Under the Microscope
by Glynn Wilson

Where are the super heroes worthy of legend in our world today?

Greece and Rome had Hercules.

America had Superman. Lest we forget, he was by day the mild-mannered reporter for The Daily Planet Clark Kent.

Hercules is the Roman name for the mythical Greek hero Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena. He was made to perform 1200 great tasks to cleanse himself - after he went temporarily insane and killed his wife and kids, along with his entire village, an oft forgotten part of his heroic tale.

Photo by Glynn Wilson

Hercules at The Met

While he was a champion and a great warrior, Hercules was not above cheating and using any unfair trick to his advantage, historians say. Later, Hercules went mad with rage and slaughtered cows.

So much for the foibles of heroes.

In Roman works of art and in Renaissance and post-Renaissance art that adapts Roman iconography, Hercules can be identified as an example of action and masculinity. He embodies great strength, courage - and great appetites, including erotic adventures with both women and boys.

So much for the foibles of heroes.

Hercules was renowned for making “the world safe for mankind” since he supposedly destroyed many terrible beasts, including the snake-headed Medusa. His “self-sacrifice” obtained his welcome from the gods, as the half-son of Zeus, into Olympia, the Greek version of heaven.

Wiki Hercules

Superman, on the other hand, was born on another planet but became the savior of Metropolis and was known to stand for quaint things such as, “Truth, Justice and the American way.” Of course he would tell Louis Lane this right before taking her out for a late night flight around the city, and then back to her place for some super sex.

So much for the foibles of heroes.

Wiki Superman

I’ve never been one to put that much stock in heroes anyway, myself, as more than fantasy.

Even the biggest Superhero of them all for Christians, Jesus, who would save them all for their sins and assure them a nice seat on the grass in heaven, always struck me as lacking in ultimate authenticity.

Maybe it’s just that I’ve never met a real hero in person.

Photo by Glynn Wilson

Jesus on the cross depicted in centuries-old art at The Met

Oh, I’ve interviewed a few who drew the title, for saving kids from burning buildings, being wounded for their country in a war. But even most wars seem of questionable validity when you look closely at their political genesis.

In today’s pop culture, we often refer to rock stars as our heroes, along with football players, race car drivers and movie actors. But some of us seem to bitch like hell when an actor comments on the state of the world or politics.

I mean, look at the Dixie Chicks? Natalie Main is my hero, for saying what she did and taking the heat and coming back to win the big Grammy.

What about politicians? Do you know of a politician you would call a hero? I don’t, and I’ve been covering politics for almost 30 years.

John McCain was a bona fide war hero, serving years in a North Vietnamese prison camp. Until recently, when he decided to run for president, he was seen as a maverick, tell it like it is statesman. But no more.

John Kerry is a larger than life kind of character, all rich and smart from Massachusetts, with that big face and his own Vietnam bona fides. But nobody in the American South saw him that way in the 2004 race, because the old Wallace anti-Ivy League Yankee liberal label still works for the likes of Karl Rove, George Bush and the GOP.

Maybe he should have shot his duck hunting companion back during that campaign. It would have made him seem more manly, like Dick Cheney.

I certainly don’t know of any heroes alive from my home state of Alabama, with the possible exception of E.O. Wilson, and he lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts now too.

Where are the media heroes?

Now that’s where the story gets interesting.

Scott Horton is the last of the crusading New York lawyers with an interest in justice and the South, specifically Alabama and the case of railroaded former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman.

The folks over at The Nation Institute seem genuinely interested in what’s going on down here, and have a long-term project going on all about “purple America,” where the liberals and conservatives are mixed in all over the place, even here in Alabamaland.

It’s sort of nice to be back in the bunker with my computer wall working, although I would trade it all in, in a New York heartbeat, for a loft in the West Village or SoHo. That is if I didn’t have familial responsibilities here - and if someone would pay me enough to live and work there.

I suspect I could write and drink with the best of them. I did it in New Orleans, and never had to publish one correction in four years.

You see, I’m sort of like Superboy. I take this American journalism shit seriously, maybe too seriously at times. I’ve been called a “true believer” right up there with Jill Simpson.

Maybe if we had a few more true believers - who were willing to do what it takes to be a superhero - we could straiten this old world out.

Hey, it’s not like I’m countin’ on it. Yet I have no choice but to fight. It’s in my genes.

If I have to do that living on the road cowboying out of a van, so much the better. It’s a great way to actually see the country.

Most people in New York, Washington and LA only see it from the air, which means they don’t see it at all.

The good news is they need someone down here on the ground to tell them what is up in the South. As it turns out, that’s my specialty.

So, for now I can definitely report that global warming is real and happening now in the American South.

See that red sun in the photo below? It was as hot as it looked coming down out of the Appalachians and into the foothills around Ft. Payne, Alabama, just northeast of Rainsville.

It was a nice two week break up the East Coast. Maybe fall will hit here soon and we can spot some migrating birds.

Photo by Glynn Wilson

The final sunset on our Washington, New York trip, looking out over Ft. Payne, Alabama, in the foothills of the Applachian Mountains.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 26th, 2007 at 12:42 am and is filed under Under the Microscope II. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.