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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... means for the exploration and transmission of truths about the world and our place in it . Poetry , mythology , story and song were deployed as meaningful ways of describing the world in which we found ourselves and were considered ...
... means that forms the foundation of what Kant refers to as the ' Kingdom of ends ' . A rational being is a member of this Kingdom when they subject themselves to the very laws they seek to establish . This idea finds its most celebrated ...
... means , economic means , military means and even by way of the manipulation of the media . Most science fiction villains such as the Daleks and Cybermen from Doctor Who , the Borg from Star Trek , the Replicators from Stargate , and so ...
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
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