They’re everywhere. The thuggish anti-hero who turns from his hideous past because of a threat to his cute niece and her kittens. The selfish lord who only helps others when he has something to gain in the end. The cold-hearted killer who, for some reason or another, only kills those who deserve to die.
I get it, people are messed up. We all have baggage and we all make mistakes. The shining white knight is not really cool because no one thinks he or she exists. The only protagonists we seem to want to read or watch these days are the broken everymen who are just trying to get by. Even our superheroes are rarely morally respectable all the way through. Thor is arrogant and brash. Ironman is also arrogant and narcissistic. Batman carries a serious burden and disappears for great lengths of time. Where have our heroes gone?
We are obsessed with dark these days. Popular books and movies are getting darker and darker. The Hunger Games, for example, is about a bunch of kids killing each other, and it’s a series for youth. I understand that this outlook is easily adopted by looking around the world. War seems to be looming around every corner. The news is full of stories of murder, theft, and corruption. But our reaction does not have to mirror the world.
Some respond to this darkness by claiming that’s just the way it is. The world is dark, and we have to just make it through on our own. Game of Thrones, one of the most popular novel series (and HBO shows) right now is one of the most depressing stories I’ve come across in a while. There are no real morally upright people, and any who are quickly find themselves on the wrong end of a sword. This teaches us that standing up for the right will only lead to disaster. The only way to get through this world, and hopefully do a little good, is to do some pretty dirty things along the way, according to George R. R. Martin.
But does this reflect the truth of the world? I don’t think so. I think the only way to really make changes in this world is to stand up against injustice and evil, even if it costs us everything. Love is the only thing that can change this world, not self-preservation.
We’ve bought the lie that self-interest is what is going to change the world for the better. What we need to realize is that taking a risk for love and kindness is far more powerful than anything that evil can throw at us. And this is why we need to find real heroes again.
Heroes are not those who seek their own good. They fight for someone or something else. They defend the weak, the helpless, the poor. They fight against those who would oppress, misuse, or dominate. They don’t have to be perfect, but they have to make the right choices, no matter the cost. In the end, they have to do the right thing. If we don’t have heroes to show us this, how are we going to act when we are faced with challenges and temptations in our lives?
Enough of anti-heroes. We need good old fashioned heroes again.
Blessings
Epic Theology 
March 7, 2014 at 2:39 PM
Welcome back! Missed your posts 🙂 This is why Captain America is awesome. While I disagree with violence, I really love that he represents real sacrifice. He has a humility that is rare in superheroes and defends the defenceless while maintaining a black and white code of justice without wavering. Can anyone else think of other superheroes that shine a positive moral light on the genre?
March 7, 2014 at 3:34 PM
Also, welcome back. I have three words for you. YYC Flood 2013.
True heroes still exist. I’ve seen them. I’ve met them. I KNOW some of them.
November 25, 2014 at 10:28 PM
A hero that has no real hard decision or threat can be totally morally upright. A hero without fault is unbelievable because it assumes the antagonist is mentally or physically unequipped to pose a real threat to the protagonist. It comes across as either boring or arrogant to the old good trumps bad notion. We know as a viewer that the criminality are not bumbling fools and tend to prefer heroes we can relate to. We want to see the hard decision and think what would I do? Because sometimes there is no right answer.
January 7, 2015 at 9:55 AM
I agree with this article, we need to change our heroes. The protagonist doesnt have to be believable, that’s why he’s the hero! He/she is an example of virtue, someone to look up to. A lot of things in today movies are unbelievable (unrealistic situations, super powers, the old ‘hero with a handgun beats an army of machine gun soldiers’, etc) and dont need to be because it’s a story, a work of fiction. But as such, we want something nice, uplifiting, inspiring to see. It doesn’t need to be all sunshine and rainbows, but some of today’s movies have us believe that humanity is completely evil. It´s like an evil guy beats an even more evil one. We could surely use better heroes.
March 31, 2016 at 8:43 PM
“Love is the only thing that can change this world, not self-preservation.”
Borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring. The “love conquers all” trope is the most contrived and lamest of all tropes.
“We’ve bought the lie that self-interest is what is going to change the world for the better.”
Hardly. The reason darker themes are more popular these days is because they’re more interesting. It’s FICTION. Most of us who write don’t do so under the delusion that are work is going to somehow “change the world”. Give me a break.
“Enough of anti-heroes. We need good old fashioned heroes again.”
We get enough of those in super hero movies and comics, and there’s a plethora of books with bland and uninteresting “hero’s” like Eragon. No thanks.