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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... hear her last words to her sister : BUFFY : Dawn , listen to me . Listen . I love you . I will always love you . But this is the work that I have to do . Tell Giles ... tell Giles I figured it out . And , and I'm okay . And give my love ...
... hear ? We have to show him ! We have to show him that our way works ! 2 The Joker , unaware of his failure to break Jim Gordon , taunts the Batman via the carnival's PA system as the Dark Knight seeks to track him down : You see , it ...
... hear this argument put forward whenever the very rich give , what by ordinary standards would be considered , a large sum of money to charity . The billionaire who donates thousands to a good cause is not often seen as performing a ...
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
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