In this age of intensive media coverage-1

In

this

age

of

intensive

media

coverage, it is no longer possible for

a society to regard any living man or

woman as a hero.

NO

Resounding

The grass root

Dope

Every

year

since

the

early

1950s,

the

organization

of

Grawemeyer

Award,

the

University

of

Louisville

gives

out

10000

dollars

to

humanitarians

such

as

Greg

Mortenson

(the

author

of

Three

Cups

of

Tea

)

and

icons

such

as

Lance

Armstrong

for

their

gargantuan contribution to empower

and

positively

shift

the

third

world

education

and

challenging

sports.

As

an

important

and

well-respect

award,

the

Grawemeyer

ceremony

is annually recorded and covered by

media

such

as

America’s

NBC

Nightly News and CBS

’s

60 Minutes;

to

many,

the

winners

of

such

awards are their heroes due to their

tremendous

persistence

and

passion towards their goals and the

grueling

challenges

of

realizing

them.

Through

various

media

such

as

TV

and

newspapers,

readers

and

audiences

see

these

heroes

become

role

models,

and

sometimes

“the

light”

and

“sparks”

to

turn

their

personal

lives

around.

Moreover,

these

people

usually

strongly believe in heroism and their

powerful

and

positive

impact

on

their nations and societies. However,

recently,

through

long-term

data

collection,

investigation

and

later

a

“crude”

interview

with

Greg

Mortenson, 60 Minutes untangle the

dark

secret

of

his

“humanitarian”

action aiming to lift the poverty and

change

central

Asia’s

lagging

education

(He

was

accused

of

corruption

and

accumulating

personal wealth with public donor’s

money). Not only has Greg’s public

scandal

severely

tainted

his

reputation,

disappointed

and

angered

his

readers

and

fellow

philanthropists,

but

his

and

hundreds

of

thousands

of

other

similar scandals unfolded by intense

media

scrutiny

is

raising

a

heated

question:

“

do

heroes

still

exist

in

today’s fast changing world where a

small mistake can cost

one’s fame,

brand

and

career?”

My

answer

to

this question is a resounding

“yes.”

In

this

essay,

with

compelling

examples,

I

will

strongly

advocate

that

the

definition

of

the

very

term

“hero”

has

dramatically

changed

over

the

years;

that

today’s

heroes

share

both

similarities

and

dissimilarities

with

the

stereotypical

notion

of

hero

from

the

past.

However,

heroes

will

always

stand

out in every society and in any time

period

both

the

present

and

future

ones.

EAT, PRAY

, LOVE

Firstly,

the

definition

of

“

heroe

”

has

been

dramatically

changed

due

to

the

intense

coverage

of

various

media

in

contemporary

society.

In

the

past,

heroes

were

usually

considered

flawless

and

perfect,

due

to

the

shortage

of

strategies

and technologies of media; in other

words,/

watchdog

without

sophisticated

medium

such

as

the

Internet, h

eroes’ were “

whitewashed

”

by the media at the time; their bright

sides were highlighted and, at times,

exaggeratingly

embellished;

their

darkness

and

complexity,

on

the

other hand, has been obliterated by

the

blizzard

of

time.

With

the

support

of

groundbreaking

technology,

today’s

media

is

capable

of

objectively

and

deeply

showing

a

hero’s

“authentic”

traits

and

complex

characteristics

(whether he or she wants it or not).

However, the development of media

fails

to

recogonize

the

/

misinformed idea that heroes die in

today’s world.

Instead, probably for

the

first

time

in

history,

people

admire

living

men

and

women

as

heroes

not for their “perfection,”

but

the

authenticity

that

they

either

consciously

or

unconsciously

show

to

others.

“Heroes”

are

not

robots;

they live as “vulnerable” and “flawed”

human

beings,

and,

because

of

it,

their heroic actions and momentum

are

even

more

remarkably

admirable

and

precious.

For

example,

Elizabeth

Gilbert

(the

author of the best-selling nonfiction

Eat

Pray

Love

)

has

become

the

heroine

of

millions

of

women,

after

she

vividly

depicted

her

heart-broking

divorce

in

her

novel,

including

the

depression,

deadly

loneliness,

and,

most

importantly,

the

peace

that

she

eventually

gained

from

her

sufferings

(she

called

it

a

“

spiritual

journey

”

).

After

the

sensational

overnight

success

of

Eat Pray Love

, she was covered

intensely

by

various

media

(she

appeared on the TV talkshow show

Oprah

,

TED

and

many

other

spiritual

seminars

and

workshops,