The Nature of Heroes….

You could probably write a psychology book (or at least, a very long chapter) about why people can and do act heroically.  What motivates them, whether love, duty, etc., the situations that create them, how they arise.  And its something we’ve long been fascinated as a culture.  We read comic books about make believe heroes, we idolize sports figures as such, we look at our veterans of foreign wars as real life heroes, even some of our celebrities and politicians were and are looked at in this light.

If there is a common thread in the heroes I am drawn to, it’s sacrifice.  It doesn’t have to be something as severe as laying down one’s life for another (though I am always intrigued by the concept of a “great” man or woman giving their life for someone they just met), but the idea of knowingly accepting harm onto yourself for the benefit of another is a defining characteristic of a hero for me.  And that certainly fits both Connors to a T.  Both have had to give up any semblance of a normal life.  Both have given up the protection and affection of the very society they’re seeking to save.  And, in Sarah’s case, the cost of fighting may well be her sanity.

But for John, I think, the sacrifice will be greater.  Cameron states in Today Is The Day that John’s fate is to be alone.  Given he is constantly hunted by Terminators, the reasons are obvious.  Anyone he creates any kind of relationship with instantly becomes a target either in the Present or the Future, because killing these people will hurt him (and by extension harm the war effort), or he’ll expose himself to protect them.  So he cannot form any of the bonds humans need, because it will put him and others in harms way.  By extension, though, it means he will fight to the last for any connection he does have because they are so few and precious to him.  So, I think he would have jumped into the future for Cameron even if  John had no romantic interest: the bond of friendship would have mattered that much to him.

But as a commander, John knows he’ll have to order people to their deaths during a war.  He knows people under his command will die.  But until now, that’s been an abstract concept for him.  Now he’s in the Future.  Now he’s fighting alongside the very people who will perish.  Now he’s getting a grunt’s eye view of their sacrifice.  And it’s going to change him forever, making him even more determined to stop Judgment Day.

Because that’s John’s ultimate sacrifice.  These people he fights with, leads, they’re his family in the Future.  And if he stops Judgment Day, he’ll never know them.  John will never meet his father, he’ll never be known as a leader.  He’ll never know the people he serves with if he stops the nukes from falling. Instead he may go down in history as a terrorist, as someone to be reviled.  He’s giving up the thing he values most in order to protect.

And that’s what a hero does.

But, on to the news.  There’s no media update as such, but since I’ve resumed writing (because my Thesis defense is over), we’ve resumed a monthly rehearsal schedule and I’ve already uploaded a new draft of Episode 9 (which is pretty close to completion) and resumed work on Episode 12.  A draft of our first audio advertisement is finished, though we need to tweak the music a bit.  Sounds awesome, if you ask me, and you’ll get to hear it next month.

We’ve also recruited an animator to the project, Sangeeta.  However, with a project of this size we need all the help we can get, so there is no limit on the number of animators or modelers we want on the team.  If you can help us, contact us!

And, finally, Roxy and I are going to be at the Shore Leave Convention from August 3rd to 5th (http://www.shore-leave.com/).  Thomas Dekker is a guest there and we’re going to be advertising the project at a booth.  Nothing too fancy, but if you’re there, come on over and see us!