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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... dominate as the primary mode of relating to the world is a characteristic trait of the hero and this is often in the face of aggression and abuse . Compare the attitude and behaviour of Peter Parker in the above quote with that of the ...
... dominate . We desire to know in order to participate . This kind of knowledge confers com- munity , and can be termed communicative knowledge , as compared with dominating knowledge.33 With this reduction of the power to dominate the ...
... domination there are those who choose to use their knowledge , however petty , to dominate and control their friends and family . For every dark lord with pretensions to godhood there are individuals who see themselves as separate from ...
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
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