need of, and Jayne managed to provide it to them, even though that was never his intention.

[moretta]

I absolutely agree. The people of Canton were desperate, and he unwillingly and unwittingly provided them with what they needed at the time, not just money, but hope, exactly.

[fading_light]

The excellent writing for that show just astounds me.

[favoritebean_writes]

I'm not familiar with Firefly, but you are correct that remarkable people are just people. Good take on the prompt.

[fading_light]

You are missing out on a great show. It only has like ten or so episodes, plus the movie Serenity.

[dmousey]

This is always the crux of it. If the heroes are human, flaws are only natural. The elevation to 'hero' status usually comes from determination, persistence and hard work... and perhaps a teensy bit of talent! Nice work!

💕😊 ✌

[halfshellvenus]

hese statues and honors allow the people that look up to them to forget that they weren't as great as they appear to be.
It's all too true, because none of us our saints-- especially when surrounded by the norms of our own time where we don't see beyond the filters, or when we fall prey to our own failings.

The things such people did well-- those are what we aspire to. And each of us hopes we'll be one of the few to look beyond the norms and realize that you can't explain away human decency with "what everyone else is doing," or that if we have huge weaknesses in our chemistry or our character, we will manage to recognize and overcome them.

[flipflop_diva]

This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately actually — the human side of heroes and if that takes away from what they actually accomplished. It was interesting to read your take on it!

[fading_light]

Honestly, I think it depends on the person. Take someone like Abraham Lincoln. Aside from being shot and killed, he is also known for freeing slaves. It is something that most people admire because slavery is wrong. Though, Lincoln's motivation of freeing the slaves had nothing to do with human rights. It was more of an economical thing. Does his motivation lessen what he did? I think, for me, the answer is basically no. I admit that learning that these people were human is a little disorienting though.

[alycewilson]

Most role models don't survive close examination, it is true.