The Weird and The Wacky Meet

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Media Diary 1:  Childhood Heroes

Who were your childhood heroes and heroines?  Why did you choose them?  What cultural lessons did you learn from them?

                 Growing up, I had two very distinct sets of childhood heroes.  There were the heroes of my bounded culture, and there were the heroes that I found from the mainstream media.  Part of my socialization came from stepping outside of that bounded culture, which did not necessarily approve of the more mainstream media, and carefully examining the truth about the heroes of my bounded culture.

                 I was raised in a very loving, but strong, Mormon household.  Growing up, I really believed that Mormons were a chosen people, and that my church was the one true church.  Along with those beliefs came a devotion to the people in the past that made the religion what it was.  When I was small, I wanted to have the faith, strength and devotion of my pioneer ancestors.  Every night my father would tell me stories of my distant relatives from long ago who came across America on foot and in wagons, in a journey of unimaginable hardship and courage.  It was a lot for a little kid to live up to.  But it led to a love of history that I still hold today.  Not to mention a sense of pride about what I came from and what I am.  Even though I no longer consider myself to be a member of the Mormon Church, I still take pride in my ancestry like a Mormon.

                 The other heroes that came along with the Mormon Church were the early founders and leaders, primarily Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.  I was taught to look up to them, to emulate them, and that as prophets, they were infallible, just like the current prophet and leader of the Mormon Church.  It wasn’t until I was older that I begin to analyze what all of this meant.  There are no female heroes for little Mormon girls to look up to.  Sure, some argument can be made for a couple of people like Eliza Snow, and Lucy Mack Smith, but these were strong women who questioned things, and that questioning was often painfully left out of the lessons taught about them.

                 I was always a very thoughtful child.  I think even from a very early age I knew I didn’t want to live up to heroes like the ones presented by Mormon culture.  Still, I didn’t consciously seek out a new set of heroes and heroines, I just came upon them.

                 When the Simpsons first came out on the air, I was in fifth grade.  My mother read some article and immediately told my brother and I that we weren’t allowed to watch them.  This only meant that I had to watch the show.   The neat thing is, in Lisa Simpson I found someone that I wanted to be.  She was so intelligent.  She spoke her mind.  She was horribly upset by the world she found herself in and worked to fix it whenever she had the opportunity.  She was my heroine.   Lisa Simpson made it okay for me to like books, and to care about the community and issues in a way I didn’t think was possible.  In a lot of ways she opened my eyes to the possibilities within me.

                 As I grew older, I began to appreciate the stronger women role models that mainstream American culture provided.  When the X-Files premiered, I was a fan almost from the get-go, and in Dana Scully I found a woman that I wanted to emulate.  I loved that she was strong, and innovative.  But I also loved that she was analytical and skeptical.  Even though the character was imperfect, I took the best qualities and tried to bring them into my own life.

                 I’m older now, and I have different ideas about heroes.  If I were to list my heroes now, the list would have to include my Aunt, who was one of the first female editors for the Deseret News.  I never really saw her as a hero growing up, but her influence on me has been immeasurable.  She loved being a reporter, and she loved being a teacher.  I try to take the lessons she taught me about journalism with me in my writing and my work.  I think that’s the essence of a good hero, someone who gives you a better way to live.

Copyright 2005

by Amanda Evans

Date: 03/29/05