Hero vs. Celebrity: What Is It to Be a Hero | Teen Ink

Hero vs. Celebrity: What Is It to Be a Hero

October 14, 2016
By legitannah GOLD, Akron, Ohio
legitannah GOLD, Akron, Ohio
19 articles 3 photos 27 comments

Favorite Quote:
Ce n'etait qu'un renard semblable 'a cent mille autres. Maus j'en ai fait mon ami, et il est maintenant unique au monde.- Antoine Saint-Exupery


A celebrity is a famous person- someone who by positive or negative reasons has become a sort of household name. Someone who receives medals or awards and has some sort of ability that people admire. These persons can have scandals from their lives being under a microscope and make very public mistakes, but also work incredibly hard at something they are passionate about. These people break records and make headlines.

     

A hero, however, is often times someone who directly helps people and does so, in such a way, that they don’t just inspire them- they directly make an impact on their lives. Many times risking their own skin because they refuse to back down from the duty they’ve taken to others. It can be someone who gives to the poor, it can be someone who does things that are definitely not politically correct, but yet they are still praised as heroes. Why? Because people need these limitless heroes, people need other people who are willing and ready to take action.

     

A celebrity can be someone who was in the game, per say, since childhood, but came into their own later on. A celebrity has thousands or millions of fans, people who idealize their every move, outfit, or project and claim to love them endlessly. They also have thousands of critics, people who speculate on their every move or say hateful things about them and sometimes to them. Celebrities are human too, though, and sometimes come out about diseases and illnesses they may face. They use their voice and platform to spread awareness and speak on issues meaningful to them and universal feelings that others can relate to.

     

A hero is also someone who may be trained in their forte since childhood. Many times they have a scarred past and fight to make sure that what happened to them won’t happen to others. They take action instead of simply talking about something and execute their battles with a seemingly fearless attitude. They may not have always been heroes- they may have done things they regret or may have been employed with the wrong side, but this only fuels them to fight even harder for what’s right. A hero is someone who understands that civilians and other people get hurt in careless battles between protagonists and antagonists. A hero understands the price that comes with decisions and puts thought and calculation into their moves. A hero is some someone who shows valor and strength, but the necessary sensitivity in understanding as well. A hero is someone whom our insides scream for because we want to be that hardcore and achieve such redemption too.

     

Though many famous people come from famous families, a celebrity can come from a place like homelessness or the streets too. It can be someone who started from the bottom and then all of a sudden gain millions of followers who like their voice or appearance. Many times, however, once they achieve the fame that retrieves them from poverty, they don’t know what to do with it. Many celebrities end up on the “Hall of Shame” after they party too hard or get swept up with people who use them for their fame. Often times they end up feeling broken, confused and not their original selves. When this happens, celebrities often try to pull back and hide from the public eye for a while, or abandon those that supported them at their lowest.

     

A hero is also not always someone born a hero. Many ancient and modern day heroes were part immortal or such from the start,  but that’s not always the case. Sometimes a hero has what could be looked at as a blessing or a curse bite them out of nowhere. Shakespeare described this eloquently when he said, “be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them”. When a hero has such greatness thrown upon them, however, it can be tricky to figure out how to utilize their newfound ability and how to deal with the countless targets now on the hero’s back. This is because evil targets power, so it can have more power in the end. Heroes still make mistakes and have to deal with loss and hurt and the want for revenge and justice, while maintaining balance in these and other areas of their lives, but they still choose to keep sacrificing for others in the end. Heroes can’t leave the people they’re called to protect for too long because, after every tunnel, they still recognize that “everyone has a choice” and that “with great power comes great responsibility”.

     

Though many celebrities feel utterly overwhelmed with fame and have excessive fans and haters and can’t go anywhere without making headlines, some celebs know how to go out and about in a quieter way. Such persons like Ed Sheeran are quite famous and have won awards and been praised for excellent songwriting and yet actually go to places like bars and parties and hikes without making scandalous headlines. If one asks him how this can be, he replies that he’s just himself and doesn’t body build and all that typical famous stuff. This shows that though most celebs are famous partly due to their looks or who they’re dating, a celebrity can also be someone who’s simply really good at what they do and an interesting person. A celebrity actually can be someone who went from the streets to award shows and managed to appear the same through it all. A celebrity can be someone who doesn’t need crazy videos and stunts for recognition, a celebrity doesn’t always need to be the center of attention- though usually they are. A celebrity is someone who makes someone feel their experiences.

     

A hero is someone who does something heroic or countless heroics things. But a hero can also be someone who works with others, who gives pep talks to the team, and works with other heroes who all have out of this world powers. That doesn’t stop the hero from risking their life- the hero doesn’t just say “Oh they have really cool people on this so I’m not needed and I don’t need to take action too”. No, heroes risks themselves and knows how to work with others to accomplish a greater goal. The hero can be a simple family man with no superpowers who still goes out there and destroys what needs to be destroyed with the  perfect aim of an arrow. The hero is a team player. A hero doesn’t need to be the center of attention all the time either. A hero uses what’s inside of them, what they have, what they were given, their brain ect. A hero comes through in the end, a hero doesn’t need to use super things to be super.

     

A celebrity is someone who creates something. Whether it’s emotion or feeling, excitement or passion, dance or music, clothes or movies- they create something which in turn gives them fame. Often, their creations are deemed very helpful to others because it’s a form of expression. It helps people feel something and helps them to know that they’re not alone in feeling the way they do. When celebrities accomplish their dreams, it make onlookers feel like they can too.

     

Heroes are people who risks themselves for others. Heroes are those who save people from fatal things like death in extreme cases. Heroes are people who are put in extraordinary situations and, in the split second they have to decide, make the choice to put it all on the line for others. Heroes are people who step in because they’d hope someone would step in for them. Heroes don’t always think they’re heroes, a lot of times they say they just did what had to be done. Though, people seem most obsessed with celebrities in this day and age, sometimes people recognize heroes like they should as well. When this happens a hero can turn into a celebrity from the acknowledgement of their heroic deed(s). People want celebrities, but people need heroes.


The author's comments:

This was originially a project I did for English class and was inspired by people and characters like, Ryan Lochte, Robin Hood, Selena Gomez, Black Widow, Justin Bieber, Spiderman, Ed Sheeran, Hawkeye, Val Chmerkoskiy, Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos, and Spencer Stone. They each have a paragraph sort of deticated to them and appear in that order.


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