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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... essence the world appears ordered because we as rational beings order it . Our reason sorts through the data gathered by our senses and puts it together in meaningful patterns like some huge jigsaw puzzle . It follows that anything not ...
... essence ? A soul or spirit which has unique , perhaps even god- given value and which represents the core of what we are ? Might this essence be damaged or compromised in some way such that our fundamental humanity might be put at risk ...
... essence of Humanity in these things , cannot but regard the German doctrine as a curious mixture of mysticism and brutality . On the other hand , those who regard history as a process which produces ever new and ' unique individualities ...
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
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