But you'll notice that virtually nothing memorable came out of those debates other than a general respect for the brains of the candidates.įor any important occasions though, they would read from a speech they'd labored long hours over. Of course politicians have always been expected to come up with snappy, off-the-cuff speeches "out on the stump." That's what Lincoln and Douglas were doing in their famous debates. As far as I can tell it's not much older than the authentic hippy days of the '60's. But it's really a modern conceit that only extemporaneous speaking is honest and real. President Obama has been catching a lot of flack lately for taking his handy teleprompter wherever he goes. Version of the teleprompter - a piece of paper Lincoln reading his 2nd Inaugural from the 1860s That's why we write stories about heroes: To model heroism so others can learn and imitate it. And that, I believe, is an evolutionary leap for moviegoers because a realistic hero is a much more inspiring hero. It's just that only recently have we been ready to write realistic screenplays. No, it's not that that real or fictional heroes have never had shadowy corners in their souls that they struggle to beat off and subdue. And his friend, biographer, and hero-worshiper James Boswell, made that quite plain when he wrote his famous biography of the man. True there were no superhero films back then, but everyone realized that Samuel Johnson wasn't unique in not being a 2-dimensional character. Right now I'm reading Samuel Johnson: The Struggleabout one of the greatest crusaders for right and truth that England ever produced - but also a man constantly grappling against his demons and, for the most part, beating them soundly. The very real Winston Churchill "was never without alcohol in his veins," says his biographer William Manchester. Surely we remember Sherlock Holmes, all the way back in the 1890's, shooting up cocaine when an intriguing case didn't come his way?Īnd in fact we've always been quite aware that many of our real, flesh and blood heroes were not impassable saints. Heroes have always been complex and needing redemption, and plenty of them have achilles heels (including Achilles). True there are sadistic psychopaths like the guy in those Saw movies, but they're relatively few, just as psychopathic killers are relatively few in real life. But I don't believe the difference is in the heroes, it's in the writing. An article in today's Entertainment Weekly asks why today's movie heroes have gotten so complex, conflicted, and sometimes downright dark.
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