FILMOGRAPHY

A headmaster of my acquaintance sent me an article commenting on the loss of heroes for today’s youth. The article concluded, as all such articles must, with a solution to the problem, in this case a strategy for presenting George Washington, of all people, in some way that was guaranteed to secure the admiration of students. I barely glanced at it. There is no such strategy. Just talking about “how to present” is already hopeless capitulation…

The central irony is that we don’t have heroes anymore because the are too real, representations of them are too rich and detailed. There is no space for our imaginations to occupy, no room for us to supply them with mythic life. The old-style heroes had an intimidating kind of greatness that could make you feel like not bothering to develop your own average greatness. We no longer approve of that demanding kind of greatness; what we want now is a supportive and inclusive kind of greatness.