Where Have All the Positive Role Models Gone?

Blog #15 

         My heroines were always fictional characters, mostly from musicals.  Nellie Forbush from South Pacific, Marian the Librarian from The Music Man , and Maria in The Sound of Music (not to be confused with the real Maria Von Trapp) were the very essence of what a “happily ever after” gal like me valued and respected. The music and lyrics of these musicals reinforced the values that were emphasized.  The leading ladies all had strong convictions, were full of love and hope, and wanted to do the right thing at all costs.  They usually got their man and learned some great lessons in the end. 

         The movies made these ladies flawless and admirable.  The stories, usually, did not go much farther than the getting of the man.  (The exception to this was Maria, who helped her family get out of Austria and away from the Nazis.) We tend to think that when the movie is over, the story and the struggles are over, too.

         Impressionable teens, like I was when I saw these movies, think that when you get your man the story is over and your “happily ever after” begins.  You can take a break, when you get to that point, and sail on through life on your luxury cruise liner. Sadly, this is not reality! I think that what I learned from my saturation of these idyllic movies helped me to become who I am, however, for better or worse. I, like Knucklehead Nellie, can be “a cockeyed optimist”and that is not always good. 

         I notice in today's world that the airbrushing of faces is a common phenomenon on the screen and television. The producers try to perfect the person’s appearance, but have a lesser concern for the person's character.  Today’s movies show heroines who are  mixtures of positive and negative traits.  They are much more complex characters and they are so much harder to admire.  You may, sometimes, get a positive resolution to a movie's problem, but you do not get a positive role model or a heroine whose character you will remember or care to emulate.

         “Where have all the positive role models gone?” I ask. The answer is clear.  The heroines and heroes are precisely where they have always been.  They are the people you know, the people you love, the people who are mentioned quietly in small newspaper articles, the great people of history and the women and men of the Bible. Learning from these role models can help make you into a positive role model for others.  These are role models that are better than fiction and that can help you to truly find your "happily ever after".