The Trouble with Hero Worship, or, How Mel Gibson Ruined my Childlike Naïveté

One characteristic that has reared its odd little head more and more in my life is a distinct mistrust of "popular" people or ideas. I like to think this isn't some sort of personal hipster-like revolution (though it's hard to justify that, as I'm sitting here typing this with black rimmed glasses, an ironic pop culture t shirt, and, you know, a blog), but rather a symbol of my strong will and principles. Yeah. That's it.

This subject actually came up when my girlfriend and I passed a billboard advertising "The Making of Jimmer" dvd. That sparked a good conversation between us on whether or not hero worship was a good thing. The result of our conversation was basically that it's a tricky business hero-worshiping someone--you never know enough about him or her to truly pass judgment on her or his overall moral character. For me personally, I think, in some way, this notion stems from a personal experience from my youth when I admired a person greatly, only to be later disappointed in them. Yes, that's right, I, like most children my age, was an avid Mel Gibson fan.

I...wasn't alone in this, right?