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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 10
... armour as a result of their accidents . Tony Stark is a rich , handsome and intelligent industrialist who gets blown - up by a landmine while demonstrating one of his inventions to the military in a war zone.27 Stark survives the blast ...
... armour . However , and as Tony Stark discovers , the armour is not who we are , it is a mechanism , a means of protection and some- thing that needs to be removed once we are no longer under threat . While Tony Stark did eventually ...
... armour he clothes himself in is never removed and is designed to create a barrier between Doom and the rest of the world . As he dons his metal mask - still hot from the furnace , thus damaging his features further he cries : ... Never ...
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
2 other sections not shown