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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... speaks of the inability of humanity to look itself in the face , that is to be able to study itself in a disinterested manner . all human sciences advance towards the unconscious only with their back to it.2 And again : to all those ...
... speaks of a degree of mutual availability , it does not involve an imbalance of power . For example , in our experience of estrangement there is in operation not a dynamic of relationality but a static balance of power . I have no power ...
... speak of justice and rehabilitation and even redemption as the primary mode of dealing with criminal and anti - social ... speaks of vengeance being the prerogative of God42 and this provides us with something of an insight into the ...
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
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