Heroes
So I think I've found yet another reason why I don't belong in this world. My notice of what makes a good character. Or mayhaps more to the point, my thoughts on heroes. I want my good guys to be good guys. I want them to be good and noble and honorable. I want them to be the kind of person you can look up to, admire, want to be like. Yes, a hero can be a 3D character. In fact, in my eyes the best ones are the ones that are far from perfect, that have their faults, that struggle and have problems but will still do what is right because it is right. The kind of person I can look up to and say “I want to be like him.” The kind of person I would model my life after. Some people say this kind of person doesn't make a good character. I disagree. I disagree wholeheartedly. Aragorn is an awesome character. He knew what he wanted, he was working to get what he wanted, but when it came to it, he set that aside for the greater good. He was a complex person. And he was a Hero.
Why do people not like heroes? Why do people have to sully them? Why are people so interested in the anti-hero? What's with all the grim, dark, the world sucks, let's have the main character that you're suppose to be rooting for as bad as the guys he's up against? I'm sorry, I read/RP/see movies to escape. I don't want to escape to a world that's as bad if not worse than this one only to find the characters unlikeable and being left with a feeling of no hope for anything better. I've been told it has to do with being a more real/connectible character. Yeah, cause I'm far more likely to connect with the guy who will torture and kill his opponent than I will to a character like Aragorn. I'm far more likely going to want to be like the character that's only in it for the glory/money/they'll kill me if I don't than the character who is in it because it's the right thing to do.
Ok, so much of this rant stems from seeing the Watchmen last night. I grew up reading my dad's old comic books. One of the RPGs I play is based in a comic book world. I like comic books and I've enjoyed many of the comic book movies I've seen. Now, I haven't read the Watchmen comic yet. I had wanted to before seeing the movie, but time didn't allow it. I still think of comic books as they were in the '60s and '70s. Things were a touch cheery and rosy. Now don't get me wrong. I can enjoy a darker, grimmer world if the main characters are still trying to do something to make the world a better place. I found the Watchmen to be rather depressing. I didn't dislike the characters per say, but I'm not sure how many of them I really liked. I found the movie at least to be gorier than I would like. (Those who read the comic also felt it was gorier than it needed to be.) There were also a couple of scenes that really got to me. I don't want to go into too much detail, in case someone wants to go see it (or read it, for that matter), but there were parts that triggered bad memories for me. (Someday I might be able to talk about that more openly, but today is not that day.) I understand it was an important part of the story, but it's still not something I want to think about when I'm thinking about comic book 'heroes' (in this case, I'm using the term loosely). Overall, I didn't really enjoy it that much, and I highly doubt I'd want to see it again. It's not really a movie I can recommend, though in the same breathe, it's not one I would say avoid like the plague. Some people will really enjoy it, and if you're one of them, enjoy. Others will think it was ok, and others will try to leave the theater. *shrugs slightly* I think one of the biggest problems I had with thinking on the movie afterwards, though, was this feeling of “what happened to the hero?” Maybe I'm just foolish and naive, but darn it all, I want a Hero. A honest to God, larger than life, person I can look up to and want to be like Hero.
-Mornië
Why do people not like heroes? Why do people have to sully them? Why are people so interested in the anti-hero? What's with all the grim, dark, the world sucks, let's have the main character that you're suppose to be rooting for as bad as the guys he's up against? I'm sorry, I read/RP/see movies to escape. I don't want to escape to a world that's as bad if not worse than this one only to find the characters unlikeable and being left with a feeling of no hope for anything better. I've been told it has to do with being a more real/connectible character. Yeah, cause I'm far more likely to connect with the guy who will torture and kill his opponent than I will to a character like Aragorn. I'm far more likely going to want to be like the character that's only in it for the glory/money/they'll kill me if I don't than the character who is in it because it's the right thing to do.
Ok, so much of this rant stems from seeing the Watchmen last night. I grew up reading my dad's old comic books. One of the RPGs I play is based in a comic book world. I like comic books and I've enjoyed many of the comic book movies I've seen. Now, I haven't read the Watchmen comic yet. I had wanted to before seeing the movie, but time didn't allow it. I still think of comic books as they were in the '60s and '70s. Things were a touch cheery and rosy. Now don't get me wrong. I can enjoy a darker, grimmer world if the main characters are still trying to do something to make the world a better place. I found the Watchmen to be rather depressing. I didn't dislike the characters per say, but I'm not sure how many of them I really liked. I found the movie at least to be gorier than I would like. (Those who read the comic also felt it was gorier than it needed to be.) There were also a couple of scenes that really got to me. I don't want to go into too much detail, in case someone wants to go see it (or read it, for that matter), but there were parts that triggered bad memories for me. (Someday I might be able to talk about that more openly, but today is not that day.) I understand it was an important part of the story, but it's still not something I want to think about when I'm thinking about comic book 'heroes' (in this case, I'm using the term loosely). Overall, I didn't really enjoy it that much, and I highly doubt I'd want to see it again. It's not really a movie I can recommend, though in the same breathe, it's not one I would say avoid like the plague. Some people will really enjoy it, and if you're one of them, enjoy. Others will think it was ok, and others will try to leave the theater. *shrugs slightly* I think one of the biggest problems I had with thinking on the movie afterwards, though, was this feeling of “what happened to the hero?” Maybe I'm just foolish and naive, but darn it all, I want a Hero. A honest to God, larger than life, person I can look up to and want to be like Hero.
-Mornië