Hero Analysis

The concept of a hero has changed through the years from someone who has supernatural abilities to someone who is the best grandmother. In a recent article, the hero is much younger and did not save any lives. In fact, Ha Mok-min, 16, and Bae Yeong-ho, 17, are heroes to a young group of followers, “thumb tribe”, in South Korea due to their texting ability (New York Times Upfront, 2010).

Ha and Bae became known as heroes to the “thumb tribe” after winning a competition held in New York in January (New York Times Upfront, 2010). The competition was held between thirteen countries and Ha and Bae were deemed the best team in the texting world. The group of followers is considering them heroes because the followers feel more comfortable texting when conversing than holding a verbal conversation over the phone (New York Times Upfront, 2010).

For them to be claimed as heroes shows and enforces how the changing idea of a hero is unfolding. In this case, the hero has an ability at which they excel above others in the field according to the competition that was held. There will be technological advances in cell phones that will surface to help the members of the “thumb tribe” and other people who will possess dedication and skill that will excel beyond the standards set by Ha and Bae. This will contribute to additional people that will be added to the heroic people of the texting world.

The act of texting is not something that is unachievable such as leaping tall buildings in a single bound or shooting spider web from ones wrist which allows their followers to relate to them. This is a trend that has been associated with newfound heroes and this has taken the supernatural abilities of past heroes and turned the abilities into their second weakness.

Works Cited

New York Times Upfront. (2010, April 19). 'Thumb Tribe' Heroes. Retrieved July 20, 2010, from Education Research Complete database: http://0-search.ebscohost.com.olinkserver.franklin.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=49012313&site=ehost-live