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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... establishing of what it means to be human is both necessary and fraught with danger . It is necessary if we wish to establish , however vaguely , what is an appropriate mode of behaviour both from and towards a human being . In short ...
... establishing a mode of behaviour in the world . Both hero and villain are often charac- terised as those who have a ... establish order and meaning and sense to our existence.3 By order , I have in mind some notion of consistency , the ...
... establish realistic goals for armed conflict and where one draws the line between the civilian and the military are complex ones which are not easily resolved . Furthermore , issues relating to civil conflict and rebellion against ones ...
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
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