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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... live our lives with them around for too long . As Dr Seuss teaches us all too well , a visit from the Cat in the Hat begins to lose its appeal when he starts juggling with your goldfish . At the end of the day we like to know that ...
... lives should take . Having such an existential map is not actually a matter of choice , only the nature of the map , where it is derived from and its reliability , are ever really at issue . To negotiate our way through life we are ...
... lives and to intervene . Of course the difference between intervention and interference is both a fine one and one of perspective . How we recognise when it is appropriate to become involved in the lives of others , and when it is not ...
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
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