November 10, 2023 • 11 mins
What defines a hero? Is a hero all good? Is good all good and bad all bad? Is the villain in a given scenario all bad? How do we decide what or who is good or bad? All these questions are tackled in today's episode on Heroism.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello there, and welcome to Casual Fridays, the podcast where weekly themes are discussed
(00:07):
through personal experiences, anecdotes, and some storytelling.
I am your host Dada, and this podcast is part of my I Read Aloud channel on YouTube, where
I read fairy tales, short stories, children's stories, poetry, letters, and other excerpts.
So if you like such content, make sure to subscribe, and you'll find me on YouTube
(00:28):
under at I Read Aloud in the search box.
You can also find me on TikTok, Instagram, and X also under at I Read Aloud.
I also want you to know that this podcast airs every Friday on the following platforms
YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Samsung Podcasts,
(00:48):
Podcast Index, ListenNotes, RSS, and Spotify.
Today's episode is titled On Heroism.
And throughout this episode, I'll discuss the meaning of heroism, I'll discuss the
hero complex and villainy, and I also talk about the average human as hero.
(01:10):
What is a hero?
What images surface in your brain when you think of the term hero?
A soldier, a war hero, a firefighter, a formula one driver, a philanthropist, a knight in
shining armor?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a hero in four different ways.
(01:33):
The first is a mythological or legendary figure, often of divine descent, endowed with great
strength and ability.
All of the Marvel heroes fall into this category, of course.
And you know, the most famous probably because he's also a god is Thor, the god of thunder
and son of Odin, and his legendary hammer Mjolnir.
(01:57):
We also have Superman, an alien, and his counterpart, Clark Kent, whose mission is to save planet
Earth.
We have Batman, the witch Tycoon, whose life mission is devoted to save Gotham.
And there I mention very religious figures such as Jesus, Muhammad, Noah, Buddha, who
(02:20):
are also legendary figures.
The second definition by the Merriam-Webster dictionary of hero is an illustrious warrior.
War heroes fall under this category, of course, such as samurai warriors, for example, of
ancient Japan.
You also have the Vikings, the Mongols, and the Aztecs, who were also well-known warriors
(02:44):
throughout history.
Some of the most famed warriors are Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, who was famed
as the most successful military commander in history.
There is Genghis Khan, the founder and first emperor of the Mongol Empire.
Leonidas I, king of Sparta, is famed for the Battle of Thermopylae, where a small force
(03:08):
of Greeks held off a much larger Persian army for three days.
As I'm sure if you've seen the movie 300, you know what I'm talking about.
Another warrior is Julius Caesar, a Roman general who played a major role in creating
the Roman Empire.
Saladin, a Kurdish Muslim from Iraq, was the military commander who was famed for his leadership
(03:32):
of the Muslim army against the Crusades and who won over Jerusalem.
Saladin was the counterpart of Richard I, Richard the Lionheart, in the Third Crusade
Wars.
And of course there's Richard the Lionheart, on which most of Robin Hood's movies are
based, who is a legend and the king of England and another famed warrior.
(03:57):
The third definition by the Merrim Webster dictionary is one who shows great courage.
And have we come closer to the everyday hero here, the firefighter who saves innocents
from a fire, the policeman who faces off a gunman to save the life of a child, the good
Samaritan who dives into stormy seas to save a drowning man, the whistleblower who reveals
(04:20):
corruption at the workplace or the government, someone speaking up and saying no when fighting
for justice?
The fourth definition is a person admired for achievements and noble qualities.
And here we could think of Nobel Prize winners, social activists and environmental activists,
writers and actors, influencers, famous people in general.
(04:44):
I believe by now I've established that being a hero is all things noble and chivalrous
and courageous and world-changing and you should all be feeling fuzzy and wonderful by now.
Except that I'm about to ruin your fuzzy feelings and tell you about the existence of the hero
complex, also known as the hero syndrome or the savior syndrome.
(05:08):
Let's use the term hero complex today for ease of reference.
What is the hero complex?
Those who have the hero complex always have to save the day no matter the cost.
That some go to the extreme of arson or attempted murder to serve their hero complex.
To explain further, a person with a hero complex could set a building on fire just to save
(05:31):
the people inside that building or attempt a murder or robbery just to turn around and
save the person being assaulted.
So the question is, is this person with the hero complex a hero or a villain?
In the movie Unbreakable with Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, the matter of heroism
(05:52):
versus villainy is under scrutiny.
Samuel L. Jackson plays the role of Glass, a character who was always prone to accidents
and severe breaks in his bones.
And of course, that's where the name Glass comes from because he's easily breakable
like Glass.
Glass was convinced of a theory he had, that there must be someone at the opposite end
(06:15):
of his spectrum who is totally unbreakable.
So he ends up staging accidents with high numbers of fatalities to see if there would
be a sole survivor and he found David played by Bruce Willis.
David is a security guard who was the sole survivor of a train wreck instigated by Glass.
(06:38):
And Glass approaches him to prove his theory and tells David that he works as a security
guard because of his instinct of heroism and the instinct to help and save people.
And he helps David develop his gift of empathy, where he would feel by simply being in the
vicinity of people who is good and who is bad and David ends up playing the role of
(07:02):
the hero and punishing those guilty of crimes.
Now the question is, who is the hero and who is the villain here?
If you see Glass as the villain, I remind you that Glass has been traumatized all his
life and was on a quest to explain why he was dealt the harsh cards of breakability
(07:23):
and fragility in his life.
It is true he killed so many people and staged accidents, but he also helped David find himself
and he is great with kids and he loves his mother and he is indeed a very smart person.
If you see David as the hero, remember that David ended up killing people in the name
of justice.
(07:44):
And if you tell me that David only killed bad people, I ask you what is bad and who
decides what is bad and is bad all bad?
Who we perceive as bad people are people with unhealed childhood traumas, so is it their
fault that they are bad?
Should they not receive help instead of getting killed by the hero saving the day?
(08:08):
There are so many quotes on how bad is not all bad and how good is not all good.
Jennifer Hillier said, not everyone is all bad or all good.
Good people do bad things every day and bad people do good things every day.
Paul McCartney said, there is good and bad in everyone.
Michael Lewis said, there is something bad and everything good and something good and
(08:32):
everything bad.
And the quotes go on and on on the same topic with the same idea being repeated in different
words.
So if all these people and so many more of them acknowledge the grey areas between good
and bad, who is the hero and who is the villain in any given scenario?
Do we decide who is good and who is bad based on an idea we've been fed since infancy?
(08:57):
Do we even really think about where we get our beliefs from?
Do we simply act as that part of our conditioned brain that tells us what is good and what's
bad?
Who is good and who is bad?
Christopher Reeve, one of the actors who played Superman said, a hero is an ordinary individual
who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
(09:22):
The average father is an ordinary individual, usually seen by his offspring as a hero when
he plays with them and spends time with them during childhood until the first clashes between
parent and child happens and starts to erase the heroic ideal of the father figure.
And when the children reach adulthood, they realize that their father was simply an ordinary
(09:47):
human being doing his best according to his knowledge and ability to win at life in the
face of different obstacles that he faces.
Does this make the father less of a hero?
Let's take another example.
A home robbery is in progress and a parent, in order to protect his family, shoots and
(10:09):
kills the invaders, only to learn later on that the invaders were simply the parents
of a child who was very sick, who needed surgery, who couldn't afford the surgery, and who decided
to risk it all for a better future for their child.
Who is the hero here?
Is it the parent who killed or is it the villains, supposedly, who are stealing?
(10:35):
It's a gray area, isn't it?
All I wanted to do is start questioning all of your handed down beliefs, especially on
what is good and what is bad, and who is good and who is bad.
And I'll leave you with these thoughts today and that's how I will end this episode.
Next week, I'll discuss the topic of hate.
I hope you'll tune in then.
(10:56):
For now, I wish you a lovely weekend and I send you all my love.
Till next Friday!
Hello there, and welcome to Casual Fridays, the podcast where weekly themes are discussed
(00:07):
through personal experiences, anecdotes, and some storytelling.
I am your host Dada, and this podcast is part of my I Read Aloud channel on YouTube, where
I read fairy tales, short stories, children's stories, poetry, letters, and other excerpts.
So if you like such content, make sure to subscribe, and you'll find me on YouTube
(00:28):
under at I Read Aloud in the search box.
You can also find me on TikTok, Instagram, and X also under at I Read Aloud.
I also want you to know that this podcast airs every Friday on the following platforms
YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Samsung Podcasts,
(00:48):
Podcast Index, ListenNotes, RSS, and Spotify.
Today's episode is titled On Heroism.
And throughout this episode, I'll discuss the meaning of heroism, I'll discuss the
hero complex and villainy, and I also talk about the average human as hero.
(01:10):
What is a hero?
What images surface in your brain when you think of the term hero?
A soldier, a war hero, a firefighter, a formula one driver, a philanthropist, a knight in
shining armor?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a hero in four different ways.
(01:33):
The first is a mythological or legendary figure, often of divine descent, endowed with great
strength and ability.
All of the Marvel heroes fall into this category, of course.
And you know, the most famous probably because he's also a god is Thor, the god of thunder
and son of Odin, and his legendary hammer Mjolnir.
(01:57):
We also have Superman, an alien, and his counterpart, Clark Kent, whose mission is to save planet
Earth.
We have Batman, the witch Tycoon, whose life mission is devoted to save Gotham.
And there I mention very religious figures such as Jesus, Muhammad, Noah, Buddha, who
(02:20):
are also legendary figures.
The second definition by the Merriam-Webster dictionary of hero is an illustrious warrior.
War heroes fall under this category, of course, such as samurai warriors, for example, of
ancient Japan.
You also have the Vikings, the Mongols, and the Aztecs, who were also well-known warriors
(02:44):
throughout history.
Some of the most famed warriors are Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, who was famed
as the most successful military commander in history.
There is Genghis Khan, the founder and first emperor of the Mongol Empire.
Leonidas I, king of Sparta, is famed for the Battle of Thermopylae, where a small force
(03:08):
of Greeks held off a much larger Persian army for three days.
As I'm sure if you've seen the movie 300, you know what I'm talking about.
Another warrior is Julius Caesar, a Roman general who played a major role in creating
the Roman Empire.
Saladin, a Kurdish Muslim from Iraq, was the military commander who was famed for his leadership
(03:32):
of the Muslim army against the Crusades and who won over Jerusalem.
Saladin was the counterpart of Richard I, Richard the Lionheart, in the Third Crusade
Wars.
And of course there's Richard the Lionheart, on which most of Robin Hood's movies are
based, who is a legend and the king of England and another famed warrior.
(03:57):
The third definition by the Merrim Webster dictionary is one who shows great courage.
And have we come closer to the everyday hero here, the firefighter who saves innocents
from a fire, the policeman who faces off a gunman to save the life of a child, the good
Samaritan who dives into stormy seas to save a drowning man, the whistleblower who reveals
(04:20):
corruption at the workplace or the government, someone speaking up and saying no when fighting
for justice?
The fourth definition is a person admired for achievements and noble qualities.
And here we could think of Nobel Prize winners, social activists and environmental activists,
writers and actors, influencers, famous people in general.
(04:44):
I believe by now I've established that being a hero is all things noble and chivalrous
and courageous and world-changing and you should all be feeling fuzzy and wonderful by now.
Except that I'm about to ruin your fuzzy feelings and tell you about the existence of the hero
complex, also known as the hero syndrome or the savior syndrome.
(05:08):
Let's use the term hero complex today for ease of reference.
What is the hero complex?
Those who have the hero complex always have to save the day no matter the cost.
That some go to the extreme of arson or attempted murder to serve their hero complex.
To explain further, a person with a hero complex could set a building on fire just to save
(05:31):
the people inside that building or attempt a murder or robbery just to turn around and
save the person being assaulted.
So the question is, is this person with the hero complex a hero or a villain?
In the movie Unbreakable with Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, the matter of heroism
(05:52):
versus villainy is under scrutiny.
Samuel L. Jackson plays the role of Glass, a character who was always prone to accidents
and severe breaks in his bones.
And of course, that's where the name Glass comes from because he's easily breakable
like Glass.
Glass was convinced of a theory he had, that there must be someone at the opposite end
(06:15):
of his spectrum who is totally unbreakable.
So he ends up staging accidents with high numbers of fatalities to see if there would
be a sole survivor and he found David played by Bruce Willis.
David is a security guard who was the sole survivor of a train wreck instigated by Glass.
(06:38):
And Glass approaches him to prove his theory and tells David that he works as a security
guard because of his instinct of heroism and the instinct to help and save people.
And he helps David develop his gift of empathy, where he would feel by simply being in the
vicinity of people who is good and who is bad and David ends up playing the role of
(07:02):
the hero and punishing those guilty of crimes.
Now the question is, who is the hero and who is the villain here?
If you see Glass as the villain, I remind you that Glass has been traumatized all his
life and was on a quest to explain why he was dealt the harsh cards of breakability
(07:23):
and fragility in his life.
It is true he killed so many people and staged accidents, but he also helped David find himself
and he is great with kids and he loves his mother and he is indeed a very smart person.
If you see David as the hero, remember that David ended up killing people in the name
of justice.
(07:44):
And if you tell me that David only killed bad people, I ask you what is bad and who
decides what is bad and is bad all bad?
Who we perceive as bad people are people with unhealed childhood traumas, so is it their
fault that they are bad?
Should they not receive help instead of getting killed by the hero saving the day?
(08:08):
There are so many quotes on how bad is not all bad and how good is not all good.
Jennifer Hillier said, not everyone is all bad or all good.
Good people do bad things every day and bad people do good things every day.
Paul McCartney said, there is good and bad in everyone.
Michael Lewis said, there is something bad and everything good and something good and
(08:32):
everything bad.
And the quotes go on and on on the same topic with the same idea being repeated in different
words.
So if all these people and so many more of them acknowledge the grey areas between good
and bad, who is the hero and who is the villain in any given scenario?
Do we decide who is good and who is bad based on an idea we've been fed since infancy?
(08:57):
Do we even really think about where we get our beliefs from?
Do we simply act as that part of our conditioned brain that tells us what is good and what's
bad?
Who is good and who is bad?
Christopher Reeve, one of the actors who played Superman said, a hero is an ordinary individual
who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
(09:22):
The average father is an ordinary individual, usually seen by his offspring as a hero when
he plays with them and spends time with them during childhood until the first clashes between
parent and child happens and starts to erase the heroic ideal of the father figure.
And when the children reach adulthood, they realize that their father was simply an ordinary
(09:47):
human being doing his best according to his knowledge and ability to win at life in the
face of different obstacles that he faces.
Does this make the father less of a hero?
Let's take another example.
A home robbery is in progress and a parent, in order to protect his family, shoots and
(10:09):
kills the invaders, only to learn later on that the invaders were simply the parents
of a child who was very sick, who needed surgery, who couldn't afford the surgery, and who decided
to risk it all for a better future for their child.
Who is the hero here?
Is it the parent who killed or is it the villains, supposedly, who are stealing?
(10:35):
It's a gray area, isn't it?
All I wanted to do is start questioning all of your handed down beliefs, especially on
what is good and what is bad, and who is good and who is bad.
And I'll leave you with these thoughts today and that's how I will end this episode.
Next week, I'll discuss the topic of hate.
I hope you'll tune in then.
(10:56):
For now, I wish you a lovely weekend and I send you all my love.
Till next Friday!
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