This summer, I had the pleasure of seeing Midnight in Paris, starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams and directed by the infamous Woody Allen. Gil (Wilson) is a lost screenwriter in dire need to "find himself" in Paris, wishing he could live among the brilliant minds like Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and all the great artists of the 1920s. These novelists and artists really saw Paris, shaped it in some way, giving it its cultural appeal for aspiring artists like Gil in today's era.
Unfortunately for Gil, his fiancé's subconscious crush, Paul, ruins his blissful reverie saying, "Nostalgia is denial - denial of the painful present ... the name for this denial is golden age thinking - the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one ones living in - its a flaw in the romantic imagination of those people who find it difficult to cope with the present."
To us, nostalgia is where our heroes exist. To us, the past dictates who we become in our future, and we look to our role models to guide the way. Is Gil wrong in thinking his dreams can become reality? What would happen if we went back to our most coveted era and discovered the people we admire for who and or what they really are?
In a recent CNN Op-Ed, "America, a nation without heroes," LZ Granderson highlights these questions saying, "Imagine if TMZ or Twitter was around when Marilyn Monroe was singing to President Kennedy or if smart phones were available to capture video of Mickey Mantle getting drunk in bars and picking up women. Our opinions of those iconic figures would certainly be different. And we wouldn't be behaving as if things have somehow gotten worse. We would know that the country was never as pious as we like to think it was."
What have the people of America shaped the country into? Something admirable? Or are we just in a state of perpetual downfall? Granderson does make a point in saying our current media and social network outlets exploit the modern-day individual and his or her flaws, but where is the line drawn? We advertise whom we admire and we mask those whom we don't behind rumors — what defines the modern day hero?
Granderson never goes on to define who his heroes are, or if he has any left. But I suppose it doesn't hurt to keep the heroes of the past in our future. So Marilyn Monroe wasn't exposed for who she "really" was until years later. So some of our presidents had hidden indiscretions. Our Founding Fathers weren't perfect either … does that mean we neglect what these people have done for our country?
If we want to look to heroes, look to the people overseas, protecting us from harm and keeping us in good relation with our allies. There are leaders, and among them walk frauds, but we must remember all human beings make mistakes. It's in our nature; whether it's an honest mistake or choice that puts us to shame. Heroes are defined by the choices they make — they rise above. We should still admire those who made a difference in our cultural, social and historic society. We can choose for ourselves who our heroes are, but we can also be like Gil and see that sometimes, our heroes can truly be rendered in soft memories.
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