And they say that a hero will save us

So there I was watching Stargate SG-1 (the episode was "2010" for those who care) when one of the characters comes through in the clutch and gave a smart-ass hero line that just made me sit up and say "DAMN HE'S NOW MY HERO."

But then I realize, as cool as the character is, he's not real. See I always have a split idea on heroes. Part of me says that fictional heroes allow us to put up a character that has admirable traits and should be something that people emulate. On the other hand, that does diminish the heroic things real people do, which include, but is not limited to the people who helped out on September 11th.

As a comic reader my tastes run towards the more traditional heroes, such as Superman, who have certain morals and strive every week (or month, as the case may be) to uphold them. They always maintain that level of morality, no matter what.

Then you look at real life heroes and just wait for the media to find something bad about them to report. Then sometimes they don't have to wait that long, finding something in their archives to take down the hero a bit.

And this isn't to even mention the so called "heroes" that really aren't heroic, but the media puts them in a certain light to portray them as heroes.

So which is worse, having a fictional hero or having a real life hero, who has all the faults that all humans do?