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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... things in our lives can be relied upon , that certain actions will produce predictable results and that the trains will run on time . The quest for meaning is equally significant to our existence , the sheer fact of a thing is seldom ...
... things worth fighting for.14 The old adage ' all that is required for evil to flourish is for good people to do nothing ' would seem to express a fundamental truth about the nature of our world . Sadly it would seem , and all things ...
... things we have so far striven in vain to accomplish , hindered rather than helped by our weak or idle friends . There need not be , any real change in our designs , only in our means.18 - This last sentence may very well sound all ...
Contents
Myth and Imagination | 1 |
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Copyright | |
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