{"id":28,"date":"2010-10-05T20:39:16","date_gmt":"2010-10-06T00:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/2010\/10\/05\/the-desperate-hero\/"},"modified":"2010-10-06T18:23:53","modified_gmt":"2010-10-06T22:23:53","slug":"the-desperate-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/2010\/10\/05\/the-desperate-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"The Desperate Hero"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The Desperate Hero feels as though they have nothing to lose, but everything to gain.\u00a0 They are not martyrs in a sense that they want to die for a cause, but they would rather risk losing everything if it meant being able to gain something significant.\u00a0 When backed into a corner with a ubiquitous sense of despair, these characters emerge with a driven, almost manic focus to defy their oppression and live on in spite of their troubled circumstances. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Jeb Corliss is a modern day example of such a hero.\u00a0 Abandoned by his mother at the age of fifteen, Corliss dropped out of school in sixth grade. In an interview with Men's Journal<\/em>, Corliss stated that "[school] was a place to go fight\u20ac\u00a6it made me a very dark, unhappy person."\u00a0 He suffered through severe depression throughout adolescence until he discovered skydiving at the age of 18.\u00a0 After his first dive, Corliss became addicted to the adrenaline rush that accompanied the intense sensation of freefall.\u00a0 He began to attempt more and more dangerous stunts in the realm of skydiving and base jumping. In an otherwise hopeless world, Corliss decided that he was either going to achieve greatness in his newfound passion, or die in his attempts. Now, at the age of 34, Corliss has become one of the world's most famous extreme athletes, having illegally jumped off of some of the most recognizable structures in the world (The Eifel Tower, The Empire State Building, The Golden Gate Bridge, The Petronas Towers, The Stratosphere Casino\u20ac\u00a6etc.).\u00a0 His next major project is building a $2 million ramp that he will use as a gradual landing structure so that he can successfully jump out of a plane without a parachute.\u00a0 Jeb Corliss might not be every mother's favorite role model for their children, but his story of overcoming his depression and awing the world with his stunts is a great boon for those who have weathered the dismal years of adolescence. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \tAnother prime example of such a character can be found in the movie Gattaca<\/em>. Ethan Hawke plays the role of Vincent Freeman, a man who is considered by his futuristic society to be slightly subhuman because he was born without the aid of liberal eugenics, which is used at birth to optimize children and rid them of any physical, intellectual or psychological dysfunction. Because Freeman is less than perfect, he is considered ineligible to fulfill his dream of traveling into space.\u00a0 After realizing that he would rather be dead than continue to live as a subordinate, Freeman goes through the grueling task of impersonating an elite member of society.\u00a0 After a number of near fatal setbacks, the hero miraculously boards a shuttle and launches into space.\u00a0 This triumph of the human spirit over seemingly insurmountable odds is a classic hero story. However, the fervent desperation that gives life to these heroes warrants the creation of a new subcategory of heroism.\u00a0 At a few points throughout Gattaca<\/em>, Vincent and his brother, Anton (who is a member of the genetically superior class), play a game where they see how far they can swim out into the ocean, knowing that they will have to swim back to shore.\u00a0 Anton is astounded that his weaker brother always wins.\u00a0 At a defining moment in the movie, Anton asks his brother how he was always able to beat him.\u00a0 Vincent smiles at his brother and says, "I never saved anything for the swim back."[kml_flashembed movie=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/XTEG3fF_0G4\" width=\"425\" height=\"350\" wmode=\"transparent\" \/][kml_flashembed movie=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/hZKZSiCmXLQ\" width=\"425\" height=\"350\" wmode=\"transparent\" \/]<\/code><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The Desperate Hero feels as though they have nothing to lose, but everything to gain.\u00a0 They are not martyrs in a sense that they want to die for a cause, but they would rather risk losing everything if it meant being able to gain something significant.\u00a0 When backed into a corner with … Continue reading The Desperate Hero<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1269],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geoff"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/psyc449\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}