Heroes

Two questions:

Where did all the heroes go? The folks we (the old folks – My Generation) grew up with admiring and wanting to model our own lives after. The politicians, the social leaders, the artists, the sports figures…

Who are this generation’s heroes? Where are they going to come from?

These questions I ponder.

When I was growing I vacillated between wanting to be an astronaut and wanting to pursue some kind of artistic career. I loved reading and music and had both literary heroes as well as musical heroes. There were the stars of stage and screen that were also inspirations. John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery (as James Bond). Musicians such as the Beatles, the doors, the Stones, The Who, along with songwriters like Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Neil Young. Comics such as Jerry Lewis, Jack Lemon, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, George Carlin. Writers like Hemmingway, Thoreau, Jack Kerouac, Jim Dodge, J.R.R. Tokien, Hunter Thompson all shaped my view of the world and defined for me artistic goals and pursuits.

Social activism was a prominent subject in the news and in the daily vernacular. The debate over the War in Vietnam, the power of the presidency, the battle for social equality within this country (and around the world ) all fostered many heroes such as President Kennedy, his brothers Robert and Ted, Dr. Martin Luther King, Abby Hoffman and the Chicago 8, Ralph Nader, and many others were inspiring in their words and actions.

It strikes me as I put together the lists above that there was a fair amount of cross-over in the 1960s and 1970s where artists were involved in activism. Pete Seeger was as much a musical hero as he was a political activist. People like Harry Chapin’s involvement in World Hunger and Bob Dylan whose songs became stables of the civil rights movement. Andy Warhol, Ken Kesey, Alan Ginsberg and Timothy Leary all questioned the social and cultural norms that were prevalent in the decades preceding the 1960’s. The hippie idealist sentimentality and idolism was fueled by the music of the day and these incredible poets, philosophers and artists.

The lines have been blurred again. In general, the American public (can only speak to the culture that I’m most familiar with) have become very immune to political figures’ charisma. Most have been jaded, perhaps irrevocably by corruption, double speak, broken promises and disillusionment with the people and the political process that heroes aren’t likely to come from this camp any more.

Media stars are now extremely short lived. There aren’t prominent entertainers that ride a long career any more. Instead we have bands that might make two good albums and then are never heard from again. TV series rarely go beyond the 5 years it takes to gain syndication rights. In short the long standing “stars” of the previous generation (Elvis Presley, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra and the rat pack, Bob Hope) had careers that spanned decades. Today’s “stars” are rarely if ever going to have the same longevity in their careers. They seem to fizzle out a lot quicker and fade into obscurity.

Perhaps part of the change (or at least my perception of it) is that the methods of consumption of news, music and culture (at large) has changed so drastically in the last twenty years. We are exposed to much more information and media sources than ever before that perhaps the truly revolutionary and effective artistic accomplishments are harder to discern or more apt to be overshadowed by the onslaught of the pseudo-famous works of the “celebrity of the day” media mavens. The Octo-Mom, Jon and Kate, Paris Hilton… in short all the folks that are famous by today’s standards not so much for accomplishments but... just for being famous.

I think the heroes of today are likely going to come from very different sources. I believe that “new media” podcasters, Internet personalities, (and yes indeed, dare I say it...) bloggers are going to become the new cultural leaders.

Popularity of such social networking applications such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, SecondLife are giving rise to a new breed of celebrity. Your level status within World of Warcraft, the ability to own a personal virtual island, your creativity garnering a new breed of Web 2.0 site will garner the attention of the masses in new and different ways.

Using these new tools we are creating content at a pace never before seen in our society. We have capabilities to publish this content using freely available and easy to use tools that have revolutionized the publishing of media and artistic content. This gives way to faster and more accessible content that can be spread through a virulent ecosystem that fuels interest and gives rise to a different breed of celebrity.