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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... perhaps , what prompts us to define a person in either of these ways , can provide us with a useful insight into the values we consider important in any definition of what it means to be human . Let's see if I'm right shall we ? Preface ...
... perhaps it is a flaw in the Joker's own character that made him what he is , the last half a dozen panels of the graphic novel , depicting the Batman and the Joker laughing maniacally together over a joke , serves to reinforce the ...
... Perhaps that is also at the heart of the heroic soul , the recognition that we are indeed potential killers and are fundamentally self - serving and anti- social but that we can choose not to give in to these character traits . As Star ...
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
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