Ladies of hive contest # 230 -> How Richard Dean Anderson helped me be a good person

Written as part of the Ladies of Hive writing contest - https://peakd.com/hive-124452/@ladiesofhive/ladies-of-hive-community-contest-230

(Photo from https://www.deviantart.com/phantombladev18/art/MacGyver-Wallpaper-40806519)

Richard Dean Anderson is in many of my childhood memories. Growing up I watched a lot of Macgyver and a great deal of StarGate SG-1, and he’s the star in both. I have many a fond memory of watching yet another crisis be averted by Richard Dean Anderson and friends. In the action adventure show of Macgyver those friends were people of all sorts of different backgrounds and motivations but had one thing in common : they were good. On the galaxy spanning sci-fi, SG-1 the friends might be fellow SG-1 members, aliens or humans from other planets, and in one very interesting episode, just a random human that happened to buy an alien artefact at a garage sale.

(image from https://www.reddit.com/r/Stargate/comments/x7aad/my_really_cool_stargate_wallpaper/)

The two characters Richard Den Anderson plays are in many ways quite different Mac hates guns, avoids violence and seems to always go for the most complicated solution out there. Jack O’neill on the other hand is a military guy who prefers simple solutions to problems. Why do something complicated when you can just slap some C4 and blow the bad guys up? The challenges they face are also quite different due to the shows being different genres, Macgyver is set on earth, the villains are human, the heroes are human and while there is the odd episode where something catasprotic is threatened, the stakes are generally not global. On Star-Gate SG-1 the whole galaxy is saved from one alien or another on a regular basis, entire planets are at risk when it’s not the galaxy, and it is very rare that the stakes are smaller then that.

(image from https://screenrant.com/stargate-sg1-why-did-richard-dean-anderson-leave/)

Yet these shows have very important similarities that drew me to them. One is that both shows put a premium on loyalty, protecting people who can’t, never giving up, and respecting people different from you. Over the course of both shows many different cultures, religions and ability levels are shown and by and large are accepted and respected. In short, have faith in people and it’ll normally be rewarded. And even when it isn’t, it’s still better to try then to hate.
Quote from episode 4.12 the challenge

That bit is the most relevant to my life now. I work with special needs kids. Some have autism, others have fetal alcohol syndrome, others have down syndrome, and yet others are ADHD, or some mix of all of them. All of them are awesome kids. And I would face off an alien invasion to protect them. And while I am not saying I became a support worker for special needs kids thanks to the fantastic characters Richard Dean Anderson played, I think I bring a bit of Macgyver into each day. Working with kids who have different ability levels, who might not be able to communicate vocally, or move the same way other kids move, means problem solving. It requires not getting frustrated or giving up when the first thing, or first five things don’t work. This job also means constantly advocating for the kids. Many of them cannot communicate their needs the same way other people can, and that means folks like me are their voice.

There's also one other thing of note about Richard Dean Anderson, and that's why he left his role on SG-1. He left becuse he wanted to be a good father and take care of his health.(Being a star of two different action series was not easy on his body.) This was one of the first times I'd seen someone who to me was a star make a choice for their own good.

Looking to the future and how I can follow that example, of making the big choices in life in a way that I don't compromise what's important. I'm not sure what my future will hold but I know it's going to be full of working with special needs kids and lots of learning. And maybe a Stargate SG-1 rewatch.

Thank you for reading!