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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... figure of the hero and the villain . The transcendent / immanent paradox , the distinction between the self and the other , is one which typifies the heroic figure in a variety of forms and ironically in most cases it is precisely the ...
... figure . The story opens with the brooding figure of Doctor Doom being reminded of an appointment by his aged retainer Boris . The appointment is to visit the grave of his mother . We learn of Doom's humble beginnings , the violent ...
... figure who functions at his best alone and in the shadows . The popularity of the Batman figure rests on a number of important factors the most significant of which , in my 52 Heroes and Villains.
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
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