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February 7, 2007
Crashing to Earth
Here is a more knowledgable and eloquently stated blog post on the sad astronaut story and the BBC News story where I got the reference to the blog.
These days, I am teaching a class on mythology and tried to give my students some examples of cultural myths, not falsities (though they might present false images of how things are) but stories we tell or characters we create to reinforce our cultural values. I cited the cowboy and the self-made person and the American dream as examples. And the astronaut would have worked really well, too, as an example.
The movie The Right Stuff did peal back the veneer a bit on astronauts even way back in the 1980's while, rightly, highlighting their amazing achievements too.
Myth making is an incredible thing. I am aware of and intrigued by how it works, and yet often still dazzled by its effects. Take for example the productions of Hollywood and the amazing NFL Films.
| By jackdas | 12:38 PM
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