
From the look of the movie trailers…
…Amelia, the new biopic about Amelia Earhart, appears to take a heroic approach to the aviator’s life…
…which disappoints me.
What do I mean by “heroic approach”?
Well, I expect the movie to play fast and loose with the facts of the heroine’s life in order to create an idealized image.
But with Amerlia Earhart, the truth is more fascinating than any romanticized rewriting.
She was not the best female aviator of her time. But she knew how to promote herself. Her marriage, it is generally acknowledged, was more a business deal than a romance. In any case, it worked.
If Amelia Earhart had been better prepared for her round-the-world flight, she might have made it, might have even been able to land on that dot of an island. But a series of fund-raising appearances and tours had left her burnt-out before she even began.
Public legend and actual fact seem to agree on one point: she had something to prove—about herself, about all women. And she proved it. This is what she gave us.
To the ancient Greeks, a hero was not necessarily one who did good acts, but one who lived big. When their heroes erred, they erred big—just as Amelia did.
Did Amelia fly too close to the sun? I won’t make such a pretentious statement. In any case, the stories of our new mythology need not reflect earlier tales. We need to keep some of the old stories, but also add new ones. New stories of heroism can help us address the questions particular to our times. These stories will help us see our past, but more importantly, help us see our present, as well as the possibilities of our future.
Yes, the story of Amelia Earhart can provide inspiration for women, for anyone who feels stymied by what others believe she/he can not/should not do. However…
…to me, she presents a difficult question—a dilemma.
Earhart was a good pilot, but an even better promoter. By promoting herself, she ended up doing a lot for all of us. She helped us to see our world—with its yin-yang dance of male and female—just a little differently. On the other hand…
…if she’d focused more on improving her skills as an aviator, and on preparing for her trip, she might have completed her flight around the world. No telling what she might have accomplished afterwards.
What I see now, in my country, are businesses and people putting much energy into promoting themselves…
…which is so necessary, these days. We live in a culture of abundance, of creativity. It’s hard to be heard in the din.
However, I often see promotion being stressed over product. The amount of effort put into hype frequently subtracts from the effort put into development—development of the product, of the art, the craft, the concept, the invention.
However, I don’t want to make the story of Amelia Earhart into a cautionary tale. The best stories don’t provide us with answers, don’t tell us what to do…
…but drive us to question, then perhaps, to change our behavior based on what we find, on what we learn.
As for the mystery of her disappearance…
…I’m all for mystery—our new mythology needs to open us to mystery. But her disappearance is no mystery at all. To those who are still searching…
…I would ask, “What are you really looking for? What have you lost?” Such questions, too, belong in our new mythology.
© 2009, Michael R. Patton
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