The best way to understand the character of a society is to examine the character of the men and women that the society chooses as its heroes or its role models

Heroes or role models that members of a society choose may reflect the overall character of the society. Those models tend to present the value that men and women pursue. It can even be claimed that heroes or role models that people choose may be the best indicator for comprehending that society. The given prompt states that the best way to understand the character of a society is to examine what role models or heroes people choose. However, I mostly disagree with this claim for two reasons, but I concede that the claim in the prompt does hold true in some cases.

First of all, the ideal of one’s society typically differs from reality. For instance, Cardi B, who is a famous rapper in the United States, is adulated and idolized among teens. Even though she can be regarded as a hero or role model among the young, it does not mean that promiscuity is prevalent in American society (Cardi B has been well-known for writing sexual and provocative content in her lyrics). This example presents that celebrities who are treated as role models or heroes among a majority of people intimate the character of the overall society. In other words, what those celebrities represent does not necessarily match the virtue of one’s affiliated society.

Secondly, due to the abundant flow of information via internet news and social media, role models or heroes may consistently change over a relatively short period of time. For instance, a person may regard Obama as a role model initially. However, he or she may change his mind and set a new role model as a firefighter who rescued a young boy in a burning house after reading an Instagram feed. In the past, due to the slower and less flow of information around the world, the role models or heroes that people in society choose did not change as often as nowadays – the time when information and news are inundated. This demonstrates that extrapolating the characteristics of a society based on whom the general public regard as heroes and role models can lead to attaining a distorted depiction of the society.

However, there are some instances in which the character of role models or heroes matches the character of society. Take Bill Gates as an example. He has been highly regarded among Americans for becoming successful and rich with no help from others and donating a tremendous amount of money to the poor. Americans’ reverence for him truly represents that they highly value American Dream and charity, the ideal virtues in the United States. In some cases, the representation of role models or heroes does properly reflect the character of the men and women in their society.

In conclusion, the virtue that heroes or role models represent in a society may not adequately mirror the character of the people in most cases, but in some cases, it is true that the character of heroes or role models does properly reflect what is valued in society. However, the latter case is becoming uncommon, as various information flows around the internet and social media that may show flaws of one’s heroes or role models; people are likely to shift their role models if they become aware of the misconduct. Hence, in nowadays, one cannot describe people based on their role models.