On his website, John Byrne posted the following, which has gotten some notice throughout the internet:
“I have noticed that people have begun referring to
Christopher Reeve as a “hero”. I do not wish to take
away one iota of the courage he must have needed
not to wake up screaming every single day, but the
hard truth is there was nothing “heroic” in what
happened to him, or how he dealt with it. In fact, as
far as how he dealt with it, he didn’t even have a
choice. We could imagine he spent every hour of
every day (when not in front of the cameras) begging
family members to simply kill him and get it over with
— but none of them did, so he had no choice but to
deal with each day as it came.
Heroism, I believe, involves choice.”
John believes wrong.
“Heroism” is a word involving shadings. It has different meanings to different people under different circumstances, as do other words such as “love”…or “hate”…or…oh, I dunno…”prìçk.”
John F. Kennedy, when called a hero for saving his fellow crewmembers after the PT 109 was sunk, dismissed the term. “A hero? For what? Having my ship blown out from under me?” Yet hero he was called, and hero he was, for heroism–like art and beauty–are in the eye of the beholder, and it may not be easily defined, but we know it when we see it. To a Catholic, Mother Teresa is heroic because of her unceasing efforts to aid the needy. To Boston Red Sox fans, Curt Schilling is a hero for pitching through an injury that would have crippled someone else. To a child, his hero might be his dad or mom who goes out, earns a living, feeds and clothes the family and creates a safe haven in a threatening world. And who are we to say that any of them are wrong?
“Involves choice?” By that criteria, any draftee from World War I or II or Korea or Vietnam…they can’t be considered a hero under any circumstance because they had no choice about being there. By that criteria, there’s no such thing as a hero policeman or a hero fireman, because they’re just doing their salaried job. Die in the line of duty? Well, Jack, you knew the job was dangerous when you took it. Sucks to be you.
How dare anyone be so dismissive of Chris Reeve’s heroism. Yes, he had no choice but to deal with each day as it came, but it was HOW he dealt with it that was heroic. How easy it would have been for him to simply give in to despair. To make no effort beyond what was minimally required to keep functioning. For that matter, how easy it would have been for him to become a recluse. Actors, after all, have egos. Monumental, towering egos. Can it possibly have been easy for the former “Superman” to allow the public to see him immobilized, helpless, a crippled shadow of what he once was? I’m thinking not. I’m thinking that he had a lot to overcome, both physically and emotionally, just to put himself out there again and again.
Of course, it would be easy to say that his doing so was selfish. After all, the result of his money raising, awareness raising endeavors would ultimately be self-serving. If his efforts resulted in a cure, he could walk once again, and thus would benefit personally. Does that diminish his heroism? No. Not at all.
Because you’ll find that some of the greatest heroes in history did not, in fact, have a choice. Instead they were just guys who had their back against the wall and were trying to fight their way out of a bad situation so they could live to fight another day. They were the ones who seized a predicament and said, “I have no choice. I have to change this, I have to overcome this, because failure to do so is not an option.”
Heroes are what uplift people. Inspire them. Make them aware that there are ineffable qualities and capacities for human achievement that they had never considered before. Heroism is fulfilled capacity for greatness. And in that, Chris Reeve is indisputably, for all time, a hero.
PAD
• 
“Okay, it’s my OPINION that Reeve’s actions and the way he carried himself were heroic.
Happy now?”
No. I dunno. Sure? Frankly, I don’t care what you think so my happiness wasn’t riding on what you had to say. I think you took my post a little too personally. I was simply saying that PAD, Byrne, you, and everybody else has the right to their own opinions on what constitutes heroism and who they choose to give that label. That’s all. So when I said “That’s all there is to that,” or whatever, I simple meant that this debate can’t really go any longer without people saying the same things over and over again. It all amounts to a question of opinion. Why keep going on when opinions on heroism are completely subjective?
“Jesus. What is it with so many people today? Why are so many jaded? Why do we thirst for those who try to do good and try to make the world a better place and then take the first opportunity to cut them down when they do?”
Who’s being “cut down”? Did I “cut down” Christopher Reeve because I *didn’t* call him a hero? So now your idea of an insult is a lack of overly laudatory praise? Most people I meet on the street don’t consider me a hero. I don’t take that as an insult.
I said that Reeve was a good man. I said he was honorable and admirable. I also said that I don’t consider him a hero. Those are still complimentary words all things considered. Nobody is cutting anybody down.
Not to drag politics into it, but I think it might do to remember that John is rather conservative in his political beliefs, and upon Reeve’s death many conservative online hangouts were less than kind to him, mostly (from what I can tell) due to their mistaken belief that stem cells come from aborted foetuses (foeti?) rather than fertility clinics. Also, as some people on this thread have noted, Reeve was indeed very active and charitable before his accident, but the causes for which he fought were unabashedly liberal ones (I recall all his work on behalf of actors’ unions, for instance).
“Break out the torches and pitchforks! John Byrne has once again said something that people don’t agree with. He had the ultimate NERVE to state his opinion of what a hero is. HOW DARE HE!? Why to give his opinion on a matter of semantics is about the worst thing anyone could ever do.”
Okay, now what you REALLY need to do is overdramatize even MORE. You’re almost over the top as it is, but I think you might actually be able to clear the top and skid down the other side if you just give it a bit more “oomph.”
“There are already calls on other message boards to start petitions and to contact DC to have Byrne removed from the books he’s working on because of his opinion on the definition of a word.”
Yeah, that’s just stupid. I think it’s one of Byrne’s dumbest opinions, but I don’t dispute his right to have it, and I would in no way endorse boycotts or punitive measures over it. And I’d *still* by “Next Men” if he ever did it again.
“What next, trying to have someone thrown off of a book because of their political beliefs?”
Right, because that would never happen.
PAD
Although I haven’t read the book, inspirational speaker Susan Jeffers talks about a book written by a concentration camp survivor. Although it recounts the cruelty and horror of the camps, its main thrust is the surprising amount of human kindness that also went on.
People giving their last crust of bread to a sick inmate, comforting the dying, finding time to distract a child whose parent had died…it all went on. It all summed up to a statement that went something like this, quoted by my crack-brained memory:
Everything can be taken from a human being, except the one inalienable, permanent posession he or she has; the right to choose how one will face the circumstances of life. The right to choose one’s way.
Reduced to that final posession, Reeve made some remarkable choices.
And on a nearly unrelated topic; what angers me about so many of the sadistic horror movies is that there are no heroes in them. The “victims” are only trying to save their own lives. They never step in the way of Freddy or Jason to give someone else the chance to run. If those films are emblematic of our time (and I’m afraid they are) then we’re all stinking, selfish jerks. Which is why what John Byrne said doesn’t surprise me at all.
I have a hard time thinking of anyone as a “hero” unless he or she is willingly putting themselves into physical danger. But if we must label them heroes, Jimmy Carter and Jerry Lewis can both be considered more “heroic” than Chris Reeve because they stump for causes that in no way benefit themselves personally, while Reeve and Michael J. Fox are obviously acting out of their own self-interest. That having been said, the post-accident Chris Reeve continuously impressed me with his wit and intelligence. Once, after losing his hair, he remarked that he now looked more like Lex Luthor than he did Superman. That remark alone gets him mega-props in my book. He may not have been a “hero,” but he certainly was admirable.
P.S. John Kennedy may have been A hero for what he did in WWII, but he was MY hero for banging both Marilyn Monroe and Joey Heatherton.
“Or we could be heroes/Just for one day.”
I’ve said this on other boards, but it bears repeating: Jeff, the negative backlash towards Byrne isn’t so much WHAT he said but HOW he said it. He has every right to his opinion. He just chose to express it in a crass, insensitive and completely inappropriate way, much like the “Jessica Alba looks like a høøkër to me” comment. His statements reek of ignorance and intolerance, and THAT’S what makes him so offensive. Whether you classify Christopher Reeve as a hero or not is a matter of interpretation and semantics; but hero or no, Byrne could have at LEAST tried to show the slightest shred of dignity and tact.
Superman is impervious to bullets.
Superman stands in front of a mugger with a gun.
Is that really heroic? That presents as much of a threat to him as a teaspoon of water does to me. Silly.
Reeves did more for his cause than most in his circumstances. Did his popularity help in that effort? Yes. Could he just as easily rolled off into obscurity, yes, and no one would have blamed him in the least. I doubt he always wanted to be on national television a broken man, but he stepped up to the plate. I wouldn’t be that strong, I know it.
I like Byrne’s work but he’s pretty far off the mark on this one (not the first time).
Break out the torches and pitchforks! John Byrne has once again said something that people don’t agree with. He had the ultimate NERVE to state his opinion of what a hero is. HOW DARE HE!? Why to give his opinion on a matter of semantics is about the worst thing anyone could ever do.
I find it hard to sympathize with cries of outrage in support of Byrne’s opinions when his message board regularly deletes and bans people who say even the least bit negative thing about Byrne or his work.
As for Byrne, he can keep doing whatever books he wants for all I care. I stopped buying anything with his name on it years ago – Not because of anything he said, but just because I haven’t found his work enjoyable for a long time.
Now, on to my personal definition of a hero: A hero is somebody who inspires others through word or action, to do great things that have a positive impact on the world. The fact that Reeve advocated for stem cell research out of self-interest doesn’t matter. That he could make others think, “Wow, if he hasn’t given up hope, then neither should I,” makes him a hero in my opinion.
Other people may have different criteria for what makes someone a hero, but that’s good enough for me.
As for Byrne, the only thing he inspires in me is a desire to buy somebody else’s comics.
Oh darn. I really hoped to have gone totally over the top there.
Maybe it’s the drugs (I’m dealing with a major leg infection-cellulitis), but I really don’t see the point of everybody jumping on John Byrne for his opinion. He never degraded Christopher Reeve, just doesn’t choose to refer to him as a “hero”.
I honestly think Byrne has gone bonkers.
I usually don’t have too much trouble separating my admiration for a celebrity’s work from their personal life and ideas. I’m a big fan of Bing Crosby’s acting and singing, yet by family reports he was a brutal child abuser. I think Courtney Love is a complete wacky clown, and yet the first couple Hole albums are among my favorites. I don’t always agree with PAD’s politics, but I’m always one of the first in line to read his comics. I think that nowadays an awful lot of what John Byrne says is the equivalent of Cartman pontificating…but that doesn’t take away the fact that I really, really like much of his older work and some of his newer stuff.
My point, howver (and I do have one) is that once in a while it’s a wonderful thing when we feel we can reconcile our love of a celebrity’s work with the public image they project. Chris Reeve was one of them; I never met him but by most reports he was friendly and unassuming and I salute his bravery for playing the hand he was dealt with strength and dignity. If a man who worked as he did to increase awareness of paralysis isn’t a hero, I don’t know who is. I suppose you can make a case that the true hero is the man who was not ‘forced’ into the role of spokesperson for his condition, but i don’t feel this diminishes Reeves’s work.
(I wonder if we will feel the same about the eventual death of Michael J. Fox, another, I think, widely-regarded ‘nice guy’ celebrity who is doing a lot of work on behalf of stopping Parkinson’s disease.)
“This all seems like part of our modern culture’s mania to degrade and defile those who are better than us; we constantly thirst for heroes and and compelled to degrade anyone who comes close to that standard.”
I agree, though not ALL the people who have opined that Mr Reeve was not a hero need fit the description. Mt definition of hero may well be overly broad to some. Oh well.
I do wonder at the motivations of those who are so determined to remind us that our heroes are not, in fact, heroes. For starters, you look like a dìçk. Is there anyone on either side of the political spectrum that doesn’t see John Byrne and Tedd Rall as Brothers in Extreme Tooldom? Secondly, what’s the supposed benefit you are going for? Trying to train today’s youth to have only the highest standards for the word, because, God knows kids have way too many people to look up to these days. Jesus!
It’s perfectly valid for someone not to feel that reeve was a hero but to spend time and effort trying to convince others to feel the same way…watta dìçk.
Jeff: “He never degraded Christopher Reeve, just doesn’t choose to refer to him as a ‘hero'”.
John Byrne: “In fact, as far as how he dealt with it, he didn’t even have a choice. We could imagine he spent every hour of every day (when not in front of the cameras) begging family members to simply kill him and get it over with — but none of them did, so he had no choice but to deal with each day as it came.”
What’s that again about not degrading Mr. Reeve? I shouldn’t press too much because you are technically correct. Mr. Reeve is beyond any degradation that Mr. Bryne could throw his way. It was simply an insensitive and hateful thing to say and he should be ashamed of it. If I had a friend or family member in the same situation and Mr. Bryne had said such filth about them, I’d want to spit in his face at the very least. He metaphorically spit in the face of Reeve’s grieving friends and family for the sake of an arguemental tool. As I said before, it was shameful and he should be ashamed.
All that said, I’m against any type of attempt to organize any type of boycott or get him ousted by DC. If he’s offended someone to the point that they can no longer get any pleasure out of his books, then they should stop buying. As PAD said, “I’d still b[u]y “Next Men” if he ever did it again. I’m currently buying Doom Patrol. I’m not going to stop unless the BOOK disappoints, not if Mr. Bryne does.
One final note. On another message board I read talk of someone considering burning his FFs that were done by Bryne. Although it is the right of someone to use or dispose of their property as they see fit I would suggest that anyone considering this or any similiar act of destruction instead sell the relavent works on eBay and donate the proceeds to the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation. It would likely be as emotionally satisfying and be much more likely to accomplish some good in this world.
” much like the “Jessica Alba looks like a høøkër to me” comment.”
Was this Byrne’s comment? I’ve been seeing references to a høøkër comment that had people cheesed off at him. Was this it?
And, if he’s referring the the Alba as Sue Storm comment, well, she does looke like a høøkër. I know sex sells and all, but yeesh, shouldn’t Sue Storm have a covered neckline, rather than a plunging one? I thought the FF movie was supposed to be a family film…
I’m not hacked off over Byrne’s opinion; rather, I’m hacked off over his smug, misleading, self-conceived empirical categorization of Reeve as a non-hero. To say that Reeve had no choice as to how he faced his affliction is ludicrous. He did more with his ten years as a quadrapelegic than many fully mobile folks do with their whole life. It’s also funny to me that Byrne feels that Reeve showed courage in the sheer act of waking up but categorizes him as a non-hero through absense of choice. Funny, I’ve always been under the impression that courage WAS a choice.
Well said, Pad, well said.
John Byrne’s a jerk for making such a comment.
I’ve heard stories that Reeve was a very decent man. I also had the chance to meet him and I saw for myself what a decent man he was. I even wrote him a letter about what he has done and he responded to me. This was last year.
The man is a hero. Let’s honor his memory and not degrade it.
I just read my previous post and realized that the way I wrote it is misleading and makes it look like some of my own words are a quote of PAD’s the correct text is:
As PAD said, “I’d still b[u]y “Next Men” if he ever did it again.” I’m currently buying Doom Patrol. I’m not going to stop unless the BOOK disappoints, not if Mr. Bryne does.
I previously neglected to close the quote and made it look like my words were his. Sorry about that Mr. David
Clay wrote:
“When we discuss Christopher Reeve, we discuss a man who single-handedly shifted the paradigm on how modern science views paralysis.”
Much as I admired Reeve’s advocacy efforts for those suffering from spinal cord injuries and degenerative nerve diseases, I think “single-handedly” is a extremely presumptuous.
Yes, he was the most visible spokesperson for such afflictions, but there has been an army of scientists, doctors and other paralysis suffers who made astonishing inroads in this area long before Reeve took his fall.
As for Reeve being a hero, though some on this thread have questioned that label, I believe absolutely that Reeve was a hero. The dictionary defines a hero as one who is distinguished for valor or fortitude. Fortitude, by definition, is “strength of mind to meet or endure unfalteringly pain, adversity or peril.” Heroes also inspire, and Reeve certainly did that.
Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Re: Byrne and Jessica Alba.
What Byrne said in response to the press photo of Alba in her Sue Storm costume was that all Hispanic women who dye their hair blonde look like høøkërš.
(In fact, I would love to see the completed tat, and I’ve got the $10 donation required, but you’ve got to make down to Memphis to get it :)).
Hey Critter42,
you’re a Memphis local too? We need to get a convention in town so we can bring PAD to town for some Barbecue (hmmm… I’l bet ribs are out. Maybe a Huey Burger).
If you get a chance, head over to TimmyCon this Saturday.
http://www.suspiciousmindtrick.net/TIMMYCON!.htm
I won’t be able to make it, but some friends interested in Star Wars and comics and stuff are putting it on.
-Joe
PS – Yeah, Byrne’s bein’ a dìçk. Big surprise. Christopher Reevs will always be one of my heroes.
I get the feeling Byrne made those comments just to get attention…anyways I wholly disagree with what he said and especially in saying after Chris Reeve died..
“Much as I admired Reeve’s advocacy efforts for those suffering from spinal cord injuries and degenerative nerve diseases, I think “single-handedly” is a extremely presumptuous.”
Without taking anything away from the accomplishments of his predecessors, I was trying to emphasize the fact that Reeve’s recovery broke ground in terms of what was considered “impossible” by many experts in the field. Bruce Lee is another great example, all of his famous films were produced after a debilitating back injury which prompted many doctors to tell him he’d never walk again.
I also read an interview with one of Reeve’s physicians who stated that the body of research concerning spinal cord injuries had advanced more in the past five yearts than in the past fifty, and that Reeve’s advocacy and recovery was a big factor in that trend.
I do see Reeve’s contribution as singular and outstanding, but I in no way meant to demean the contributions of others. Reeve’s recovery was undoubtedly made possible not only through his own willingness to challenge the status quo, but by the physicians and researchers who were willing to do so as well.
I think Marc Buoniconti has done as much if not more than Chris Reeve to further paralysis research and awareness.
Nevertheless I would favor the USPS creating a Chris Reeve postage stamp, at a face value of 50 cents, with the additional 13 cents going to paralysis research.
Heroism is about courage, sacrifice and facing challenges greater then yourself. It doesn’t matter when you find the courage to face a challenge, but that you do. So for those, including Byrne, who say that if he only began to act after the accident, a man like Reeve then only acted in a selfish bid for self-preservation…..well, quite frankly, bite me.
What the man fought for in his last years was mounumentally important. Both the work itself, and the fact that as a cultural icon he was able to humanize the plight of his cause for people around the world. What he had to go through with his disability was a horror that goes beyond what most of us could imagine. And how he, and others with similar disabilities, are able to overcome the instinct to just shut down and give up is an act of heroism in and of itself.
I completely agree that the word Hero is overused on a daly basis. But not in this case. So go spread that cynical, Ayn Rand-esque manure somewhere else. It’s misplaced.
I fall somewhere between Peter and Byrne on the question of what makes a hero but I have to say…
a) I think it would be a courtesy to link Byrne’s full message rather than just a quote
2) Is Byrne not thinking that Reeve was heroic really sufficient reason to call him a ‘prìçk’?
I wonder if this anti Reeve posturing by Byrne and others is due to politics. After all Bush is anti Stem Cell and Kerry is in favor of it.
I can see what Byrne’s getting at, in his oh-so-personable way. I recall that episode of The Simpsons where Bart pretends to fall down a well and Homer calls the kid a “hero.” Lisa asks him why he’s a hero, and Homer’s response is, “Have you ever fallen down a well?” or something along those lines.
Luigi made an interesting point about the Challenger astronauts being called heroes. I say interesting because I did believe that they were heroic…in fact, I think that astronauts are one of the last possible heroes left on this planet…always have. I guess to me, heroism is about sacrifice. And I ask myself, what did Reeve sacrifice? To be honest, to NOT have killed himself speaks volumes (and remember, he did think about it at first). I don’t see stumping for causes overly heroic; I don’t see donating money and time to things when you have money and time to spare terribly heroic. However, dealing with a horrifying situation straight on, and with optimism, that means more to me than anything else.
I dunno. I guess the only thing I know for sure is that I can see the germ of what Byrne’s saying, but he’s still an ášš…
J. Alexander said:
“After all Bush is anti Stem Cell and Kerry is in favor of it.”
Is there an award for most egregiously misleading statement on this board?
That quote is the full message IIRC.
I never got to meet Christopher Reeve myself, but I’ve interviewed at least half a dozen people that worked him, and without exception, they had nice things to say about him. As I value the opinion of a couple of these people very highly, I’m prepared to take them at their word.
John Byrne on the other hand, I have met on three different occasions, all at conventions over a period of two or three years. The first time I met him, he acted like a jerk. The second time I met him, he acted like a jerk. The third time I met him, he acted like a really big jerk. As you can imagine, I had no great motivation to speak to him at subsequent appearances!
I have to come down smack in the middle of this.
John Byrne is 100% right, in my opinion, that being a Hero requires making a choice (or taking an action or a stand).
Policemen, firemen, and soldiers are *not* heroes. Not all of them, as a group. Nobody get a freebie designation of Hero just because of their career choice. After all, when it comes to a firefight or a car chase or a burning building, some of them turn tail and run. You’re probably more liekly to get heroic actions from a fireman than from a comic book writer, of course, but they also get put in situations which tend toward that end.
On the flip side, I’ll acknowledge Reeve as a Hero: he made the choice, took the action, took the stand. He went beyond what he had to do into what he could do, facing down adversity in the process.
Maybe where Byrne is off is in thinking (but not stating) that Hero requires Bravery.
I think there’s a great discomfort for people, even ones like myself who think there’s a pretty high standard for what makes a hero, when someone makes the positive claim that someone ISN’T a hero. I don’t think I personally would have ever independently used the term ‘hero’ to describe Reeve but I’m a little confused about why anyone would go out of their way to argue the point absent any kind of context.
This is just silly. Of course Christopher Reeve is a hero. No, not because of his accident. He did make a choice. He appeared in front of all sorts of groups of people on behalf of stem cell
research. That’s important, too because our President has aligned himself with religious right-wing zealots. Reeve kept himself going working for his cause. He showed that if he could find a purpose in his life, anyone else can find purpose in their’s.
You know i used to like John byrne’s work as a kid.Then at some point his work just started stinking out loud to me.Now i just have the reality of his being a complete JERK confirmed.I would use stronger terms but im trying not to be a pottymouth.
Christopher Reeve,Micheal J.Fox and Janet Reno all reacted to their illness in way i consider very heroic.It would have been easy to be a recluse and keep the images people have of them in their minds as is ,instead they have all made appearances and openly talk about their conditions.
As someone else mentioned for Mr Reeve to be so positive about his life says so much about him as a man.I work in the medical field and trust as bad as we all piss and moan about our lives ,someone is always worse.In my experience ,people that were nice before they got sick are nice afterwards.Yes they,may get down and bitter but the true person is shown when life throws them a bad turn.Based on his optimism and what i have seen and read about him Christopher Reeve is a hero.
” What Byrne said in response to the press photo of Alba in her Sue Storm costume was that all Hispanic women who dye their hair blonde look like høøkërš.”
What an áššhølë this guy must be in real life.
it seems he is still inspiring us. Many of us that disagree vociferously on many subjects are agreeing on this one. Another win in his favor! 🙂
I never gave any thought to whether Christopher Reeve was a hero or not. It was inspiring of the progress he was making and I kept up on his improvements. The superbowl commercial really had me.. I believed a man could walk.
As I’m writing this, Yes.. he is a hero. There are many that he has inspired to do better.. to work harder. Everyone has handicaps to deal with. His were far worse than most of ours will ever be. If he can fight against them, then who are we not to? A hero inspires us to do better.
John Byrne is well entitled to his opinion. I can’t believe he would make such a post, but I can understand his reasonings. People are going to his site to read his opinions on matters. We just don’t have to agree with them.
I support George Bush and it bugs me reading PAD’s political views on here. But its his site and we’re here to read what he thinks. I’m still going to buy every Book and comic he puts out regardless. I just wish he’d come out to Dallas more often. It would be nice to see him at Wizard World Texas.
I don’t understand why teachers in public schools are not considered heroes.
I think it is fair to say that there can be a degree to which someone is “heroic.” Someone who is faithful to teach in a school can be inspiring to a kid. A teacher who is faithful in a school that is plagued with violence, etc., could perhaps be seen as more heroic because of the increase in danger. A fireman or military person who goes into danger to protect another could be seen as more “heroic” in the sense that they had a greater risk and more to lose.
I don’t count most of my teachers as “heroic” but I do see them as role models and find them inspiring. But it is disappointing that a sports player or actor can be seen as more “heroic” simply on the basis of their position, not because of what they do. (By the same token, not all policemen, firemen, military persons, etc., are heroic just because they held the position.)
I repeat what I said in my first post. Christopher Reeves was a heroic to me, and I think many people, by his decision to reach his potential in spite of the enormous difficulty invovled. And in the process, he clearly reached out and helped others.
One other note: I am opposed to embryonic stem cell research (which is only one part of the wider field of stem cell research). But I can easily respect and admire C. Reeves in spite of his views on the issue. I have yet to hear one conservative friend ever say something negative about C Reeves (as a person) because of his political views. Obviously I can’t say no one has ever done so, but the suggestion earlier that this is what is polarizing this debate about whether Reeves should be considered heroic is just a wild speculation that has no basis in fact. Sorry to burst the bubble of a few of you out there, but there is such a thing as a compasionate conservative.
Jim in Iowa
A friend of mine worked in Hollywood since Sid Caesar’s heyday. She has a long list of prìçkš she encountered and some wonderful stories about some of the folks with whom she worked. She knew Chris before his accident. She said he was always a warm and wonderful guy. I have never met anyone who had met Chris who disagreed.
She told me that he would still get requests for autographs although paralysed. He sometimes joked that perhaps he should bite the photos, thereby leaving a dental signature of sorts.
Not to drag politics into it, but I think it might do to remember that John is rather conservative in his political beliefs, and upon Reeve’s death many conservative online hangouts were less than kind to him, mostly (from what I can tell) due to their mistaken belief that stem cells come from aborted foetuses (foeti?) rather than fertility clinics. Also, as some people on this thread have noted, Reeve was indeed very active and charitable before his accident, but the causes for which he fought were unabashedly liberal ones (I recall all his work on behalf of actors’ unions, for instance).
Maybe, but then again maybe JB is just being an ášš. Being conservative doesn’t make me mourn Reeve less. To me he is Superman, Richard Collier and a man who shouldered an amazing burden with grace and dignity. I may disagree with Reeve politically, but I don’t think his death is the time to take him to task for it.
Byrne does have a general point about the use of the word hero, but Reeve’s death probably isn’t the most appropriate time to make it.
A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. – Christopher Reeve
The thing about Byrne’s comment is this:
He’s not going to get any work at Marvel as long as Joe Quesada is the Editor In Chief. I highly doubt he’ll get work at Image. He hasn’t worked at Dark Horse in a while.
Why make this point about a guy, Reeve who made a lot of money for the company you currently work for, DC/AOL Time Warner, especially when finding similar work at a similar company is nearly impossible?
If DC decides to fire Byrne over these comments- not likely, but possible- where is he going to go?
All this so he can have get into an academic discussion over the meaning of heroism that denigrates the work of a guy that just died.
As a response to TCJohnson above:
Dr. Eades sounds like a hero to me.
I was just writing part of an editorial for the next issue of Impact and felt compelled to mention both Reeve and the nature of ‘hero’. I guess this thread makes it relevant to cut and paste one of the paragraphs I wrote…
***
The term
Byrne’s not the typical conservative. He doesn’t revere the founding fathers, he’s an atheist, he’s pro-gay rights and (I think) pro-reproductive rights. He does, apparently, vote Republican, which I find incongruous considering his views. (If he were very wealthy it’d make sense, but I don’t think he’s ever achieved, say, McFarlane-level wealth.)
I’m on the Byrne board. I opted to not contribute to the debate over Chris Reeve’s heroism or lack thereof.
Now Role Model is something I’d call Mr. Reeve
I believe John Byrne is a ÐÍÇK.
In fact, Satan just bluetoothed me that when the myopic bášŧárd kicks– we’re going to clear an entire wing down here just to give him *extra* special attention.
My only hope is that Heaven will lend us Chris long enough to exact some good ol’ fashioned ášš-kicking justice on the bášŧárd when he arrives.
Peter, bravo for offering to buy any future Next Men. I applaud your being able to push aside the personal to savor the creative.
Personally, the only thing I’ll buy with John Byrne’s name attached to it will be a newspaper featuring his OBIT.
Ray–Is it possible Byrne WANTS to get fired so he can proclaim himself a true hero, defender of the first amendment and all that?
“I don’t understand why teachers in public schools are not considered heroes.”
I think I can speak for most of them when I say Thank you for the compliment, but most of us actually like the job. I didn’t give up a better paying job in the exciting world of soybean oil chemistry because I wanted to be a hero. I wanted a more interesting job.
Helping kids through tough times or going to bat for them during various crisis’ also gets the “hero” word bandied about, but to me that’s just common decency.
Lots of people besides teachers do things we desperately need. That’s why when folks talk about how we should get more pay I readily agree (not being, you know, stupid) but let’s face it, the town does just fine for 2 months in the summer without me, as opposed to how it would do if the Garbage Man left.
BUT…if you see teachers as heroes, that’s just fine and I’m not going to talk you out of it. Similarly, when one reads an obituary where some guy died “after heroically fighting a brave battle against cancer” one should certainly not feel obligated to call up the widow and whine about how he wasn’t a hero at all, just a guy with carcinoma cells who suffered through the chemotherapy because the only option was death. Unless you’re a total áššwìpë, that is.
(Actually, I think dying well, with dignity and courage is quite heroic. It brings comfort to those around you and stands as an example for others to aspire to when, as it will, it becomes their time. When Fabrizio Quattrocchi, an Italian hostage taken by the islamofascists in Iraq was about to be killed like the others, he tried to pull off his mask and shouted “Now I will show you how an Italian dies!” The resulting tape was not deemed by Al-Jazeera suitable for viewing. Too gruesome, they said. Not good propaganda, I say. Quattrocchi may not be a hero to Byrne any more than Nathan Hale–neither had much choice in what happened to them–but being able to look death in the eye and deny one’s killers any sense of satisfaction, to, in fact, demean them in their own eyes…gotta admire it.)
First, a quote from the early SIMPSONS:
Homer : Yeah, that Timmy O’Tool is a real hero.
Lisa : How so dad?
Homer : Well… he fell in a well… and he can’t get out.
Lisa : How does that make him a hero?
Homer : Well it’s more then you’ve done.
That said, Christopher Reeve was one of the biggest advocates for stem cell research. If he had retired himself away, wallowing in pity and sorrow, no one would have begrudged him that. Instead, he put himself out there, taking a stand on a controversial issue. He worked hard, fought hard, and even returned to acting after his accident (SMALLVILLE and THE PRACTICE leap to mind). It’s probable that the word “hero” is tossed about too lightly, but I have no problem using that word for the late Christopher Reeve.
First, I am dismayed that the open-minded, tolerant left would seem to think that all conservative right-wingers would be cruel and unkind in regrards to the death of Christopher Reeve just because of his support of Kerry, stem cell research, and his political beliefs. When death and grief strike a family, politics become meaningless.
Second, I will be the first to admit, I can’t figure John Byrne out. I love his work. Many comments about comics, the industry, etc. I can agree with. Other things he has said on his message board I can’t quite figure out where he is coming from. Mainly because I have met him three different times at the three different conventions. And he has been polite and professional each of those times. I remember once that I got up to his table that I had so many questions I wanted to ask him, but not enough time considering the long line of fans behind me. He told me to just step to one side and ask away. I was so stunned that my mind went blank and I just quietly walked away as he GAVE a kid an autographed comic instead of the convention program the kid had.
Third,
Yeah, Christopher Reeve is a hero to this right-wing,born-again Christian. Irregarless of his relgious beliefs, politics, etc. the man inspired. As a comicbook geek, it is thanks to him that I now know how Superman flies and can fool people with a pair of glasses. After his accident, he reminded me to appreciate my aching legs and tired feet at the end of a long work day standing on concrete. And his passing reminds me to check out the sunsets a little longer, enjoy the scent of wet, fallen leaves in the early morning rain a little more deeply, hug a loved one a little tighter.
Hang in there and take care!
Scott E. Hileman
I think Byrne needs to go see a heart specialist.
It seems apparent to me that he is not getting enough oxygen to his brain.
The actor who played Superman in the 50s was named Reeves. The actor who just died was named Reeve.
He had been around long enough for everybody to know that, I would have thought.