We don’t have any heroes for our young people to emulate. Not quite true. We have George Price and Philip Goldson in politics. Dr. Karl Heusner in medicine. Nurse Vivian Seay and Cleopatra White in social services. George Gabb and Gladys Stuart in drama. Gabb, Belisle, Barrow, Cain and others in literature and the arts and, a few nameless leaders of slave rebellions against their colonial masters. Oh, I almost forgot the Father of Trade Unionism, Tony Soberanis. Where are the epic stories and poems about these great Belizean men and women to fire the imaginations of the young and make them feel proud to be a Belizean? Instead, what do we have?
A friend of mine was speaking to a group of elementary school students of one of our oldest academic institutions on the subject of Human Rights and Morality. In the course of his talk and in order to make a point, he said something uncomplimentary about Britney Spears, the prominent American singer/entertainer. He was taken by surprise by the students’ reaction, which was as if he had hurt their hero. Unfortunately for us, this is what this woman of questionable moral character has become for young Belizeans. This is what favorable publicity in the glossy magazines and television have made her. How can we have any high hopes for a generation of teenagers who idolize Britney Spears?
We have to bear in mind that young people are very impressionable. The impressions made on their minds by what they see and hear; what they are taught by word and example at home, at school and elsewhere by the models that are put before them by that most powerful educator, the television screen, help them to form their character and determine the choices they will make later in life.
When I was growing up, I had no national heroes, neither in real life nor in literature. I had good models and teachers at home and at the educational institutions I attended. Individual members of society who had made their mark in the adult world, were held up to me as models but they made little impression on me.
My heroes were the cinematic stars of cowboy movies – Buck Jones, Tom Mix and Richard Dix. The stars of the gangster movies, Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney, impressed myself and my contemporaries greatly but, there was one good thing about those movies: the gangster always paid for his crimes. The moral – crime does not pay – was always upheld.
The lives and what they accomplished of the English historical heroes like Nelson, Wellington, Drake, Clive of India and Lawrence of Arabia made a much greater impression on me because of my love of books. Sabatini’s Captain Blood and Seahawk, Dumas’ Count of Monte Cristo and Baroness Oreszy’s Scarlet Pimpernel were much more impressive than the movie heroes.
Nowadays, the most effective educator and the one that makes the strongest impression on the young is television and, especially, certain programs which have been tailored for vulnerable young viewers.
Hollywood has been glorifying gangsters from the beginning. Crime and violence sell, and it is in the nature of free enterprise capitalism that the bottom line is what is profitable. These movies and T.V. programs cost very little to make except when they feature stars like Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, who command large salaries. The movies and T.V. programs are getting worse and worse. Before this, if someone was shot, they staggered and fell. Now, producers go for what is called realism. Now, gouts of flesh and brains are shown, and gore is the order of the day. The killers are more callous and vicious and the crime lords die in their beds from natural causes.
Recently I saw a movie on television, on the life of Charles Luciano, who was given the name “Lucky” by his contemporaries. As usual, the star who played the role of Lucky Luciano was very personable. You had to identify with him and wish him well, despite his and his associates’ murderous ways. His enemies were no less murderous, so, the viewer is forced to ride with Lucky. He became the head of the crime organization in the United States by dint of his ruthlessness and genius and, according to the movie, his was a peaceful reign as King of Crime for fifteen years. He died from natural causes while in exile from his country. What kind of influence do you think that a picture like this will have on those inclined to be anti-social?
What we need in our society are more positive role models to put before the young – real or fictional.
If we don’t have real life heroes, then our writers have to produce some. The British have Beowulf, King Arthur, Sir Lancelot and Sherlock Holmes. Their children have Richmal Crompton’s William, Stephenson’s hero of Treasure Island and stories of Robin Hood and his merry men. What do we have?