Wanted: a real hero

When I was a kid, my celebrity hero was chef Julia Child. She was a WWII veteran and inspired my love of all cooking shows. She may have been old and her cooking styles may have been simple, but she was my hero.

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Today's generation of kids have a more limited supply of celebrity heroes to aspire to than I did back then. Stories of celebrities and their "mess-ups" have become so common; they're barely surprising anymore.

Take teen pop star Chris Brown, for example. His alleged domestic abuse of his famous girlfriend, Rihanna, not only angered devoted fans, but also sent Brown's endorsers scrambling to save face. Wrigley's and Got Milk have dumped their ad campaigns with him, and radio stations across the country have begun to pull his songs from the air. Any damage Brown may have done to his career is far less than the damage he's done to his public image. After years of maintaining a squeaky-clean image, Brown's proven that he's no hero.

It was recently found that Yankees player Alex Rodriguez took performance-enhancing drugs in order to further his athletic career. To make matters worse, Rodriguez denied ever taking illegal drugs in an interview with Katie Couric. In a field where many stars have been targeted for using steroids, Rodriguez stood out as a shining beacon of integrity and honesty. Now, his fall from grace has only added his name to a long list of disappointments.

It's unfortunate to discover that your heroes are flawed. It's even worse to discover that your heroes could be put in jail for committing felonies and taking illegal substances. While these celebrities may not have a contractual obligation to be great heroes, they do have a moral obligation to be good people.