Defining Heroes

First class: we are asked to discuss what it means to be a hero(ine).  What are the defining characteristics?  While I didn’t take notes on this part of the discussion, some of the phrases I can pull from memory are: brave/couragous, inner struggle, strong, altruistic,

We then move on to defining kinds of heroes, most of which, interestingly, refer to the pop-culture variety.  They were:

Super Hero with Innate Powers: Superman, Wonder Woman
Self-Created Super Hero: Batman, Iron Man
Action Hero: James Bond, Lara Croft, Indiana Jones
Cyber/Bio Hero: Jason Bourne, Neo
Accidental Hero: Spiderman, Hulk
Supernatural Hero: Buffy, Ghostrider, Spawn, Hellboy, Dr. Strange
and then finally…
Social Change Hero: leaders, politicians, etc.

Next, we are invited to come to the front of the class and choose one of many photographs on the teacher’s desk, with the caveat that we are to try to avoid looking at the back of the card.  The assignment is to spend 5 minutes writing/free associating on that person’s photo – what does or does not make him/her a hero? I purposefully chose someone I didn’t recognize (I thought that was the point – to write without preconceived notions) although many in the class did not do that.  Here is the photo I chose, and what I wrote:

Gentle but strong – her eyes look straight ahead.  I know that she has complete conviction of her beliefs, no matter what they are. She has the look of intelligence, never gullible, never one to allow herself or her ideas be compromised.  But still, always kind.  She is a woman who loves her grandchildren enough to NOT let them spend Saturday morning inside eating cereal and watching cartoons even as they try to take advantage of her innate goodness. Her wisdom is to be shared, never kept to herself or used solely for her own benefit.

I’m sure some – maybe most – would recognize the woman as Clara Barton, founder of The Red Cross, though I did not.

As others read their paragraphs, key words were pulled out and added to the blackboard until it was covered with a cloud of adjectives and nouns: courage, freedom, confidence, intelligence, strength, FOCUS, role-model, kindness/goodness, talented, wisdom, fierce.

The teacher called to our attention how many times focus/eyes/gaze were mentioned in our writing and then brought up the interesting question:  Why is the gaze so significant in the photos of real-life heroes, while superheroes are so often masked?

What is the significance of the eyes??

Tagged as: class, definition of heroes, Hero(ine)s