There’s a great exchange in Clint Eastwood’s recent film “Sully.”
It’s 2009, just after Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s “miracle on the Hudson.” Sully and his co-captain Jeff Skiles are riding a New York City cab. The cabbie, holding a newspaper, comments wryly: So far this year I’ve read about Bernie Madoff, financial collapse and terrorism — and it’s only January.
The cabbie thanks Sully and Skiles and tells them that America needs more heroes.
Some argued (with the release of “Sully” the discussion has arisen once again) that Sully doesn’t classify as a hero because he was merely doing his job (and to some degree acting out of self-interest because his life was on the line).
Anyone with this point of view needs to see the movie. “Sully” clearly demonstrates that had anyone else been flying that plane, 155 people would be dead. Sully was faced with a split-second decision and had the courage to attempt the unattempted.
According to most dictionaries, courage is the defining element of heroism. It’s why we consider firefighters, soldiers, police officers and emergency rescue workers as heroes, even though they are also “only doing their job.”
Air France 447, in which 228 people perished, crashed over the Atlantic in 2009 because of pilot error. Likewise — but with dramatically different results — it was the human element that decided the fate of US Airways 1549.
In this changing economy of rapidly developing technology, Eastwood’s movie shows that we still need to invest in, prioritize and appreciate the human factor.
I love it that this message is coming from an 86-year-old filmmaker who continues to make some of the best movies in the business.
Shana Goldberg may be reached at [email protected].
Copyright © 2016 by the Intermountain Jewish News
