A Beacon of Morals

A Beacon of Morals
I remember hearing my parents and others talk about all the heros they used to look up to. These individuals served as role models to the baby boom generation. Individuals like James Stewart, Humphrey Bogart, Paul Newman, John Wayne, Clark Gable, Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson, Elvis Presley, and many others are some of the most notable American heros of yesteryear. But where are today’s stories of glory and where are today’s role models for tomorrow’s youth?
Today the media does not provide the "feel-good" media stories that it once used to. News coverage is saturated with negative sentiment and "celebrity watches" are littered with scandal and juicy details. The individuals that we used to look towards as our role models today are victim to an unrelenting, ever-scrutinizing media that unearth and make public the most intimate of details. And worse, the driving force behind the media’s (and paparazzi’s) digging is the public’s demand and interest in these matters. Our demand fuels the media’s intensity to report this information. The end result is that our former Hollywood and celebrity icons and role models have been exposed as being human and having flaws.
The media’s portrayal of our celebrity role models has left this current generation with little to cling to in terms of "Real American Heroes". Often children must turn to the realm of fantasy to find a hero without some a major character defect advertised by the media. For the previous generation, there were ample heroes to look towards probably because these celebrities were still entitled to some level of privacy not afforded today. Today I can only think of a few. Peyton Manning is one that comes to mind. Possibly Steve Young. I’m not asserting that American heroes are completely absent today, but they certainly are harder to find. Most celebrities and athletes today have some sort of scandal that has soiled their reputation. Think about some of the "squeaky clean" Disney stars that have either a current or past controversy/scandal; Vanessa Hudgens, Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Lindsay Lohan, Adrienne Bailon (from the Cheetah Girls) and still others. The point is that high quality role models are in high demand because they are in low supply.
So what does this mean for today’s youth that are in the market for a good role model? Scandals have left today’s youth without a nationally recognized beacon of morals to model one’s behavior after. Role models fulfill a very important role in the eyes of aging youth; they provide an example of how to live your life. With an absence of good role models (or beacons of morals) today’s youth look up to and mimic individuals whose behavior is simply not worth mirroring. I know I have watched some of the more popular shows that MTV produces (for as long as possible until I felt myself getting dumber by the minute), but I watched them long enough to see that the popular trend is to have an antagonist that creates tension and "drama" with the other characters. These are the people that receive the most attention on these shows; the villains. The youth see this and fail to see that these individuals (like Spencer on "The Hills") exhibit behavior that is not socially acceptable, yet still continue to feel the desire to mimic their behavior and start drama of their own. Even worse, the bad morals and behaviors that are depicted in these shows (promiscuity, drug/alcohol abuse, violence, rudeness, etc.) are becoming mainstream behaviors and more socially acceptable. The media has negatively influenced the upcoming generation not only through its depiction of these behaviors, but also by deconstructing good role models and constructed bad ones.
I remember when I was young (which was really not that long ago) that I had at least one Hollywood hero (Harrison Ford), but relied primarily on my hometown heroes. I looked up to (and still do) the examples set by my father and grandfather. They taught me the importance of being morally upright, justice, fairness, honesty, decency, and a plethora of other behaviors and beliefs that I steadfastly hold onto today. Without their influence (and the influence of others) it is uncertain how I would have turned out today. These hometown heroes provide a beacon of morals that our youth can and need to mimic. They are real, accessible, and present character that is not influenced by the watchful eye of the media. My role models passed on the values and morals that I have today and I can only hope that one day I will too be a beacon of morals to another generation.