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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... future we cannot know what the eventual outcome of any course of action might be . To lie to the axe - man might very well lead to him embarking upon a mad killing spree to vent his frustration at not finding you . Having been directed ...
... future happiness , for her husband's happiness and for the good of the anti - Nazi resistance that Victor helps lead , he commits an act of heroism which , in my view , ranks alongside Luke Skywalker's blowing up of the evil Empire's ...
... future behaviour , to define them as particular kinds of heroes or villains . To a significant , albeit simplistic , extent the hero and the villain may be seen as aspects of the same tragic character , one who encounters a crisis of ...
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
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