Blog 9: Hero "Are we that in need of a Hero"

In the movie Hero we see a perfectly illustrated fascination of what we consider a hero. I think a hero is someone who puts innocent lives first instead of his own, sacrificing himself to save people from dangerous and impossible situations. People come from all different backgrounds, but we as humans weren’t meant to be perfect. Sometimes people choose to live in their own fantasy illusions, when things aren’t so good. We believe what we want to believe, no matter how misguided we may seem. The movie Hero portrays two bums Bernie Laplante and John Bubber, Laplante being the real protagonist who saved the lives of the people on the burning plane and Bubber the homeless guy that pretends to be the hero. In the movie we see how the media portrays a hero and makes him America’s center of attention.

In the movie Hero, Bernie Laplante wasn’t perfect or respectable. He was a man that did everything he could to survive. He didn’t give a dam, but in some ways, he still cared about what his son thought of him. I think he wanted to be there for him, but he kept screwing up.

           Laplante was on his way to pick up his son when his old car broke down and suddenly a plane crashed right in front of him on the bridge. He went down to and opened the door to let the people out and he saved them from burning up. He asked his friend Chick in the bar “What would you say if I ran into a burning plane and saved a bunch of people and risk my life” Chick said that “you wouldn’t do it. It’s a character thing.” I think a hero is someone who would risk his life to save to save others, but I wouldn’t believe Bernie Laplante because he didn’t look like a hero. In the public eyes he wouldn’t be a hero because he isn’t good looking or properly dressed.

          John Bubber this homeless guy who only had his car was driving and he gave Laplante a ride. Laplante told him his story about what had happed at the crash site and he also gave him his one sided shoe since he lost the other side. Later America wanted to know who their Hero was, so I think that Bernie was afraid of coming out and saying that he was the hero who saved those people, then again it was clear that he knew that it was “a character thing” and he didn’t have the looks and charms to be that hero. I think people shouldn’t judge, it’s like the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover.” That’s exactly what people would have done if Bernie had being revealed to America as the real hero. I think that’s more of the reason he kept a low profile.
Gale Gayley the big time reporter was one of victims on flight 104, that crashed, but she wanted to know who saved her. Her television station wanted higher ratings so they offer a million dollars for an exclusive interview with the hero that comes forward. John Bubber came forward, because he had the other side of the shoe.
 
        The media instantly makes a big deal out of him by turning into a celebrity because he was a solider who saved people in Vietnam. John Bubber said “that we are all heroes if you catch us at the right time.” I think he was saying that you have to be where something terrible going to happen to play the hero role. The director made it very convincing that John was the hero all because he looked great and acted the part. Soon John Bubber was idealistic hero we all wanted, because people saw him as well dressed, good looking person who had great hair.
 In today’s society we would look at the news and believe everything they say. In the movie Laplante said that “you can’t believe everything you hear on the news.” Just like the media made it very believable, although we knew that Bernie Laplante was the real hero and John wasn’t, people wouldn’t accept Laplante because he didn’t fit the ideal image of a hero. In the movie his wife said “it’s against his religion to stick his neck out.” 
The media made John into this guy who could do anything. I don’t think it was fair for John to get the credit for been a hero, but in the movie we see that Laplante didn’t want to be in the spot lights. He wanted to be left alone, but he wanted the money so he could help his family, his son.

        We all want a hero in our lives that can save us from this world we live in, full of violent killing, cursing, lies and betrayal, sex and drugs. In the end of the movie John Bubber couldn’t handle lying to people anymore so he wanted to jump off the building to his doom. Then Laplante comes to talk him and save him from jumping off, but then it becomes clear to Gale who’s emotionally attach to Bubber that he isn’t the hero who save her. Then she talks to Laplante who confesses that he was the one who did. But she went along with the story because as reporter she knew that Laplante couldn’t be the hero America dreamed of having. She knew that people out there wouldn’t accept a person like Laplante.