Hubris and Hubcaps

My father: “How long are you going to hit your head on that rock, boy?”
Me: “How long til the rock gives in?”

From Macbeth to Willie Loman literature, commonly referred to today as ‘entertainment’, has provided us with heroes. Tragic heroes. These heroes were there to teach us a lesson in the old days and modern heroes teach us a lesson as well, whether their creators intended it or not.
The tragic hero of old had a flaw, usually hubris, which leads to his downfall. Put simply, he was cocky. He was cocky and he got what was coming to him. Right before what was coming to him, well, came, he would have a moment where he realized he had screwed the pooch. The punishment would frequently outweigh the crime but that is the way of the world. The hero faced this, learned from his mistake and we all left the theater a little more prepared to take on the world and succeed.
Somebody needs to fill in John McClain. Or Rambo. On second thought, someone needs to fill in Hollywood. When we look at the modern hero he, too, has a tragic flaw, usually this same cockiness. He faces a huge problem caused by his flaw and the solution is, of course, to get even cockier. Once the hero goes form cocky to super cocky all his problems are solved.
Our modern heroes take on a big corporation or large gang of bad guys and get their tuckus kicked. They stop, reflect on their incredibly flawed plan in come obvious way- “Oh, maybe fighting 12 professional mob hit men who are Gulf War veterans with my rodeo skills from an ice cream truck wasn’t such a good idea!” And then realizes he could have won if he had just REALLY meant it. He just wasn’t angry enough, cocky enough; his spinners just weren’t as shiny as they could have been.
One video montage later our ‘hero’ has spit polished the spinners on his ice cream truck, practiced with his lasso for 45 minutes and now he REALLY MEANS IT. And if American storytelling since Vietnam provides us any lesson it is that you cannot lose if you really mean it. The 75 lb. math nerd who has never balled his fist CAN beat up the varsity linebacker if he just means it enough. The lone, alcoholic cop can stop the international terrorist cabal funded by $100 million dollars and full of professional mercenaries if he just really wants to. The scrappy tomboy with a skateboard can stop the multinational conglomerate from buying her grandmothers neighborhood if she will just truly want it to happen.
This is, at minimum, a dangerous lesson. Listen to the people around you. It is amazing how many of them are sure they cannot be defeated if the cause of the conflict is something they are passionate about. Passion trumps push-ups and group tactics? I don’t think so. The heroes always find that as their passions rise the incompetence of the highly trained and well funded increases. This inverse correlation makes for entertaining theater but it has also brainwashed a generation of Americans into believing that ‘plucky’ wins. Little hint for you: Plucky has its brains splattered on the pavement.
I do not mean to slam Hollywood for ruining us. Hollywood provides what people want. I cannot believe for a moment that this giant industry is going to risk the monstrous sums of cash it risks on each venture to make a point. They are in it for the money. And plucky brings money. Sadly.
So, who IS to blame? The audience. Yes, you. Yes, me. Stop it. The good guy loses all the time. Not every time but darned frequently. Why are we afraid to face this?
When I look up and see deluded morons protesting at town halls across America or deluded morons tying themselves to trees I always have the same thought come to mind: Movie Fan.
Polishing your spinners or tying on that headband will not do it, kids. No amount of video montage will either. Arming yourself with the fact and training and preparing a debate and research will change your situation. Nothing you have learned from escapist fantasy will. You see, escapist fantasy is about, get ready for it, escaping! It is about NOT facing reality.
If you still do not get my point I invite you by any weekend. I have a Rocky on DVD and it may help. Rocky gets his ass kicked in the second worst way and is proud he didn’t get it kicked in the worst way. This brilliant revelation is why I instantly forgive Sylvester Stallone for the hideously stanky flotsam he has foisted on me since. Pride in survival as winning. It is, unfortunately the most recent example I can think of. Thirty three years is a long time to wait to be inspired by truth. I guess I will polish my spinners and work with that lasso while I wait for America to get it.