Heroes: Every day people

I was going to probably write about some actor or athlete or something for my final post about people who I admire. But I got to thinking about it, there are so many people who I admire that are not famous or recognized for what they do. The people who change the world or inspire others are just every day people. There are just so many everyday heroes that aren’t recognized for what they do. While I was driving I remember seeing this billboard by my house that was done by values.com, the billboard was very inspirational and their website has all the billboards that they have, and some of them are of famous people who have overcome so much or are overcoming things. One is about Michael J. Fox and how he is trying to overcome Parkinson’s disease. It also reminded me that some people were not destined to greatness they tried their hardest to be great because a very inspirational billboard was about Abraham Lincoln, that said, “Failed, failed, failed. And then…,” it made me realize they Abraham Lincoln was just a man but when others would have given up and stopped trying he never did and even though there was so many obstacles and failures to overcome he never stopped trying and ended up being the President of the United States and not only that he has been one of our greatest presidents and has done so much for these United States. That is a lesson I need to learn, I try hard but when failure hits me I wilt or play it safe when the call is to be bold. That is one of the things I do not like about myself but it is so hard to change it so much easier to just play it safe or stay in a rut but that is no way to go through life because after all fortune favors the bold. There are other people on the values website that are just average people who do extraordinary things. The name Albert Lexie is not a well-known name but he is a man who has donated over $100,000 dollars to help children. He gets up early travels to the Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh and shines shoes and donates all the money to help kids. Lexie is a hero and has done so much. But the people who inspire me are every day people, a stranger that does a kind deed for another person, a teacher that guides young minds, a person who volunteers to help others. Those people are the real heroes.

 

 

Actor: Gene Hackman

Another one of my favorite actors is the hard-nosed everyman Gene Hackman. Hackman has made a career of playing tough guys that may or may not be soft on the inside. From being Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde to playing the sheriff Little Bill in the legendary Unforgiven and as the underdog coach in Hoosiers and as the lovable Royal Tenenbaum in the Royal Tenenbaums, Hackman has done it all and I have admired him all along the way. I like and admire him for his acting ability which he honed with his classmate Dustin Hoffman at the Pasadena Playhouse. When I picture myself as an actor, I see myself in the vein of Gene Hackman. The way he acts is so natural, never too dramatic or over the top and never catatonic just right in the middle where he is perfect. In some roles he was very menacing when he was playing the good guy like in Mississippi Burning and Unforgiven. In other roles he played the good guy that had a little sadness in him in the Royal Tenenbaums. And in other movies like Hoosiers he made us believe that a man can overcome his past and inspire others to be the best they can be. In every role he played I actually thought that was what Gene Hackman was born to do, even though I knew he was an actor he embodied all those roles so well I could see them being him. He has been rewarded for his contribution to the craft that is acting and how won some awards you might have heard of. The French Connection was a great movie in which he played Popeye Doyle and had to find who was smuggling in drugs and from where and that film also has the legendary chase scene. He also won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in Unforgiven. Gene Hackman is the uncommon common man, with the looks of someone you could see on the street and not remember but with an acting ability that will be remembered through the ages and for all time.