There a bit towards the end of From Hell, in the Dance of the Gull Catchers epilogue, when writer Alan Moore admits that it doesn't matter who Jack The Ripper is. Because he's a super-position, far bigger than the physical space of the actual murderer.
This is always forefront in my mind when another personal hero turns out to be just another arsehole - when it turns out that a writer I admire is a selfish, narcissistic fuckwit, or a director turns out to be fully abusive.
It used to be so disappointing, and I would be crushed when somebody I'd so admired had feet of shit. And it's a major reason why I don't have many heroes anymore, because I finally figured out that they're all human beings.
Humans, even the greatest of us, can still be mean and spiteful, or you could just catch them in a really bad mood. They can say inappropriate things at the exact wrong time, and support people and ideals who are morally repugnant.
I do have super-positions that I admire though, beyond the frailties of human complexity. The ideals they pass on, the way they see the world at its best, away from the mess of their last divorce, or the way they turned into a deadbeat dad.
I wouldn't ever want to be a superposition myself, it's not exactly aspirational. Because for all the complexities of it, it's still just the shadow of the intricacies found within every human soul.
Still, if Tom fucking Hanks turns out to be an actual dirtbag, I am giving up on life.
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