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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... religious perspective on human identity , whether or not one favours an essentialist or existential stance on the nature of human existence what it is to be human remains a mystery to us . Try ask- ing yourself ' Who and what am I ...
... religious pieces for a religious audience many contemporary uses of religious imagery are not produced by religious people nor are they aimed at the religious . Heavenly choirs , crosses , people in robes , clouds , disembodied voices ...
... religious and metaphysical authorities . In his most famous work The Critique of Pure Reason he argues that what we called the absolute laws of nature , for example , cause and effect and even space and time , are not to be found in the ...
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
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