"...my real-life hero."

But is he gay? There is "little-to-no evidence of [it] being true."

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COMMENTARY

The news junky’s superhero
By Pooja Kansal

Posted at 06:38 PM on Feb. 7, 2010

The topic of Anderson Cooper, the anchor of CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” always evokes the words “hot” or “gay” (even though the latter has little-to-no evidence of being true).

As a self-proclaimed news junky, I find it frustrating that others have such a superficial view of someone who inspires me and influences so many aspects of my life.

I suppose that Cooper’s silver fox qualities factor into my fascination with him, but his sex appeal doesn’t trivialize his heroism. His eye candy status really isn’t his fault, and he definitely doesn’t fish for compliments. Every time a woman, usually Kelly Ripa or Kathy Griffin, tries to praise him, Cooper steers the conversation back to current events.

Cooper’s posh upbringing only makes me respect his humble lifestyle even more. It’s more difficult to spend several weeks per year in developing countries after growing up in an opulent home in Manhattan than it is to continue living a modest lifestyle after having never known anything different.

As much as I wish I could do that, I know that it would be a challenge for me to go from driving a luxury car to trekking up sand dunes in the Middle East. And as much as I want to expose the world’s atrocities, I can’t say I would sacrifice my safety and family life to do so.

Yet, Cooper continues to jet around the world (and not in a private plane – he flies commercial), putting his life on the line. He knows full well that he could be blown to smithereens in Afghanistan or tortured by drug lords in Mexico, so why does he continue to do it?

Because Cooper is the superhero for news junkies all around the globe. He, like Superman and Spiderman, feels the burden of public service. After jumping on a flight to Haiti and spending a week informing the rest of the world about the tragedy, he chose to stay an extra week in the “hell on Earth” after his professional obligation was fulfilled.

And, contrary to popular belief, Cooper never exploited his Vanderbilt lineage to rise up the ranks of broadcast journalism. He graduated early from high school and spent the second semester of what had been his senior year traveling with ancient tribes in Africa.

After graduating from Yale University, he didn’t turn to his famous mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, to pull a few strings and secure him a job. He began freelancing from the war-torn regions of Bosnia, Somalia, Myanmar and Rwanda, putting his safety in serious jeopardy, even though there was no guarantee that news networks would use his tapes.

All I know is that if the Mayan calendar’s prediction of the 2012 apocalypse turns out to be right, I’m not going to be waiting around for Superman to zoom to our rescue – I’ll be flipping on CNN to get instructions from my real-life hero.