Analysis III: Heroes and The Cult of the Celebrity
According to Dictionary.com 2013,
“A hero is a man of
distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities, and
a celebrity is a famous or well-known person.”
Yes,
a hero is different from a celebrity, as a hero is known for being heroic and a
celebrity is known for being famous. However, some heroes can become
celebrities and some celebrities can be heroic but in general the two are
completely different. (Deyoung, K. 2011).
According to Browne, P. & Browne, R.B. 2005, “Heroes and
heroines come in many faces and guises.
Just as every impulse and challenge needs its heroes, so every field of
endeavor must have some leaders. We
have heroes and heroines of families, small groups, cults and children, in
politics, finance, sports of every description, and religions, among
environmentalists, gardeners, hairdressers, and fashion designers, and so
on. Even amount outlaws, murders, and
terrorists, perhaps especially amount those fringe groups”. Yes, a hero is different from a celebrity, as a
hero is known for being heroic and a celebrity is known for being famous.
However, some heroes can become celebrities and some celebrities can be heroic
but in general the two are completely different. The cult of a celebrity is when people look to celebrities and
mistake them for heroes because of their fame and fortune. (Browne, P. & Browne, R.B. 2005).
Horror films display both positive
and negative heroes. In many, horror
films the catholic priest are looked to as a hero when help is needed in
demonic situations. The priest is able to cast out demons and evil spirits
returning the home back to normal. The
priest shows bravery, determination, courage and dedication to resolving the
problem. This type of hero is displayed in such films as the Exorcist, The
Omen, The Exorcist of Emily Rose, The Rite, and The Amityville Horror. A negative hero would be a leader of cults,
vampires, werewolves, and murderers.
These heroes possess the same attributes that a hero portrays but uses
them for evil purposes. This type of
hero is displayed in horror films such as:
Sinister, Twilight, Chainsaw Massacre, and Saw.
The
insights gained from applying heroes and the cult of the celebrity theories are
that heroes, either good or bad, are all around us, and that celebrities are
not heroes. When watching horror films
both positive and negative heroes are thrilling to watch.
References
Browne, P. &
Browne, R.B. (2005). Profiles of popular culture. Madison, WI.
Deyoung, K.
(2011, October 12). Heroes and celebrities. TGC the gospel coalition. Retrieved
April 22, 2013 from http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2011/10/12/heroes-and-celebrities/.
Dictionary.com.
(2013). Retrieved April 22, 2013 from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hero?s=t&path=/.
I like the way of describing negative and positive qualities of hero. Yes there are some people they make their heroes in negative field because for them negative field is their field. like a young man who joined the gang, of course he will make his hero the tope head or godfather of the any gang as his/her hero of life, as this person will see that head of a gang who has power, and is a brave person, and controlling all the gang with his authority and strategies, is a hero of the gang and also for the people who wants to join any kind of gang. the young people who wants to be a scientist, or doctors , etc. their heroes will be different personalities who have done good jobs in this world to develop the education and for humanity they have worked for the whole life
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