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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... 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 Sauron was not so . I fear to take the ring to hide it . I will not take the ring to wield it.'8 This is a common ...
... appear - finds it extraordinarily difficult to cope with a complicated world characterised by difference and variety . The desire to impose order and control , to create an empire , is often the primary goal of the villainous mastermind ...
... appear that being a villain has more to do with a particular attitude of mind rather than any particular power , or indeed any particular action . To see the world and those within it as a thing to be made use 132 Heroes and Villains.
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
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