Jared Leto: A Heroic Analysis

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“Be brave, follow dreams, say f**k you to everybody and fight for what you believe in.” Despite playing the villain in the upcoming movie Suicide Squad, Jared Leto is the ideal hero. He has many characteristics of a hero, such as being committed, influential, and fighter for justice. In this essay, I am going into more details of what makes Jared Leto heroic, as well as comparing and contrasting him to the mythical god, Buddha.
Born in 1971, Jared Leto lived in Bossier City, Louisiana, shortly after his birth his parents filed for divorce. Growing up wasn’t easy, especially with a traveling artist for a mother. The family financially struggled, but with a positive attitude Jared’s mother (Constance), encouraged him and his brother, Shannon,
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Like Batman, Jared Leto is dedicated, focused, and committed to every role he plays. In 2013, he played the role of a transgender woman, Rayon, in The Dallas Buyers Club. When preparing for the role, he educated himself and spent time with the transgender community. He also lost an unhealthy amount of weight to fully transform into the feminine fierce Rayon. During production, co-stars never met Jared Leto, they would meet Rayon since Jared stayed in character throughout the creation of The Dallas Buyers Club. Co-star Matthew McConaughey said: “I met a performance artist. He is not someone bound by one certain craft — acting, singing, dance. He is thoughtful, committed, understands the context, shows up to do it, not discuss it. He performs.” Jared’s band, Thirty Seconds to Mars, is where he influences and saves people through his music. The music video, Do or Die, features fans telling their stories of how the band 's music has helped them through difficult times. For example, the video starts with a man explaining the song Do or Die and how it comforted him through the passing of his father. With over 10 million fans, Jared created not only a fan base, but a community called the Echelon. “The Echelon is where you 're willing to do whatever it takes to help out not just the band but the family. By …show more content…
Buddha and Jared both strongly care about the environment and the creatures that live in it. The Buddha taught the practice called metta (loving-kindness), which means to be kind and caring to all creatures, whether it 's a small insect or a ferocious lion. Jared believes in the same concept when he converted to the vegan lifestyle. “I’m a vegan. I respect the environment and I do my best to spread the importance of such an issue” (Leto). “Nature, or we could say our natural environment, is alive and at least partly conscious” (Epstein). This is the Buddhist way of thinking about nature, we must care for nature because it 's alive. Just like Buddha, Jared is environmentally conscious, on tour, he choose to run the tour bus on vegetable oil since it’s more environmentally friendly. Jared brought global warming to attention in the music video, Beautiful Lie. All profits from the song and the video went to an environmental charity, also during production everything was environmentally friendly. This year, Jared became the World Wildlife Fund 's global ambassador, when he visited South Africa to help save rhinos from poachers. In addition to caring, they both are selfless. When Jared won an Academy Award, he took his mother as his date. He honored his mom that night when he dedicated his award to her, instead of making it all about him. In his speech he said: “She was a high school dropout and a

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