American Heros--signs of the times
...terview for jobs at the ford factory. They too were looking for improvements to their quality of life. Ford was viewed as someone who viewed his workers as his equal. In Ford’s well-publicized press conference of the announcement, he stated, “he believed that the men who made his machines ought to earn enough to buy them. By 1926 the Model T Ford could be purchased for only two hundred and ninety dollars.” (Schaller p.122) Henry Ford will always be remembered as the common farmer’s son who changed American history. He is forever immortalized for opening America to her people, through the automobile. He will also be remembered as a pioneer in the industrial and economic worlds. While Ford improved the quality of life for Americans through allowing them the power to explore the world around them, another intellectual empowered another great need of the common man. Chaplin became the ultimate “underdog” advocate of Americans in his portrayal of a character named “The Tramp”. Chaplin’s notion of a tramp character, to begin with, “evolved from his fondness for such usually-typecast characters as they appeared in the comics during his early life in Britain.” (Reader p.108) The tramp character was very appealing to early common American moviegoers mainly because they could relate to feeling like the underdog. But, the fact that the tramp always came out on top was the reason that he was a great hero to the commonplace person. Charlie Chaplin was able to combine slapstick humor with real human emotion. This made him not only entertaining but also fed the much needed understanding and relation to the common Americans who watched his movies. One of the most famous movies that Charlie the Tramp starred in was “The Gold Rush”, a prime example of the inspiration that herolized Chaplin and the tramp character is shown in this movie. The tramp was an odd kind-hearted man that was true to himself and others around him. Yet he was always being “short changed”, however in the end he was rich and got the girl based on his own honest true nature. Charlie Chaplin set himself apart as a hero and a national icon of the time by honestly relating to his audience. “Where other comedic icons stood for slapstick and meaningless physical humor, even if cunningly portrayed, Chaplin was a human icon in a unique way, representing deep feelings for many in his portrayal of a man against the world: and because Charlie represented “his” feelings so openly, what you saw was what you got.” (Reader p.110) In his time people felt as though he cared about and understood them. They felt a connection when they saw his movies. Charlie Chaplin movies allowed Americans of the early nineteenth century a release from everyday life with his humor. But, also a sense of understanding of who they are and what the life they live is about. Charlie Chaplin was and for some, still is an American hero. George Herman Ruth or Babe Ruth as he is more commonly know became an American sports hero in the early nineteen twenties. Baseball had taken a hit in popularity with the scandal of a thrown world series in nineteen-nineteen. Before this baseball had been America’s favorite pastime, an icon of American society. American’s longed for the redemption of baseball, and Babe Ruth was it. “His home runs gave him a heroic stature comparable to that of legendary demigods like Odysseus, Beowulf or Daniel Boone.” (Reader p. 194) Although Babe Ruth had a ruthless personal life it was overlooked and hidden from the public. Ruth was a hero of the times in my opinion, he came about when American’s had lost faith in baseball clubs. Fans were desperately looking for a reason to redeem the game they loved so much. Babe Ruth was elevated to heroic status as a result. “Ruth’s unsavory background and boorish personal habits were nicely overlooked by talented sportswriters anxious to give the twenties the kind of hero it craved. The payoff was public adulation of the Babe and baseball.” (Reader p.194) While Babe Ruth may have not been quite as big of a hero if he had come about at another time, he managed to revive baseball and American’s favorite game. He drew in at least $1,500,000 into various ballparks within only five years of his fame. (Reader p.197) This statistic is clear evidence of the impact that Babe had on the society of the ni...