When our heros are screwed up like us, or worse

Last night in a fit of decadence, I watched two movies. The first was Hancock. I am about to spoil the movie, so if you haven't seen it you may want to stop.

Hancock and the character played by Charlize Theron are gods created 3000 years ago. Gods were made in pairs back then, and loose their powers when they are together. Something about their soul-mate-ness makes them mortal when they are living in the heavenly marriage that was intended for them. When separate, they have virtually infinite power.

When we first meet Hancock he is a drunk. He catches bad guys, but causes millions of dollars worth of damage in the process. And he doesn't care. He threatens criminals with a sweet, on-the-brink, kick-ass attitude. And his omnipotence adds real weight to his annoyed, bullying intimidation. The mortals, men women and children, call him an 'asshole' because his heroic acts are more than undone by his destruction of Los Angeles property. He tears holes in the the streets with his take-offs and landings. He actually harms lots of innocent bystanders by apprehending bad guys.

Hancock doesn't really know who he is or where he came from. He is not noble, does not care for anyone else. He flies like a marionette-you can almost see the strings. He's just a bum with super powers. And he's kicking bad-guy-ass because they are too big for their britches.

This says something about "heroism" in the 21st century: heroes are taking a step down in the esteem of us ordinary people. Whether this is because of two generations of self-esteem based schools or advertising that tells us repeatedly the rewards we "deserve" or simply because we cant bear to have someone better than us, I cannot say.

Hancock is not the first super hero to be re-imagined in "our own image." Spiderman got a dark side in part 3. Superman was killed a few years ago by Batman in the Marvel comic series. The Incredibles taught us, while affirming the goodness of being awesome (if everyone is a super, then no one is), that even super-families have fights, extra-marital flirtations, adolescent outbursts, disobedient children and husband-wife deception.

I believe the human psyche wants heroes - we want them to inspire us, but not too much. We want to believe that they are really not that much better than us. We want to believe that we are the heroes.

Pericles spoke of the man who "suspects exaggeration if he hears anything above his own nature. For men can endure to hear others praised only so long as they can persuade themselves of their own ability to equal the actions recounted."

By constantly reducing heroes to our level, we make true greatness less plausible and elevate ourselves.

What if there was a real good hero, what would we do to him?