Heroes and superheros
Origin Heroes : Calling all Heroes
Prometheus Unbound: Hereos of ancient civilisation
Heroes From Greek Myths and Legends
Heroes in
Greek legends usually performed dangerous feats, killed villains and monsters,
and won the hearts of local maidens. They may also have been guilty of numerous
acts of murder, rape, and sacrilege.
Achilles
Achilles
is the quintessential Greek hero of the Trojan War. The Iliad, attributed to Homer,
tells his story.
Trojan War Heroes
The
Trojan War story we hear about was written from the Greek perspective, so most
of the heroes are Greek, rather than Trojan. The Trojan War belongs to the
realm of legend.
Persian Wars
Again,
the written material is mostly from the Greek perspective, so there is a bias.
These heroes were historical figures.
Spartan Heroes
Sparta
was a military state where the boys were trained from an early age to become
soldiers fighting for the common good. There was less individualism among the
Spartans than the Athenians and so fewer specifically named heroes.
Rome's Heroes
The
quintessential early Roman hero was the Trojan prince Aeneas, a figure from
Greek and Roman legend. He embodied the virtues important to the Romans,
including familial piety and proper behavior towards the gods.
Adversaries of Rome
These are
enemies of Rome. Most exemplify the kind of courage in adversity we think of as
heroic.
Plutarch's Heroes
The
famous men Plutarch put into his parallel lives of Greeks and Romans are often
called heroes. Here you'll find our profiles of some of the men in the parallel
lives not included in the lists above. You'll also an index page for Plutarch's
bios of the individual heroes.
The Golem, The Monkey King and Original Superheros
Journey to The
West", a 16th Century folk tale of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King
accompanying the Monk XuanZang to India to retrieve the Ramayana. This
translation presents the folk tale as the fantasy it was undoubtedly intended
to be. Sun Wukong is presented as a superhero in this telling. It makes for a
great read because this author bolied the translation down into a pulp tale.
The earliest superhero I
could find reference to was Mandrake the Magician, who debuted in 1934, four years before
Superman, who was probably the first popular superhero. Mandrake's super power
was his ability to "make people believe anything, simply by gesturing
hypnotically". Does anyone out there know of any superheroes who made an
earlier media appearance?
Understanding The Hero
The heroic mind insights from psychology
Philip Zimbardo, the world-renowned
psychologist perhaps best known for his infamous Stanford Prison Experiment. In
his talk, Zimbardo discusses the psychology of evil and of heroism, exploring
why good people sometimes turn bad and how we can encourage more people to
perform heroic acts. In this excerpt from his talk, he zeroes in on his
research and educational program designed to foster the “heroic imagination.”
Another conclusion from his research is that
few people do evil and fewer act heroically. Between these extremes in the bell
curve of humanity are the masses—the general population who do nothing, who I
call the “reluctant heroes”—those who refuse the call to action and, by doing
nothing, often implicitly support the perpetrators of evil.
Origin stories show us not how to become super but how
to be heroes, choosing altruism over
the pursuit of wealth and power. I’ve learned this through hundreds of
conversations at comic book conventions, where fans have been remarkably candid
about their lives and the inspiration they draw from superhero stories.The Heroes in society insights from anthropology and sociology
The basic definition can be described in a common phrase said by almost all the people around the world :
"I did it
without thinking," people often say after saving a stranger's life. The
truth is, heroism develops over a lifetime – and it's never too late to learn
The Monomyth and The hero's Journey
Joseph Campbell's monomyth, or the hero's journey, is a basic
pattern that its proponents argue is found in many narratives from
around the world. This widely distributed pattern was described by Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand
Faces (1949). Campbell, an enthusiast of novelist James Joyce,
borrowed the term monomyth from Joyce's Finnegans Wake.
Campbell held that numerous
myths from disparate times and regions share fundamental structures and stages,
which he summarized in The
Hero with a Thousand Faces:
A hero ventures forth from the
world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are
there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this
mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.
Campbell and other scholars,
such as Erich Neumann, describe narratives of Gautama Buddha, Moses, and Christ in terms of the monomyth and
Campbell argues that classic myths from many cultures follow this basic pattern.
With Great superhero power emergence in the 20th and 21st century
Ascendance of superhero films
A superhero film, superhero movie, or superhero motion picture is a film that is focused on the
actions of one or more superheroes: individuals who usually possess superhuman
abilities relative
to a normal person and are dedicated to protecting the public.
Most superhero movies are
based on comic
books. By contrast, several
films such as the RoboCop series, The Meteor Man,Unbreakable, The
Incredibles, and Hancock are original for the screen, while The Green
Hornet is based
primarily on the original radio series and its 1960s television adaptation, and both Underdog and The Powerpuff Girls are based on an animated television series. m Richard
Lester's Superman
II (1980) and Paul
Verhoeven's Robocop (1987) to Tim
Burton's Batman (1989) Other films were released during the 1980s and
1990s including Flash Gordon (1980), Swamp Thing (1982), Conan the Barbarian (1982), Superman
III (1983), Supergirl (1984), Conan the Destroyer (1984), The Toxic Avenger (1985), Superman IV: The Quest for
Peace (1987),Bollywood's Mr.
India (1987), The Punisher (1989), Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles (1990)
and two sequels, The Rocketeer (1991), Batman
Returns (1992),
the animated Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), The Shadow (1994), Batman
Forever (1995), Tank
Girl (1995),Mighty Morphin Power Rangers:
The Movie (1995) and a sequel, The Phantom (1996), Steel (1997), and Mystery
Men (1999).[6][7][8]Marvel
Comics' Captain America (1991) did not have a theatrical release and Roger
Corman's The Fantastic Four (1994) was released neither theatrically nor on
home video.
Emergence in Comic books
Superhero comics are a form of American comic books. The
form rose to prominence in the 1930s and 1940s and has remained the dominant
form of comic book in North America since the 1960s. Superhero comics feature
stories aboutsuperheroes and the universes these characters inhabit.
Beginning with the introduction
of Superman in 1938 in Action Comics #1 — an anthology of adventure features —
comic books devoted to superheroes (heroic people with extraordinary or
superhuman abilities and skills, or god-like powers and attributes) ballooned
into a huge genre, coincident with the beginnings of World War II and the end of The Great Depression.
In comics format,
superpowered and costumed heroes like Popeye and The Phantom had appeared in newspaper comic strips for
several years prior to Superman. The masked detective The Clock first appeared in the comic book Funny Pages #6
(Nov. 1936). In the Great Depression and World War II era the first Superhero
Comics appeared, the most popular being Superman, Batman,Captain
Marvel, Wonder Woman and Captain America. After World War II superhero comic books
gradually declined in popularity, their sales hindered in part by the
publication ofSeduction
of the Innocent and the investigations of The Senate Subcommittee hearings on
juvenile delinquency. Beginning in the 1950s, DC began publishing revised versions of their 1940s superhero
characters such as The Flash and Green Lantern with more of a science fiction focus. Marvel Comics followed suit in the
1960s, introducing characters such as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Thor, the X Men and Iron Man who featured more complex personalities which
had more dramatic potential. Superhero Comics became much more political and
dealt with social issues such as the short-lived run of Green Lantern/Green Arrow by Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams and the Captain America story arc of the superhero's political
disillusionment by Steve Englehart. This was eventually supplanted by more
sophisticated character driven titles of The Uncanny X-Men by Chris Claremont and John Byrne for Marvel and The New Teen
Titans by Marv Wolfman and George Pérezfor DC. Anti-Hero becomes popular with appearances of The Punisher, Wolverine, Ghost Rider and a 1980s revival of Daredevil by Frank Miller. Superhero Comics became darker with the
release of landmark deconstructive works such as Watchmen and The Dark Knight
Returns, which led to
many imitations. In the 1990s, Image Comics released successful new characters including
the Anti-Hero Spawn which were predominately creator owned as opposed to Marvel and DC's which were
corporate owned. The Comic Book Mini Series Kingdom Come brought an end to the popularity of the
Anti-Hero and encouraged instead a reconstruction of the genre with superhero
characters that endeavored to combine artistic and literary sophistication with
idealism.
Role of Superheros in Post-modern world
Alan Moore’s Watchmen or Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns. Whether there’s really
anything “post-modern” about them is contentious, but it’s actually quite rare
when one finds a true depiction of Nietzchean imperatives.Released as a mini-series
by Marvel Comics in 1985, Squadron Supreme pastiches DC’s popular Justice League of America,
with “analog” clones of Superman (Hyperion), Wonder Woman (Power Princess), Batman
(Nighthawk), and so on, giving readers a familiar iconography while they are
confronted with some hard truths of those beloved characters.
The Comics code Authority
The Comics Code Authority was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation, to allow the
comic publishers to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United
States. Its code, commonly called "the Comics
Code," lasted till the early 21st century. Many have linked the CCA's
formation to a series of Senate hearings and the publication of psychologist Fredric Wertham's book Seduction
of the Innocent.
Members submitted comics to the
CCA, which screened them for adherence to its Code, then authorized the use of
their seal on the cover if the book was found to be in compliance. At the
height of its influence, it was a de facto censor for the
U.S. comic book industry.
By the early 2000s, newer
publishers bypassed the CCA and Marvel Comics abandoned it in 2001. By 2010, only three major
publishers still adhered to it: DC
Comics, Archie
Comics, and Bongo
Comics. Bongo broke with the CCA in 2010. DC and
Archie followed in January 2011, rendering the Code defunct.
The social and historical content of superheroes
Since
the earliest issues of Superman, comic books
have reflected shifting cultural attitudes toward gender. During WWII, Supermanwas
a bastion of masculinity and Lois Lane was a strong and independent woman… who
became a classic “damsel in distress” once the boys came back home. Even the
characters’ body types represent cultural attitudes, with male heroes becoming
hyper-muscular during the steroid boom of the 1990s. More recently, comics have
ventured into hot button issues such as gay marriage, with Marvel Comics’ first
openly gay character getting married in 2012. Comics are generally associated
with escapism, so it’s simply fascinating to see them being used to better
understand our complex—and very real—society.
Can we be superheroes?....The Science of
This section
has meaning of different types of sciences..:
Enhanced
vision: We can have a no. Of enhanced visions with modern technologies...such
as.: Atomic vision,blood flow vision, electromagnetic (gamma,infrared,xray)
vision, night vision,emotion vision and invisibility awareness
Exoskeletons: You might be surprised to learn that, someday
soon, an only slightly less incredible version of Iron Man's suit may enable
U.S. soldiers to run faster, carry heavier weapons and leap over obstacles on
the battlefield. And at the same time, it'll shield them from the effects of
bullets and bombs. The military has been working on the concept of the powered
exoskeleton, a technology designed to augment the human body and its
capabilities, since the 1960s. But recent advances in electronics and material
science are finally making this idea seem practical. A company called Sarcos --
led by robot-maker Steve Jacobsen, whose previous projects included an 80-ton
mechanized dinosaur -- came up with an innovative system in which sensors
detect contractions of a human user's muscles
Fight science:a research funded by the national geographic team is examine
methods of turning vimtims to victors, a team of self-defence experts which
employ a variety of biomechanical sensors,high speed photography and 3D
animation. In a custom designed fight science lab.
Invisibility: A team of scientists have
made cloak of invisibility with the help of carbon nanotubes which is a retro
reflective material(and allows light to pass through it and even through the
object it surrounds.
Rapid Healing : Scientists are trying to
rapid heal human skin by observing salamander skin which heals rapidly.
Strength and super strength : the key to
strength is a protein called myostatin that takes up a certain amount of space
in a person’s DNA.
Super speed: Its possible if we can stop
sudden acceleration and sudden stop so, that nothing physical harm happens to
the body.
Telepathy: Its possible as the way the
neurons in the brain communicate is easy to understand for humanswith cell to
cell communication called synaptic transmission.it can also be done with the
electromagnetic pulses produced within the brain.
Telekenisis: this means moving objects
from one place to other using mental ability (or mental power)or other non
physical methods.it is said to be possible because we know that currently we
use only 10% of our brain and we can light a bulb with the power of the
brain..One way to make telekenisis possible is to meditate with full
concentration
Teleportation : It is possible through
Quantum physics..In 1998 scientists at the Calfornia institute of technology
successfully teleported a photon.
Time Travel : According to the theory of
relativity and space-time continuum time travel is possible...as there is no
space without time.
Additional Terms to learn
Achilles heel : An Achilles heel is a deadly weakness in spite of
overall strength, which can actually or potentially lead to downfall. While the
mythological origin refers to a physical vulnerability, idiomatic references to
other attributes or qualities that can lead to downfall are common
Archetype: is
found in areas relating to behaviour, modern psychological theory, and literary analysis. An
archetype can be a statement, pattern of behavior, or prototype which other statements, patterns of behavior, and objects copy
or emulate;
Byronic Hero
: The Byronic
hero is a variant of the Romantic
hero as a type of character, named after the English Romantic poet Lord
Byron. Both Byron's life and writings have been considered
in different ways to exemplify the type.
Comic con: Comic-Con,
with a hyphen, is a registered trademark owned by San Diego.Comic-Con
International. Comic Con, ComicCon or ComiCon may refer to any of the following fan
conventions in India, middle east, Romania, Russia,
united kingdom, Canda or US.
1.
Bystander Effect: The bystander effect, or bystander apathy,
is a social psychological phenomenon that refers to cases in which individuals
do not offer any means of help to a victim when other people are present. The
probability of help is inversely related to the number of bystanders.
Epic: heroic or grand in scale or character.
Everyman: In literature and drama, the term everyman has
come to mean an ordinary individual, with whom the audience or reader is
supposed to be able to identify easily, and who is often placed in
extraordinary circumstances.
Fatal Flaw:
(or Hamatia) means “to miss the mark”
or “to err” Hamartia as it
pertains to dramatic literature was first used by Aristotle in his Poetics. In
tragedy, hamartia is the protagonist’s error or flaw that leads to a chain of
plot actions culminating in a reversal from their good fortune to bad.
Great Man Theory: The Great Man theory is a 19th-century idea according to
which history can be
largely explained by the impact of "great men", or heroes:
highly influential individuals who, due to either their personal charisma, intelligence, wisdom, or political skill utilized their power in a way that had a decisive historical impact.
Hero Worship: Hero
worship is defined as the foolish or excessive adulation
for an individual.
Hubris : Hubris means extreme pride or self-confidence. When it offends the gods of ancient Greece, it is usually punished.
The adjectival form of the noun hubris is "hubristic".
Hubris is usually perceived as
a characteristic of an individual rather than a group, although the group the
offender belongs to may suffer consequences from the wrongful act. Hubris often
indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's own
competence, accomplishments or capabilities, especially when the person
exhibiting it is in a position of power.
MCU: (Marvel Cinematic
Universe) is an American media franchise and shared fictional
universe that is centered on a series of superhero films,
independently produced by Marvel
Studios and based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. The franchise has expanded to include comic books,
short films, and television series. The first film released in the MCU was Iron Man (2008), which began the first phase of
films, culminating in Marvel's
The Avengers(2012). Phase Two began with Iron
Man 3 (2013), and is expected
to conclude with Ant-Man (2015). Marvel is also preparing Phase
Three, beginning with the release of Captain
America: Civil War (2016).
Paragon: Paragon is the codename
used by three unrelated fictional characters from Marvel Comics. The first was
genetically engineered by the Enclave. The second was created as an original character for the
video game Marvel Nemesis:
Rise of the Imperfects. The
third is a superhero and a member of Nebraska's Initiative team.
Pulp : Pulp
magazines (often referred to
as "the pulps") are inexpensive fiction magazines that were
published from 1896 through the 1950s.
Risk-seeking :
a risk-seeker or risk-lover is a person who has a preference for risk.
While most investors are considered risk averse, one could view casino-goers as risk-seeking. If offered
either $50 or a 50% each chance of either $100 or nothing, a risk-seeking
person would prefer the gamble even though the gamble and the sure thing have
the same expected value.
Sidekick: A sidekick is a close companion who is generally
regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional
sidekicks are Sancho
Panza (of Don
Quixote), Doctor
Watson (of Sherlock
Holmes), Tonto (of The
Lone Ranger),Robin (of Batman), Friday (of Robinson
Crusoe) and Ethel
Mertz (of Lucy
Ricardo).
Tropes: Tropes common to the Superhero genre, be it comics, film,
TV, or radio drama. For ex. Bat Swing, web crawl, X-ray vision etc.
X altruist :
(or extreme Altruist) means a extreme
selflessness which makes a person psychopathic.
Additional Superheroes to research
Astro city : Kurt Busiek's Astro
City is an American comic
book series
centered on a fictional American city of that name.The hero’s name is Samaritan
and there are villains such as Birdwell ,Junkman And the deacon.Its a
collection of 16 books starting from the life in the big city to pirate lives.
Wild Cards : Wild Cards is a science fiction and superhero anthology series set in a shared
universe. The series was created by a group of New Mexico science fiction authors, but it is mostly pulled together
and edited by best-selling author George
R. R. Martin with assistance by Melinda
M. Snodgrass, The series features a large and ever-changing
cast of characters. A minor character in one story can become a major, or even
the viewpoint, character in another, or vice versa.it has been classified to
Aces, Jokers, Deuces, Nats and Suicide Kings.
Squirrel Girl : Squirrel Girl, real name Doreen Green, is a fictional mutant superheroine that appears in the Marvel
Comics Universe. Her first
appearance was in Marvel
Super-Heroes vol. 2, #8,
a.k.a. Marvel Super-Heroes
Winter Special (cover-dated Jan. 1992), in a story plotted and drawn by Steve Ditko and scripted by character conceptualizer Will Murray. Her ability to communicate with squirrels is
surprisingly effective and has allowed her to defeat major supervillains. She was a member of the Great Lakes Avengers for much of the duration of that group, and later began
serving as nanny to Danielle Cage, the daughter of Luke Cageand Jessica
Jones.
Batman : Batman is a fictional superhero appearing in American
comic books published by DC
Comics, as well as its associated media. The
character was created by artist Bob
Kane and writer Bill
Finger, and first appeared in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). Originally named
"the Bat-Man", the character is also referred to by such epithets as
"the Caped Crusader",[5] "the Dark Knight",[5] "the World's Greatest Detective" Batman operates in the fictional Gotham City, assisted by various supporting characters including his
butler Alfred Pennyworth, his crime-fighting partner Robin,
the police commissioner Jim
Gordon, and occasionally the heroine Batgirl.
Iron man : Iron Man (Tony Stark) is a fictional superhero that appears
in American comic books published by Marvel
Comics, as well as its associated media. The
character was created by writer-editor Stan
Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack
Kirby. An American billionaire playboy, industrialist, and ingenious engineer, Tony Stark suffers a severe chest injury during a
kidnapping in which his captors attempt to force him to build a weapon of mass destruction. He instead creates a powered
suit of armor to save his life and escape captivity.
Ms.Marvel : Ms. Marvel is the name of several fictional super
heroines appearing in comic
books published by Marvel
Comics. The character was originally conceived as a
female counterpart to Captain
Marvel. Like Captain Marvel, most of the bearers of
the Ms. Marvel title gain their powers through Kree technology or genetics. Marvel has published three
ongoing comic series titled Ms.
Marvel, with the first two starring Carol
Danvers, and the third starring Kamala Khan.
Captain America
: Captain America is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe
Simon and Jack
Kirby, the character first appeared in Captain
America Comics #1 (cover
dated March 1941) from Timely
Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics. Captain America was designed as a patriotic supersoldier who often fought the Axis
powers of World War II and was Timely Comics' most popular
character during the wartime period. The popularity of superheroes waned
following the war and the Captain
America comic book was
discontinued in 1950, with a short-lived revival in 1953. Since Marvel Comics revived the character in 1964, Captain America has
remained in publication.
Superman : The origin
story of Superman relates that he was born Kal-El on the planet Krypton,
before being rocketed to /Earth as an infant by his scientist father Jor-El,
moments before Krypton's destruction. Discovered and adopted by a Kansas farmer and his wife, the child is raised as Clark Kent and
imbued with a strong moral compass. Very early on he started to display super human abilities, which, upon reaching
maturity, he resolved to use for the benefit of humanity. Superman resides and
operates in the fictional American city of Metropolis. As Clark Kent, he is a journalist for the Daily Planet, a Metropolis
newspaper. Superman's primary love interest is Lois Lane and his archenemy is supervillain Lex
Luthor.
Buffy Vampire slayer : As
the name suggests there’s a girl named Buffy summers who slayed Vampires who
are related to Sunnydale High school.
Goku : Initially believed
to be an Earthling, he is later revealed to be a member of an extraterrestrial
warrior race called the Saiyans with the birth name Kakarrot . As Goku matures, he becomes one of the
universe's mightiest warriors and protects his adopted home planet, Earth, from
villains who wish to harm it. Goku is depicted as carefree and cheerful when at
ease but quickly serious and strategic-minded when fighting. He is able to
concentrate his Ki and use it for devastatingly powerful
energy-based attacks, the most prominent being his signature Kamehameha wave technique, in which Goku launches a
blue energy blast from his palms.
Captain China : Interpretating Moloid message board
chatter as indicating rising political unrest in the Subterranean settlements, Eye-Man asked for Captain China and any available member of the Krakoa Corps to be ready to take action.
Wonder
Woman : Wonder Woman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character is a warrior princess of the Amazons (based on the Amazons of Greek
mythology) and is known in her homeland as Princess Diana
of Themyscira. When outside her homeland, she is sometimes known by the secret identity Diana Prince. She is gifted with a wide range of superhuman powers
and superior combat and battle skills. She possesses an arsenal of weapons,
including the Lasso of
Truth, a pair of indestructible
bracelets, a tiara which serves as a projectile, and, in some stories, an invisible airplane, Mental
Radio, and Purple
Ray that could heal otherwise lethal injuries.
X men : The X-Men are mutants, a subspecies of humans who are born with superhuman
abilities. The X-Men fight for peace and equality between normal humans and
mutants in a world where antimutant bigotry is fierce and widespread. They are
led by Charles Xavier, also known as Professor
X, a powerful mutant telepath who can control and
read minds. Their archenemy is Magneto, a
powerful mutant with the ability to generate and control magnetic fields. Professor X and Magneto have opposing views and
philosophies regarding the relationship between mutants and humans. While
Professor X works towards peace and understanding between mutants and humans,
Magneto views humans as a threat and believes in taking an aggressive approach
against them.
Spider Man : Spider-Man is a fictional superhero appearing in American
comic books published by Marvel
Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve
Ditko, Spider-Man first
appeared in Amazing
Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962). Lee
and Ditko conceived the character as an orphan being raised by his Aunt May and Uncle
Ben, and as a teenager, having to deal with the normal struggles of adolescence
in addition to those of a costumed crime-fighter. Spider-Man's creators gave
him super strength and agility, the ability to cling to most surfaces, shoot spider-webs
using wrist-mounted devices of his own invention, which he calls
"web-shooters," and react to danger quickly with his
"spider-sense," enabling him to combat his foes.
Sylar : Gabriel Gray, more commonly known by
his pseudonym Sylar, is a
fictional character and a primary antagonist of the NBC drama
Heroes. Portrayed by Zachary Quinto, he is a superpowered serial
killer who targets other superhumans in order to steal their powers. He served as the primary villain of the first season and then as a recurring antagonist.
Over the course of seasons two, three and four, the writers depicted Sylar
attempting at various times and under different circumstances to become a hero
or curb his desire to kill, undergoing relapses at various stages. In the
series' penultimate
episode he experienced over three years of penitence within a
mental prison, and later identifies himself as a hero in what became the show's series finale due to cancellation.
Answers to few questions that were to be considered
Would Superman have been a Soviet
hero if he had landed in Russia instead of Kansas as a baby? In other words, to
what degree does the fate of a superhero depend on nature versus nurture?
The
article about the “Red Son” does point to fictional heroes maintaining the same
character traits. In the article (http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/12/superman-red-son-soviet-version-story/) the author says:
“Reading
the comic book today, one can tell that Millar never varied (significantly)
from his original idea for the story. In the story, Superman indeed lands in
the Ukraine and not in Kansas. He was raised as a proud Soviet, who was
taught to love and serve the communist principals of the Soviet Union, but he’s still the same compassionate, fair,
courageous and fearless superhero who loves humanity more than anything. He still obeys his super hearing and responds to every call for help.
His favorite “habit” remains saving lives.”
It is
the cultural differences that are put on the character that do stand out as
different, however: “Instead, he becomes a high ranking officer of the
Communist Army. His identity is not simply a private secret he hides, but a
state secret that the government of his country helps him hide. His uniform
doesn’t carry the popular Superman shield and, instead, carries the symbol of
the communist Soviet Union: The hammer and sickle. Superman is not fighting for
“truth, justice, and the American Way” and, instead, is “the champion of the
common worker who fights a never-ending battle for Stalin, socialism and the
international expansion of the Warsaw Pact.”
Matt
Bruenig argues that heroism is unnecessary in a society where governments have
all needs well covered (http://prospect.org/article/heroism-symptom-political-dysfunction). He says:
“Certain
kinds of everyday heroism will always be important and unavoidable, but the goal of a set of social
institutions should be to destroy as many opportunities for heroism as possible. Heroism is only possible where some kind of tragedy is imminent. But a
good social system snuffs out avoidable tragedies before they even have a
chance of approaching imminence. In many cases therefore, the existence of
heroism is actually a deeply troubling symptom of overall political
dysfunction. It should not be met with adoration, but with horror and concern.”
“It should never be the case that poor
kids are on the cusp of not getting important early childhood education
intervention. If keeping them from that education
is a bad thing that shouldn’t happen, we should make sure it never happens. The
institutions should be designed so that the kids automatically get the service,
no matter what the charitable whims of private billionaires happen to be.”
Thinking outside of his own country,
the USA, it is precisely this inept functioning of Governments in the
underdeveloped world that leads to the sort of heroism in the form of private
donations/philanthropy that is becoming more prevalent, for example the Bill
Gates Foundation. Indeed, with capitalism taking hold with increased
globalization the time has never been better for heroic rich philanthropists to
come forward and rescue the poor of Africa and Asia in a world where the rich
get richer, and the poor get poorer!
In Is
Anybody Watching My Do-Gooding? The difference between being a hero
and being an altruist(http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/psychology_of_heroism_and_altruism_what_makes_people_do_good_deeds.html)
Katy Waldman asks what is the psychology of heroism? In a Yale University
survey of people awarded Carnighe medals for acts of heroism “Overwhelmingly,
they found that day-savers rescue first and reflect second.”
She does bring us back down to earth
though, for those of you would-be-superheroes:
“Which
brings us back to heroes. Despite all the prestige, money, and adoring
lookers-on, at a certain point altruism no longer represents any kind of
long-term strategy. Rather, its risks and sacrifices overwhelm its benefits. The morbid, unspoken problem with
studying real-life heroes is that they have a tendency to die. The three men who leapt in front of their girlfriends when a gunman
opened fire in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater can’t tell us what they were
thinking and feeling. Nor can the Sikh temple president who lost his life
shielding worshippers from a skinhead’s bullets.”
Byronic Heroes & Traditional Heroes – What then is a Byronic Hero? Amber Sonning has this (long) list of
characteristics:
§ Presents obsessive tendencies; focused and constant
§ Typically has one all consuming passion
§ “Byronic love obsesses on the idea of a man and a woman so similar in
character and in spirit, as to be almost one individual” (kplit.wordpress.com).
§ passionate; has deep emotions
§ Arrogant
§ cynical; sarcastic
§ sophisticated and educated; or even street smart
§ Intellectually superior
§ cunning behavior; ability to adapt
§ a troubled past and/or suffering from a hidden crime or past sin
§ self-critical and introspective
§ mysterious and charismatic
§ seductive and can be very sexually attractive
§ moodiness (sometimes presenting bipolar tendencies); tortured
§ isolated (this can be both emotional and physical) from society in some
way; an outcast or an outlaw
§ dark attributes
§ disregard for rank and privilege
§ above the rules of society; distaste for social institutions
§ jaded, gets easily bored
§ self-destructive behavior
§ sympathetic despite his rejection of virtue
§ capable of being redeemed
§ capable of heroic behavior
§ individualistic
§ rejection of classicism
Famously Lord Byron himself,
Heathcliffe in Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte and Edward Cullen in the
Twilight series. Does the bad side of them make them more
attractive? Tony Stark, Severus Snape or Annakin Skywalker?
In
“Addicted to being good” Andrea Kusewski asks: wouldn’t a hero-type be one of
the last people likely to break rules? WRONG!!!! Someone who goes out of
their way to help others, even at the expense of their own welfare, is actually more likely to break rules than the average person. She goes on to give
a real life example:
“On 9/11, after it was apparent that
the buildings were about to collapse, teams of firefighters were called back,
yet they disobeyed orders and pushed on anyway, only to perish in the quest to
possibly save even one more life. Those are the actions of a hero, or an
X-altruistic personality type. But consider the type of rule-breaking that the
X-altruist engages in- would you classify it as criminal, or even unlawful? How
does motive factor in?”
Sociopath:
§ low impulse control
§ high novelty-seeking (desire to experience new things, take more risks,
break convention
§ no remorse for their actions (lack of conscience)
§ inability to see beyond their own needs (lack of empathy
§ willing to break rules
§ always acts in the interest of himself
X-altruist: (her definition of
heroes)
§ low impulse control
§ high novelty-seeking
§ little remorse for their actions (would “do it again in a heartbeat”)
§ inability to see past the needs of others (very high empathy)
§ willing to break rules
§ acts in the best interest of others, or for the “common good” (because
it is the “right thing to do”)
IF you want the selected movie BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT .......Radianites contact me Shubh Kumar 8D
IF you want the selected movie BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT .......Radianites contact me Shubh Kumar 8D
How do I download it online? Please make it fast! The competition is on Friday the 29th of May 2015.
ReplyDelete