Heroes and VillainsHercules, Jesus, James Bond, Luke Skywalker, Gandalf, Frodo, Harry Potter, Buffy Summers, Spiderman, Batman, Captain Kirk, Dr. Who, Darth Vader, Sauron, Voldemort, Lex Luthor, Dr. Doom, the Daleks, the Borg. Almost anybody living in the developed West would be able to group these individuals into two camps: the heroes and the villains. However, what criteria they may use to do this is less clear. Mike Alsford introduces us to a range of heroic and villainous archetypes on a journey through film, television, comic books, and literature. On the way, he addresses questions such as: What is a true hero? What is a true villain? Have we misunderstood these terms? What kind of societal values do our mythical heroes and villains represent? In trying to understand the extremes of hero and villain we are made more aware of our own ethical standards and given a space in which to explore contemporary concerns over notions of right and wrong, good and bad. |
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... lord Sauron , are portrayed as overwhelming . The plight of the good and the noble of Middle Earth - be they great elven lords or ordinary hobbit gardeners - seems all but beyond hope . Dark armies roam the lands murdering , pillaging ...
... Lord of Mordor , using his own arts , he would then set himself on Sauron's throne , and yet another Dark Lord would appear ... as long as it is in the world it will be a danger even to the Wise . Nothing is evil in the beginning . Even ...
... Lord Asriel , requires the release of a large amount of energy in order to open a portal to another world . His daughter , the hero of the series , Lyra , finally comes to the shocking realisa- tion as to how he proposes to generate ...
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
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