Heroes

Chava Bahle and Jeremy Williams host a monthly religious program on IPR. By religious I mean that they discuss issues common to the Jewish and Christian faith with little or no proselytizing. (I know evangelizing would have been easier on tongue as well as my brain trying to spell it right.) Chava (f.k.a. Staci Fine) and Jeremy were discussing movies since we just had the film Fest. It got me to thinking about the themes in the movies and TV shows that I watch. It can be no surprise that I love Richard Dean Anderson's work as I quote and reference him often enough. But I had to think about why.

The major themes in the favorites of the pastors that were interviewed for the show had themes of salvation and reflected the salvation story. I don't know if retelling the Christ story was the intent of writers/producers/directors or if it was read into the movies by default. But I did think about who my heroes are and why.

By definition a hero's life is sacrifice as well as strength. Superman sacrifices the travails and joys of a normal life so that he can keep saving the world. MacGyver sacrifices his personal care most of the time. When Jack Dalton is involved he ends up sacrificing some sanity but that's another story. Mac will do anything for anybody if his help will make a positive difference in someones life. He never cuts anyone down. In the episode Ugly Duckling, he tries to help a young computer hacker/wiz stay out of the state department lockup and stop a test clandestine weapons test. During the course of the show he finds out what she thinks of herself. It wasn't pretty- hence the show title. And it wasn't true. Mac had to do a lot of convincing. And when the show originally aired I saw myself in her shoes. He does everything he can to get her to see that the image she had was false. He reminded her that she was smart enough to figure out a program error in the weapon, even if she showed poor judgement in hacking into the file. He also wouldn't let her talk down to herself.
In the end, Mac won a friend for life. And that episode did change the way that I see myself. Everyone who works with him says that he is the best person in Hollywood because he brings so much of who he is to the character. Defender of the poor, weak, planet... mind over brute force, compassion over control. The best part about MacGyver is that you always know where you stand with him... side by side.