Jim Carrey

Be yourself. ()

"I just want to be myself." These are six simple, inspirational words, and they were spoken by a man named Jim Carrey. Carrey was born on January 17, 1962, in Newmarket, Ontario. He was the youngest of four children born to Kathleen and Percy Carrey. As a child, Carrey was already showing a knack for entertaining others. Today, he is known as one of the most humorous movie actors of our time, starring in movies such as Bruce Almighty and Liar Liar. Throughout his career as a comedian and comedic actor, Carrey display a realistic, down-to-earth view on life. Heroic people are not necessarily people that save lives every day, or people that donate huge amounts of money to charity. Heroes are simply people that others can relate to and idolize. Jim Carrey is my hero because of his imperfections, his philosophy, and his desire to make other people happy.

Disruptive Carrey

One thing that makes a Jim Carrey a hero is his imperfections. Imperfections are what allow people to relate to others, which is a heroic trait. As a child, "Carrey excelled in grade school, but from his teachers' standpoint there was a downside to his aptitude as a student. 'Jim finishes his work first, then bothers the other students,' he remembers having read on a school report" (Biography Today). As children, we always had that one class where one kid would be disruptive, with the kid being either someone else or ourselves. Jim Carrey reminds us of that kid, providing a sense of reminiscence and familiarity. Later, throughout his career, Jim has been through multiple relationships, and is still unable to commit. He was "married to Melissa Womer from 1987 to 1995. He was married briefly to Dumb & Dumber co-star Lauren Holly before entering a yearlong romance with his Me, Myself and Irene leading lady, Renee Zellweger. His most recent relationship with actress/model Jenny McCarthy, ended in April 2010" (The Biography Channel 2). In only 23 years, Carrey has had a relationship with four women. Of course, younger people can't relate with Carrey's marriages to three women. However, his inability to commit proves that he isn't a perfect person, and is a human just like the rest of us.

Thoughtful

Jim Carrey's philosophy is another trait of his that makes him a hero. When being interviewed about his relationship with Dumb & Dumber co-star Lauren Holly, "Carrey expresses genuine happiness about his relationship with Holly, he also admits to feeling some reluctance to make a commitment, given his experience with marriage: 'I hate it when I see people go on talk shows, and they just married the supermodel of the century, and they are like 'This is it, absolutely.' That to me is arrogant in the face of nature. It'd be an incredibly wonderful thing if I end up being, like, 80 years old, and me and Lauren are heading out having a great old time. But as soon as you say you know, the universe will prove you wrong'" (Biography Today). Carrey's view of relationships is of course controversial, yet respectable. Many people have faced this same dilemma, and will support his opinion. This also supports Carrey's familiarity and having people relate to him. Carrey also once said, "It is better to risk starving to death than surrender. If you give up on your dreams, what's left?" (Jim Carrey). Carrey says this in obvious hopes to inspire others to always have something to live for. He implies that without a goal, there is nothing to live for.

Entertaining

Carrey's final heroic trait is his natural talent for entertaining others and making them happy. Being a disruptive student at school, Carrey simply wanted to entertain others. "His seventh-grade teacher, however, found a way to keep him from disrupting the class--he allowed Carrey to perform for classmates during the last 15 minutes of the day if he behaved during class time" (International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers). His teacher's decision to allow Jim to perform for the class simply proves his desire to entertain others. This was the first indication of his penchant for humor. "According to Carrey, his mother suffered from real and imagined ailments. 'Oh, my mother had everything under the sun," he says. "She was a child of alcoholics, and she had a lot of problems as far as, like, the illnesses were her medals. That's all she talked about. It was desensitizing.' But when his mother was 'really sick, really in pain--I used to come into the bedroom in my underwear and do my praying mantis impression'" (Biography Today). A normal person would want to avoid someone who abuses alcohol. However, Jim Carrey saw it as his duty to help his mother out and cheer her up. He wasn't scared of her and her problems, and entertained her because it made both him and her happy.

My hero

Jim Carrey has not saved lives, or founded foundations to help people in need. Those are both heroic acts, but Jim Carrey is my hero simply because of his flaws, his happy and humorous nature, and his views on life that are so similar to mine. He isn't a perfect person; he has his mistakes and imperfections that make him human. He's surprisingly down-to-earth, realistic, and says things that I agree with very much. He finds happiness in making others happy with his humor. Jim Carrey inspires me to continue being the person I already am. I love making my peers happy and helping them have a good time. It makes me sad to see others sad, and I try my best to brighten their day. Jim Carrey's simple, but powerful sayings inspire me to never quit and always be optimistic. Anyone having a bad day should just have a dose of Jim Carrey. Watch a movie of his, or watch interviews with him. He will surely brighten anyone's day, something I want to be able to do someday.

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