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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Mike Alsford. where issues concerning humanness can be considered from a perhaps unfamiliar angle . I am equally concerned that this space should be an interdisciplinary one , one in which the issues are raised by familiar cultural ...
... considered particularly relevant as a means of illuminating the mysterious , be that the human psyche or the gods themselves . Examples of this can be found in the Egyptian myths of the gods of Heliopolis – particu- larly the family of ...
... considered , a large sum of money to charity . The billionaire who donates thousands to a good cause is not often seen as performing a heroic act : ' Oh that's just peanuts to them - they'll hardly even notice it and any- way it's ...
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
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