If I told you how many loads of laundry I did this weekend, you wouldn’t believe me. Besides, I would be inadvertently revealing the fact that I will get down to my last pair of underwear before I act. I would rather you didn’t know that.While I sat on the bedroom floor and folded, I watched two movies I had never seen before (more hints about the amount of laundry). First, I watched Charlie Wilson’s War with Tom Hanks and then I watched an indie called Noise starring Tim Robbins. The first I recommend, the second I do not.
Interestingly, both films were about flawed men who championed a cause. Charlie Wilson was a womanizing Congressman who proposed and supported U.S. funded weapons for the Afghani people in their war against the Soviets (1980s). Noise was essentially about a vigilante who broke into cars in order to dismantle their alarms thus reducing the noise in New York City, and many people were in full support of his tactics.
I have also been intrigued lately by the growing number of bumper stickers that read, “Nice girls don’t make history.” I’ll admit it makes me smile every time I see it.
Isn’t interesting who we make heroes? Consider how we have sainted Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Is New Orleans reconstruction and refugee advocacy enough to dismiss other so called “bad” behavior (multiple marriages, children out of wedlock, you know the list)?
What makes a hero and why? Is a flawed nature necessary? Perhaps some of you have read excerpts of Mother Teresa’s journal that was found after her death. She wrestled with paralyzing doubt and deep questions, but kept on steadily loving people in the name of Jesus. Many “saints” had personal lives that were messy and vices that plagued them throughout their lives.
Since I live in 2009, the irony of Charlie Wilson’s War was not lost on me. Hindsight now tells us that the very Afghani men we armed and trained are now fighting against us. Charlie Wilson saw children in a refugee camp missing limbs, and decided on a course of action that ultimately leaves us with questions. More questions than I can list.
Maybe a hero simply acts before he/she runs out of underwear.
1 comment:
I’m detecting a trend here – a theme I can’t quite identify, but definitely related to internal drive and motivation.
Anyway, you have to be pretty flawed to be a hero, at least how we typically define a hero. Relatively healthy people lead balanced lives, raise healthy happy children, and serve their community. They go on to positively affect generations, but their names never appear in the media. Relatively flawed people, because of their flaws, with their imperfect relationships with God, are internally driven to do extraordinary things. We’re all, in some way, trying to fill the empty places inside and I think there’s a pretty fine line between “saints” and “sinners.”
Btw, that scene where Philip Seymour Hoffman first meets Tom Hanks in his office is classic! I’m laughing just thinking about it.
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