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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... portraying reality but a pale copy of something more real – something more accurately and clearly described via natural science . The German idealist philosopher Hegel made a similar point when he argued that religion - and he had ...
... portrayed as being only a hair's breadth from the dark side is a commonplace observation and one that is fairly easy to demonstrate and even to accept. Yet the point is he manages to master that tragic moment when he saw his parents ...
... portrayed as being only a hair's breadth from the dark side is a commonplace observation and one that is fairly easy to demonstrate and even to accept . Yet the point is he manages to master that tragic moment when he saw his parents ...
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
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