Heroes
The end of the year is creeping upon us, and with that the annual elections of man/woman of the year and the like. In The Netherlands there is an election called ‘Hero of the Year’ and it’s done by a news program.
Personally I feel that this election is a load of bull shit. Don’t get me wrong I can really appreciate someone helping another person out in whatever way, but what makes one person a better hero than another? How do you make that decision between, for example, an elderly man rescuing an elderly lady out of the water after she drove her car in it and a man who ran into a burning building across the street from where he lived to save a two year old girl stuck in the house.
The whole idea is that the public can vote for the Hero of the Year. What about all those heroes that didn’t make the news? Are they less of a hero because they weren’t in the spotlight, and do you need to save a life to be a hero, or is putting your own life aside to take care of someone who can’t do it themselves also being a hero?
As you can tell, I just can’t get my head around the whole contest. What bothers me most is the outcome of the votes. The girls who rescued the horses from the rising water a few months ago are declared this years heroes. Don’t get me wrong, I think they are heroes in a way, but again; what makes them better heroes than the above mentioned examples?
Sure it took courage to do what they did; but that counts for everyone that can be considered a hero!
To me all the people put forward for voting where heroes, but I’m sure there are many out there that go by unnoticed, while they deserve to be called heroes just as much. Therefor I didn’t vote; I don’t feel I’m in the position to make that decision, and to be honest I don’t think anyone is. Actually I don’t think anyone should be in a position where they have to vote, they’re all equal.
I believe that the outcome of the election is affected by the amount of press time the rescue received (if any) and how long ago it was. The girls rescuing the horses received the most attention from the press; even world wide. That and the fact that it happened so recently is in my eyes the part that makes people vote for them; it’s fresh in everyone’s memory.
So to everyone who did something that really changed another person’s life (for the good of course!) You are my hero of the year; you’re all equal and I’d like to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU for making a difference.
Plugged: Amanda, Jeff, Amber, Kat, Jon, Anne, Elle
Thank you all for the kind holiday wishes! I hope your holiday was as good as mine. I received some great presents; butterfly earrings, a leather agenda, a cover for my car radio, a yogiman and last but not least, a Djembe.
9 Comments on "Heroes"
The whole point of this contest was to declare one winner Jeff, not to point out there are heroes we should aspire to be like. If that was the case they could have made a show / item about the heroes for everyone to see and think about.
I feel that declaring one winner, and therefor saying 1 hero is better than the others, is losing the point of making people think about helping others.
They did items on all heroes; and said, go vote for him / her if you think he/she is the best hero. Instead they should have said, we’re going to show you one item a day about a hero. How they helped other citizens, you can also make a difference in someone’s life etc, etc.
I know what a contest is, and that there can only be one winner. I’m saying there shouldn’t be a contest when it comes to picking the best hero. They have been thanked, appreciated and sometimes even awarded by the major of their city, and that’s good but don’t make a contest to pick the best hero. Especially if it’s not a fair one where people will vote for the hero that got the most attention from the press and what is fresh in their memories.
“There’s a hero in everyone of us,” says the Gran from Spiderman. And perhaps she’s right. Perhaps some of us are given the opportunity to shine and become a hero. Others of us might have it in us but simply do not have the opportunity.
However in these ‘contests’ I think everybody is a hero, regardless who gets to go home with the award. Similarly people that haven’t even made it on there are heroes too – mainly it’s just the media attention something receives.
Ok, here is a little explenation of how I edited the bench photo. I took the orginal photo in photoshop (it is in color) then added a new adjustment layer of hue/saturation. I then dragged the saturation all the way to the left to make the picture black and white. Then using the eraser tool you can erase on the layer mask you just created and the color will show back up again. That takes a long time depending on the picture. When I was done with that I created a new adjustment layer for curves and inverted the layer mask of the hue/saturation layer, so the effect would only apply to the bench. I adjust the curve slightly for a bit more contrast and a more vibrant color against the de-saturated background.
I was wondering if you received your review from Snow Pearls Review?? I completed it about a month ago but it seems to me that you haven’t received it, anyways just in case here is the link of your review:
http://snow-pearls.simply-torn.net/review_20.php
Thanks Jeff!!!
@ Karen, I received it, I think I even put it on my server (as in uploaded it) but for some reason I forgot to link it. Did I also not email you back to thank you for the review??? Hmm, it must have slipped my mind.
Thanks again for the reminder though, I’ll contact you shortly when I do have it up 
is this the contest on channel ned 1 (or 2 or 3 lol)
I have to agree with you there. It’s nice these people are getting publicity, because they deserve it, but to make a contest, just to boost the news program’s ratings (I just totally assumed that, so you can go on and disagree with me xD)? I think everyone, at one point in their life did something heroic, but its only a select few who actually get the attention they deserve.. This contest seems to rub that in their faces. What you did was important, really, but her actions were more memorable. Pfff to the contest, I say.
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I think you are missing the point of the contest. Although there can only be one clear winner in a contest, the purpose behind it is to highlight the fact that your country has heroes. I know there are many more that are never mentioned on the news, but it is still important to point out to everyone that there are many heroes, and that we all should aspire to be great like them. Having a contest is not meant to praise the winner over the rest of the contestants, but rather to give the people something to aspire to and give them an idol not to worrship but rather to admire and learn from.
It seems to many people get caught up in winning and loosing and measuirng greatness with a fine scale. Sometimes we just have to appreciate the game or deed for what it is worth and not worry about applying a rubric or gradeing scale to everything.
Anyway, just my two cents.