Something to strive for

By idolizing those whom we honor, we do a disservice both to them and to ourselves....We fail to recognize that we could go and do likewise.
--Charles V. Willie

I both agree and disagree with this statement. Yes, the sterilization of our “heros” turns them into superhumans. It can seem like there is no way to live up to their ‘example’ and so people look for more realistic people to look up to. However, if we have an ideal example to look up to, we can keep striving toward it, and it is the striving that matters. To quote my favorite webcomic,

“You’re trying to be Lawful Good. People forget how crucial it is to keep trying, even if they screw it up now and then. They figure that if they can’t manage it perfectly every waking second, then they should just pick some other alignment [or hero] because it’ll be easier. But it’s the struggle that matters. It’s easy for a being of pure Law and Good to live up to these ideals, but you’re a mortal. What matters is that when you blow it, you get back up on the horse and try again.” (Order of the Stick, episode 490)

I know there is a bunch of D&D lingo in there, but you get the idea.

It is important to remember that everyone makes mistakes and that even the people who have made done the greatest things in history had their faults. Human nature is like a yin-yang. Good people have a little blackness in them, and the blackest heart can do some good. It is all a matter of mitigating the impulses you don’t want to follow.

So, people create heros for themselves, not to show the actual person. I don’t believe that our historical heros should be taught as such though. Maybe to little kids, because you like to keep things simple with them, but as a child progresses through the k-12 history classes, they should constantly be taught a little more of the whole picture, not the same stuff over and over again.

A few more quotes regarding heros/legends…

After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things. Terrible! Yes. But great.

-Mr. Ollivander in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

It's my estimation that… every man ever got a statue made of him was one kind of sumbitch or another. Ain't about you, Jayne. It's about what they need.

-Mal (Firefly episode 7, Jaynestown)