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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... questions as ' Is this right ? ' or ' Is this good ? ' about anything , we need to invest these terms with mean- ing and significance . The question ' Is it right or good to be a soldier ? ' for example , requires a consideration of ...
... questions concerning human origins and destiny along with foundational questions relating to the very nature and value of ... question by those who produced such tales . That stories were a legitimate and valuable way of engag- ing with ...
... question mark . To then go on and pose the question ' What is it that could be taken from me or done to me that might jeopardise my humanity ? ' simply increases the size of the question mark . Part of the attraction of the hero is ...
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
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