Where Have All the Heroes Gone?

Submitted by I was framed on March 25, 2006 - 10:33pm.

Not only are heroes gone, but we don't even want them anymore. The anti-hero, the imperfect protagonist, and the loveable loser have replaced the morally perfect hero. It is as much a phenomenon of western culture's literature as it is of society. I find it fascinating, though I do not know what the answer is.

In contrast, Asian and eastern European literature and history tell us that they never really had heroes. That is has always been the anti-hero who ruled the day. With the idea of the "circle of violence" encompassing much of their oral tradition and literature, Asian cultures have always felt that violence, whether by a "good guy�? or "bad guy" and no matter what the intention will always set up a circle of violence that is almost impossible to exit.

We, though, as a western culture have always had Superman, Luke Skywalker, and depending on what you believe, Jesus in our oral traditions and literature. Around the time that TS Eliot was writing as an ex-patriot, the anti-hero began to rule the literary landscape. For decades the hero and the anti-hero ruled together and even occasionally shared pages and even the silver screen with one another.

Today, though, heroes are gone in fiction. There are no heroes, only anti-heroes. Batman not Superman, Homer Simpson, not Bugs Bunny, and Anakin Skywalker, not Luke are our leading figures. Why? Why do we no longer love the hero?

Maybe it isn't that we don't love the hero. Maybe we just don't believe in him anymore. Are we really that jaded?

I don't know the answer, but as with anything I suppose it lies somewhere between the extremes of we don't believe in heroes and we just don't like heroes. Realism is what we are after: reality television, better special effects, and a realistic outlook on everything starting with 2 year olds who don't believe in Santa.

Then again, what do I know?

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What is a hero?

Submitted by Tottie on March 25, 2006 - 11:29pm.

I don't think Superman and his ilk are hero's they are fictional characters and perhaps in the eyes of children do heroic things. I believe there are many heroes in real life - but we'd rather accept the pretend variety. Santa a hero? Oh, get real.

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for the record

Submitted by I was framed on March 25, 2006 - 11:36pm.

Fictional character heroes are EXACTLY what I was talking about.

Maybe I should have gone into this more clearly. In literature there are heroes, anti-heroes, villains, and a number of others in between. Essentially an anit hero has heroric qualities but flawed, has non-heroic qualities, and may even border on evil at times. They can transition to heroes, go the other way, or end up just as the loveable loser (Homer Simpson is an anti hero in that ilk).

Think Batman, Han Solo, and Dirty Harry when you think Anti hero

For hero think Superman, Luke Skywalker, and Parry Mason.

Later

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Delete

Submitted by Tottie on March 25, 2006 - 11:31pm.

For some reason this got posted twice. I've tried to delete it - but only choice is to edit it out.

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We NEED heroes

Submitted by myspaceoryours on March 25, 2006 - 11:32pm.

I've met kids who are taught that Santa, the Easter Bunny, etc. aren't real and that ALL VIOLENCE is bad (they're not even allowed to play w/toy guns). The parents are the one who put these thoughts into their children's heads... and I think it's sad. Kids grow up never really knowing what a hero is ...

I've read a couple of books by authors who believe that it's important that children have their heroes (especially little boys). One book in particular is called "Wild At Heart" by John Eldredge ( I think I got the title right)... and I really think he's right.

My brothers and cousins grew up playing cops and robbers and pretending they were Superman or any other superhero... they all know the difference between reality and fantasy and being allowed to "have a childhood" didn't affect them negatively at all.

Those are my thoughts anyway... like you said, what do I know? ;-)

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The hero and the Maxim gun

Submitted by o ceallaigh on March 26, 2006 - 12:56am.

Around the time that TS Eliot was writing as an ex-patriate, the anti-hero began to rule the literary landscape.

One explanation I learned for this, I don't know if it's still current, is that World War I killed the hero. By the millions. Charging barbed wire and Maxim (machine) guns with fixed bayonets on single-shot rifles. After months of sharing lice, foot rot, assorted hidden vices and cigarettes in sodden trenches. "By 1918, all but one of my close friends were dead." - J. R. R. Tolkien. And the foibles of those who remained were all too obvious.

The stark shift in attitudes is well seen by reading Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's paean to Civil War heroism, The Passing of the Armies (1914) together with Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms (1929).

What was left of the "hero" was killed off by the "supermen": Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, even F. D. Roosevelt. Not to mention Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

The "hero" stands as an ideal, a metaphor for proper conduct, an example to be followed whenever possible. Too many of those heroes have been food for crows, or have come back to us in flag-draped boxes, or have been caught getting BJs in Oval Offices. Their death leaves us without wisdom, only cynicism.

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You are right

Submitted by I was framed on March 26, 2006 - 6:34am.

I have heard all of those theories, and they all make perfect sense. We live in a world that increasingly wants "realistic" and "practical."

So do you....any of you...think heroes will ever find a place again in our stories: television, movies, literature?

Later

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