Tennis Magazine Presents... The Heroes Issue

You know, sometimes, in the middle of tech weeks and college applications and general business, the universe throws you a bone. This time, it was my dad's magazine subscription. For those who don't have family members obsessed with tennis and didn't come home to see the Tennis Magazine's "Heroes Issue" on the kitchen table, here's an overview.

For some context, here's a quote the edition uses to describe itself:
"In the world of tennis, the heroes are not just the Grand Slam champions and the game's biggest stars. There are heroes who come from the most unexpected places. They are the pioneers of wheelchair tennis, local leaders who use the sport to give back to the community and players who find a way to enjoy the game no matter their age or ability. Our special annual issue salutes those who inspire us to achieve more than we thought we were capable of. These extraordinary individuals show us that the game is a place where anyone can be a champion and a hero."
And here's a quote the magazine uses on its cover:
"The definition of the hero in American culture is the one who by accident or destiny gets knocked down, and gets up again." - Jean-Pierre Limborg

So it's interesting to see who gets written about. The edition starts off with some one-page pieces about family members (grandparents who introduced their grandchildren to tennis, parents who coach and encourage but never push, etc.), but this is only an appetizer to the real meat of the issue. The first cluster of articles highlights various people involved in the wheelchair tennis community (the inventors, the top athletes, etc.). The theme of this is overcoming, exemplified in this quote (which goes back to the Limborg quote):

"My life was at a standstill as my MS worsened exponentially by the day. I barely left the house. I had to stop all sports; I couldn't stand up without a walker. I had turned 50 and I was considering throwing in the towel. I confided in my family that this way my intention. Not in a jump-off-the-Brooklyn Bridge way, but in a final-party, say-farewell, down-some-pills-and-end-my-misery way. All I wanted was to be involved in a sport; my mind and my soul thrive on it. I hadn't even heard of wheelchair tennis. I didn't care if I had to learn a new sport, I needed something to help me choose to live." -- Terri Ferraro

The edition also includes an article about a woman who won a "Deaflympics" medal. "I hope people understand that they can do anything they put their mind to. Don't let anyone say, 'You can't do that,'" she says. Other people are working to "grow the remarkable sport of blind tennis -- and show how tennis is truly a game anyone can play." Disabilities aren't the only obstacles, though -- the magazine also highlights the struggles and successes of minorities and seniors.

Another subject is a man who began programs to help underprivileged kids through tennis. An interesting part of this is the way he's described -- the article begins with, "To hear Arthur Goldblatt modestly tell it..." before describing all the things he's achieved as "serendipitous." "Art Goldblatt is a Connecticut saint," someone else says. "He's a very humble, elegant guy who never wants credit. He's inspired all of us." I think we've talked about this a bit before -- the idea that heroes are supposed to downplay their role & be very modest -- and this exemplifies that.

There are a lot of other articles about spreading tennis, including several other programs for kids as well as veterans sharing the sport with other veterans and a program that pairs up disabled and able-bodied athletes to play. 92-year-old Dick Walther is described as "[personifying] everything that's great about our sport. He is generous, fair, positive and energetic. He turns himself inside out to give back to the community." Someone else says, "Dick truly embodies what it means to be an advocate for our sport. Thanks to his efforts on and off the court, thousands of players of all ages and abilities have been able to enjoy the sport of a lifetime."

So, that's the hero issue of the Tennis Magazine. I did think it was interesting the way the many articles and profiles fell into the same two categories -- spreading the joy of tennis (&helping people through that) and personally overcoming adversity to play tennis. Widen the definition a bit and you get someone who either overcomes adversity to achieve something, or someone who spreads happiness (usually on a larger scale), especially to people who face adversity. Interesting to keep these examples in mind re: the hero figures we've seen in this course.

Humanity in The Memory of Running

We briefly touched on The Memory of Running's sort of "view of humanity" in class -- I know a lot of people keep bringing up Smithy getting beat up, nearly shot, actually shot, etc as shocking & terrible. Which they are -- but I do feel like Smithy's journey turns out to ultimately bring out a lot of good of humanity & ends up pretty humanist.

All of the people hurting Smithy due to misunderstandings are pretty depressing -- it sucks to think that someone saving a little boy from a blizzard could end up being shot by the police. However, as Mr Rogers so wonderfully says, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." Dr. Donna Trivitch buys Smithy a flood of new gear as a way to say sorry for hurting him, and even as Smithy is shot Kenny's father ("Red Check") is thanking him profusely. Smithy basically manages to get across the country largely because of people's kindness (whether it's because they're feeling guilty or not).

I also do like that Smithy manages to not get jaded throughout his trip -- I think this is a fairly heroic trait. It's not like he loves everyone (see the prom chapter & his hatred of Bobby, but that seems fairly justified), but he does promise in the river that he'll never live a suspicious life. He seems to appreciate everyone's stories -- I think you can see this by the way that everyone spills their stories to him -- he seems to be a very good listener. Overall, I think this book highlights humanity in a way that I find pretty humanist -- appreciating humanity in its good and not-as-good moments.

I also like this Smithy quote: "'Thank you,' I said out loud to the player and his pop. Good people were there. There were things for them to do together, and I was somehow a part of that."

Milo & Otis

Alright this isn't about my actual big essay thing but rather what could have been. When I was little my parents had a VHS tape of this movie called Milo & Otis. Basically a brief summary is that it's about a pug (Otis) and a cat (Milo) who are best friends, and then one day the Milo gets swept by a river and Otis goes after him to rescue him. They go through all these really pretty meadows and Otis fights a bear and everything. It's a live action movie and it's sort of semi-cheesy because the narrator narrates what happens but also does voices for the animals. It's like an hour and 15 minutes and it's a nice mix of exciting and calming and super cute. Otis eventually finds Milo and everything ends happily.

This movie was particularly special to me because I grew up with a pug -- my parents got Snowy as a sort of consolation present for my brother because he was about 7 when I was born and not particularly happy about having a little sister. Snowy grew up with me and so I thought it was so cool that there was a movie about a pug that was like my own pug (I was also pretty obsessed with pugs when I was young -- I remember having a collection of pug cards that once got featured at the Urbana library). I watched Milo & Otis a lot when I was sick or just when my parents wanted to entertain me and I could just relax with a cute hero's journey where cute animals save each other and everything ends happily.

The problem with Milo & Otis (and the main reason why I didn't do my paper on this) and because when you Google Milo & Otis you get things like "IT'S NEWS TO YOU: MILO & OTIS IS TORTURE PORN ..." which is a bit upsetting when it's about one of your favorite childhood movies. I read some of the accusations and things don't look good for Milo & Otis which is honestly pretty sad because I can't really look at the movie the same way again -- I want to watch it again and enjoy the childhood nostalgia but then I'll just be worrying about how many animals were harmed. Poor Milo & poor Otis.

Interview with Donna Xia

I thought it would be nice to get another perspective on heroes outside of class, so I asked my good friend Donna Xia for some of her thoughts. Thanks Donna!

ME: So Donna, what do you think of heroes?

DONNA: I think that the best kind of hero is the ones that are chaotic good and chaotic neutral. Sure they do good, but they know when to bend the laws so they can reach the highest form of good. I believe that heroes should be able to operate outside the limits in order to save the world.

ME: What are your favorite hero stories?

DONNA: I really like Greek myths. I like Orpheus, although he's not really a hero? He did go down to the underworld with his lyre to bring his wife back from the dead, but in the end he looked back. I don't know if that's really heroic -- his intentions were definitely heroic, but he looked back in the end. I also really like Theseus and the minotaur -- he gets out and escapes the minotaur. I think Ariadne is the ideal hero. Theseus did some good stuff but Ariadne helped him, and without her Theseus would have been dead.

ME: Does failing in his quest -- looking back -- make Orpheus not a hero?

DONNA: Heroes can have heroic deaths but they aren't supposed to really mess up in that way. Like -- if Orpheus was a hero, he should have gotten a happy ending. He could have turned around in the end when he's back on Earth and embrace his wife, then been shot with an arrow. That would have been a heroic death. But he couldn't resist the temptation. Chill man. He's not a hero because that's a very human thing to do. But he did do something heroic in the beginning.

ME: So in your opinion, are heroes something more than human?

DONNA: Yeah. There's definitely an element of superiority and ideal. Even today, people look up to role models and say that they're heroes. But it's like you're infatuated -- you overestimate them in your mind and make that the reality. You don't see all the good sides of someone -- you just see what they want you to see. Like if you're a fan of an athlete, then you have a perfect image of them in your mind. You don't see them just at home chilling. There are several sides to people that you don't see.

ME: Do you know of any heroes who have become villains because of scandals? If they had been "ordinary people" do you think they would have had the same problem?

DONNA: I don't really know any heroes who have suddenly become villains but I know it's quite popular. I think if they had been ordinary people they wouldn't have had the same problem. It's always big when a celebrity -- someone "good" -- messes up, but when an ordinary human makes a mistake, they wouldn't receive the media attention. I mean obviously there are cases when somebody who's not a hero messes up, like a school shooter (that's obviously a mess-up, although that feels like too nice a term), but they didn't fall from the hero status -- they were just villains. 

ME: Have you ever had any role models or hero stories as a kid that you really liked?

DONNA: I really liked this story about ants and butterflies -- maybe it was an Aesop fable? The butterfly is just goofing off in the summer and the ants are working hard and preparing for winter. In the original tale I think the ants just have a good life and the butterfly dies, but in the version I was told, the butterfly gets really cold in the winter and begs the ants for help and the ants allow the butterfly entrance into their home and give the butterfly food. The ants were my hero -- I was like, "You rock, ants."