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 Luther, Dr Doom, the Daleks, the Borg.Almost anybody living within the developed West would be able to group these individuals into two camps: the heroes and the villains. However, what criteria they might use to do this is less clear.Mike Alsford introduces us to a whole 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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Page 9
... philosopher Karl Jaspers ( 1883–1969 ) talks about these shocking moments of encounter with the world as ' boundary experiences ' , moments in which our experience of order and meaning and sense is threatened , usually by extreme danger ...
... philosopher Karl Jaspers ( 1883–1969 ) talks about these shocking moments of encounter with the world as ' boundary experiences ' , moments in which our experience of order and meaning and sense is threatened , usually by extreme danger ...
Page 12
... philosophers such as Plato , Descartes and Kant , all of whom sought to estab- lish an absolute and primarily rational ... philosopher who ever lived , sought to establish the notion of a universe founded upon unchanging absolutes , what ...
... philosophers such as Plato , Descartes and Kant , all of whom sought to estab- lish an absolute and primarily rational ... philosopher who ever lived , sought to establish the notion of a universe founded upon unchanging absolutes , what ...
Page 17
... philosopher Hegel made a similar point when he argued that religion - and he had Christianity in mind here - was ... philosophers such as A.J.Ayer , Bertrand Russell and the early Ludwig Wittgenstein , took this perspective as far as it ...
... philosopher Hegel made a similar point when he argued that religion - and he had Christianity in mind here - was ... philosophers such as A.J.Ayer , Bertrand Russell and the early Ludwig Wittgenstein , took this perspective as far as it ...
Contents
Heroes and Otherness | 23 |
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility | 63 |
Villains Monsters and Evil Masterminds | 95 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
ability absolute alien Anakin Skywalker argues armour Batman beast become behaviour Boromir Buffy Summers Buffy the Vampire Campbell Chapter character Christian Clark Kent classic concerning confronts consider course culture Daleks dark side DAVROS DC Comics death DELENN Doctor Doctor Doom dominate encounter Enlightenment ethical evil example existence existential experience explored face Fantastic Four fear feel Fichte fight film force freedom friends Galactus George Hegel heroes and villains heroic Hyde ibid imagination individual issue Kant Kid Marvelman kill knowledge lives Lord Luke Skywalker Marvel Comics Matrix means moral nature never Nietzsche notion ourselves parents person philosopher Plato portrayed possess rational reason recognised responsibility Ring Saruman Sauron seen sense simply Skywalker social soul Spiderman Spike Stan Lee story stranger super hero super powered Superheroes Superman theme things thinkers transcendence truth Vampire Slayer