Finding Heroes
“Oceanic society rests ultimately on the belief that Big Brother is omnipotent and that the Party is infallible.”
Mahatma Gandhi came from South Africa in 1915, travelled across the country to understand the plight of citizens, entered the political movement, organised Satyagrahas upholding the message of truth and non violence and lead the whole nation to Independence (with the Partition).
Elaborate this story a bit, add a few cameo roles of national leaders and few revolutionaries, you get what we learn as the Indian National movement. No doubt the story is true, but should be under a different title. It is of course a part of the freedom struggle, but cancels out the complex network of events that took place over years and also the people who contributed with their life for the cause. But we just tend to stick around the story of one man, the hero. (Although, some extremists’ efforts to frame him as the super-villain too are being done nowadays)
The polarization of opinions, used by propagandists and demagogues boxes people, their feelings and opinions into two extremely opposite poles. As historians and journalists say, everything is made black and white, with no space for grey. The lack of nuance.
This polarization also paves way for something else- as mentioned above, we tend to find a hero in the past events. The one who is perfect in every way in the eyes of the people, who just walks in and saves the common people from their burdens. The savior. We see everyone coming under their leadership, though with some initial scorns (which may later change), with no disagreements to what they say. The one who is infallible. The perfect hero.
Now, rather than just finding the heroes from history, there seems to be a collective expectation for a savior in the future. ‘Everyone now seems unfit for putting an end to this, maybe or surely someone will come up’ has been repeated quite a few times when there is a discussion about the current political/social instabilities. But should we?
In the field of politics, expectation from the masses for messianism can cause worse effects. It would be paving way for the rise of demagogues. People may fall into the carefully crafted words and the rhetorical situations created by the populist, thinking he or she might be the redeemer. With the concept of Messianism being included in all major religions, it would be much easier for a person with the savior complex to convince the mass. This hero could go on to take power in his/her hands to do good for their devotees. They could threaten others with hell if they didn’t worship him. (A bit God-ly) Look around, maybe you can find some examples!
The best example would be of a certain populist in the 20th century Germany who at first created a fictional persona proclaiming him the Messiah, the Redeemer of the Germans which included writing an embellished kind-off autobiography He later became the infamous dictator whom the world now hates.
If we take a look at the popular movements in the near past which was caught in the headlines, in most of them, one person’s face comes clear. Media goes behind them and praises each and everything they do. Often, the cause of the movement gets the second consideration and the ‘leader’ gets the limelight. And sometimes they become the movement — the political head of a country becomes the country. Even if he/she is doing a great deal and has executed their leadership in the best way, saying ‘He/She is the movement( or the country)’ is as absurd as equating the axis and the earth.
Superhero movies are scintillating and we are all its fans. We clap and cheer when they save the world. People in that fictional world looks upon to them in the time of a crisis. And in this real world, when we label certain personalities as saviors or heroes, they rise up as giant powerful figures. They could make this world an amusement theme park which their fans or devotees run in their name and We The People, stuck in its roller coaster ride.