Who has ever heard of George Hogg?
None of you, I bet.

That, I have decided, is what is wrong with the world. Heroes, true heroes, are scarcely on the world stage. Scarcely known and scarcely thought about. They die unknown. Their great deeds unrewarded. Great men (and women) are lost in obscurity while the world concerns itself with the likes of Gordon Brown and Brad Pitt.

Institutions that were once fit for heroes, such as the Nobel Peace Prize have been devalued. I cannot believe that the prize that was once won by Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Tutu could have possibly been won by Al Gore, and all on account of that film of his. Ridiculous.

The tragedy is that we, the general public, never learn very much of the good and the great. You might ask why we should care. We live cushy lives. Brown's budget has more bearing on us than the actions of George Hogg. However, we are uninspired, cynical about the goodness of human kind and most of all, we have very little to admire.

I am guilty of this too. When I first when to see 'The Children of Huang Shi' it was because it starred my biggest lust, Johnny Rhys Meyers. Johnny is yummy. I love him soooooooo much. In all his roles he is PERFECT. Plus, he is always 100% hot, even when his character is a bit of a shit(or worse, Henry VIII, if you know what I mean).

However, in his latest film, 'The Children of Huang Shi' I did not lust after him at all. I know what you think...JRM must be letting himself go, getting older, rounder, menopausal. NO. He was amazing, as per usual. The difference was that the man he was playing, George Hogg, was such a good and brave and happy person, who did extraordinary things to help others, that his story, his legend and legacy, shone brighter and better from beyond JRM's fair facade.

So, I hear you ask, or maybe ask, if your reading at all. Who was George Hogg?

Hogg was an Oxford graduate. A banker. A boring dude. In January 1938, when he was 23 years old, he embarked on a business trip to Shanghai. Seven years later he was dead. Never having left China.

What's so special about that? Well...ummm, lots of things. I couldn't possibly get into the eventful life he led in China. What the film is about, and Hogg's greatest deed, was his forgotten hike through the mountains to save 60 orphans from the Japanese army. It sounds quite lame, just in print. But his deeds were truly selfless and inspiring. It takes a lot to save people at your own risk and Hogg did that, times 60. He also adopted 4 boys whose dying mother ask him to look after them. He and his friend Rewi Alley set up a school, gave these boys a chance. He led them through the toughest climes to save them from the Japanese army and in doing that, he died(having caught tetanus after being injured).

Many of the boys Hogg saved then are now in their 80s. They all remember him well. Many of them have described him as 'the perfect person'. And another thing, throughout his ordeal, right up to his death, he was always smiling. What more can you want? I do think this man was a true hero, again and again risking, and finally giving his life in the service of others...and still smiling. I don't I've articulated this all very well. So look up George Hogg for yourself. Watch the film. Please. He (and many others) I think truly exemplifies how bold, and good, human beings can be.

Another thing I admire, aside from the sheer goodness, is the fight that was in Hogg. He started fighting at 23, upon entering China, and he died fighting. He fought for the lives of the orphans and their well being. He fought to save them. Before that he fought by being a journalist. He told people the truth about the goings on in China, again at his own risk. Hogg fought by smuggling food and medicine into China. He fought oppression. Fought for the liberty of the Chinese. But he never once lifted a finger to hurt someone. That is uncommon in a war...

I want to leave you with Hogg's favourite lines of poetry. From the poem 'Into Battle' by Julian Grenfell.


"And life is colour and warmth and light
And a striving evermore for these;
And he is dead who does not fight;
And he who dies fighting has increase."