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. |
From inside the book
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... heroic and the villainous throughout its pages , but in what ways and why ? I have been a fan of heroic fiction in a variety of forms for as long as I can remember , whether it was Robin Hood storming Nottingham castle with a smile on ...
... heroic , many less heroic figures possess similar abilities within the series . What marks Buffy out is her sense of moral responsibility coupled with clear recognition of the ethical demands made on the self by the other . -- This ...
... heroic as suggested in our opening chapter . It is being in the world in a particular way that truly establishes an heroic mode of existence . How we choose to live in a world which assails us constantly with choic- es and options and ...
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
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