From the brothers Cuomo and Bernie Sanders to Bruce Willis, these are the unexpected heroes coronavirus gave us
Tom Hanks charmed us all when he described himself as the 'celebrity canary in the coal mine'
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Your support makes all the difference.With coronavirus deaths turning the country upside down, our egomaniacal divider-in-chief offered racism instead of wisdom, inanely fighting to win a popularity contest by getting his name on too-small stimulus checks. Rethinking role models, I've had to find inspiration elsewhere:
Medical Mentors
Forget Oz, Drew, Phil, Pimple Popper and Doolittle. The 50-year-old Atlanta neurosurgeon Dr Sanjay Gupta won me over with his helpful video "How to make your own mask at home". And Dr Anthony Fauci, the 79-year-old nerdy director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who constantly corrects Trumpian falsehoods, proves that nothing's more heroic in a crisis than brains, balls, and honesty.
Essential Workers
As the vapid influencers of yesterday fade, our true heroes are emerging: healthcare workers, grocery store employees, subway conductors, farmers, garbage collectors, postal carriers and firefighters. They deserve raises and better protective equipment as they're risking their lives daily to do their jobs and take care of us. Too bad it took a plague to recognize them as the real life rock-stars they are.
The Brothers Cuomo
I never paid much attention to Andrew and Chris. Until our inarticulate leader blamed China, Obama, leftwing conspiracies, media and the World Health Organization for the pandemic he mishandled. Then I heard my state's eloquent governor offer smart reasons for closing down the city, adding, "If someone wants to blame someone, blame me. There is no one else responsible." A leader from Queens taking responsibility while articulating thoughts in full sentences? Add to this his love for his mother Matilda and kid brother — who has the virus himself (as does his wife) — and we finally have a first family to root for and look up to.
Germaphobes
I rolled my eyes when Curb Your Enthusiasm curmudgeon Larry David bristled at being embraced by new people on TV. But now, seeing how easily viruses can spread, I'm adopting his "no hugging strangers" rule. A student with OCD — who continuously left my classes to wash her hands — joked that the rest of the planet was finally catching up with her. I apologized for finding her preoccupation annoying. Along with wearing a mask and plastic gloves, it seems insane not to keep using soap and water to prevent infections.
Cooperative Co-parents
I wasn't a huge fan of Die Hard, A Few Good Men, or Demi Moore's infamous Vanity Fair cover and I don't know why the divorced ex-spouses are isolating together. But I enjoyed the pictures of Bruce Willis, his ex, their daughters and dog in green striped pajamas on social media. Bruce's current wife Emma's comment: "Not many can pull that color off! Looking good squad," with four green hearts, showed great extended domestic karma during the quarantine.
Bosom Buddies
I liked Tom Hanks ever since Big's floor piano tap dance and I admired his wife Rita Wilson's recent candor on social media about her battle with breast cancer. After announcing that they had both contracted Covid-19 in Australia, this couple donated their blood for antibodies to help discover a vaccine. As if that's not cool enough, Hanks self-deprecatingly insisted he was only asked to host last weekend's Saturday Night Live because he was the "celebrity canary in the coal mine of coronavirus.”
The Runner-up
He was not my candidate. Yet just as Bernie's conceding the Democratic nomination, his Medicare for All plan seems essential, especially given the loss of 22 million US jobs, with higher rates of coronavirus-related deaths among people of color, immigrants and the poor. I was impressed the senator endorsed Biden, calling Trump a racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic religious bigot who downplayed the virus and vowing to make him a one-term president as he did.
Dauntless Designers
Christian Siriano, a former Project Runway winner who dressed Michelle Obama, swiftly turned his fashion house into a medicinal mask factory. Brandon Maxwell, Prada, Armani, H&M, Burberry and others soon followed suit, showing us that being a good citizen is never out of fashion.
Susan Shapiro is an award-winning writing professor at The New School and the bestselling author of 13 books including Unhooked, Lighting Up and The Byline Bible
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