Online Tutoring On Heroes

Introduction:

The word hero is derived from Greek that is used in the Greek language for warrior. Moreover, hero is described as a male lead in a screen play or a movie by many dictionaries. However, in Greek mythology hero was originally a woman, Aphrodite who was known as the goddess of love. Hero committed suicide when she heard the news of her lover, Leander’s death. It might be the case that the concept of hero sprung from there that “sacrificing one’s life for an ideal” (Goethals & Allison, 2012). A traditional hero is a perfect hero, this type of hero is someone who follows the conventional hero odyssey. Campbell (1949) describes a traditional hero as someone who stems from a modest origin, have experienced obstructions in since young age, get help from doubtful sources and comes back to benefit the society (as cited in Goethals & Allison, 2012). Some examples of traditional heroes can be Hercules, Beowulf, Achilles, Aphrodite as mentioned above and many more. Contemporary superheroes are the modern superheroes that are heroes of this century. The concept of superhero today is politically and socially analyzed. Most of the contemporary superheroes are based on comic books. These superheroes help the humans but doesn’t snatch away the true identity of being a human (Carney, 2005). Contemporary heroes in this age are Batman, Superman, Captain America, Wonder woman and many more. This essay will analyze two traditional heroes, Hercules and Beowulf as well as a contemporary hero, Batman. These heroes’ journey would be analyzed with their portrayal of contemporary gender politics throughout their lives. As it is quite popular that heroes are there to save the people and especially the “damsel-in-distress” stereotype. Moreover, the essay will also discuss the impact of this on young boys and girls.

Traditional Heroes:

1. Hercules:

Hercules was a traditional hero in the Greek Mythology, he was famous for his strength and his powerful build. His heroic traits permitted him to go beyond the traditional cultural values and form new ethos. This hero has been interpreted in many forms like the animation production by Disney in 1991 and a novel by Jeanette Winterson, Weight (Beavers, 2008). Hercules is a hero from the earliest of times, he used animal skins for clothes and lived his life as a hunter. His quest was to visit the underworld and fight the evil to protect the people. Hercules was known as a “Paleolithic shaman” due to his ascent to the Mount Olympus (Diodorus, 1993 as cited in Beavers, 2008). Hercules is known for his muscular body and through the portrayal of his character now masculinity is displayed through a brawny body like Hercules. According to Holman (1991), Goltzious was fascinated by the heavy built of Hercules and in his print text he also portrayed him as a someone with a great body. He has been exhilarated with a brawny physical opulence since his childhood and often drew huge animals like elephants and camel on walls of his room. He designed Great Hercules that signified the protagonist as a bulky figure as well as he wrote painted prints like these for instance, Antaeus. The depiction of the Great Hercules has been observed to be an exaggeration by many researchers of the hero’s figure (Holman, 1991). When talking about contemporary gender politics, the portrayal of Hercules is shown as an anti-feminist. According to Tomasso (1996), she talks about the portrayal of girl power in a screen play Once a hero, the study is actually a critique of the play and compares political believes of different Presidents in the US with this play. For instance, an example is given of the anti-feminism in the play, when Hercules safes a village from what they ferocious beats. He came to know that these beasts are actually females wearing animal skin to scare the people of the village. These women are actually wives of the men of the village, Hercules than persuades the leader of these women to return to their normal roles as wives. This was shown as the true male personality for the modern women audience as well as it was seen as anti-feminist and conservative by Ruby Blondell, a critic of the screen plays Tomasso (1996).

2. Beowulf:

Beowulf is a traditional hero from Anglo-Saxon culture, his character was introduced through an English poem. Beowulf is seen as a traditional hero that saves the people from a monster named, Grendel. He is known for killing the great monster and his mother and is respected by the King, in the second part he kills another, a dragon but now it is another king, King Greats. However, Beowulf kills the second the monster due to which he severely wounded and ultimately dies (Manifi, 2019).  He grabs the attention of the queen, Wealhtheow who serves mead in a cup in a court to her husband. In the poem, women are shown as having minor roles like that of a servant or someone’s wife. On the other hand, one such female character is shown as someone who can have her way through the court and influence her husband to take decisions according to her will. That woman is Wealhtheow, wife of Hrothgar who gives the mead cup first to his husband than Beowulf to portray his stature in the society. Moreover, no one in their society can easily give the mead cup to someone else but Wealhtheow with her position in the society did it with ease (Sarmiento, 2012). It is expected of the women in Anglo-Saxon to be feminine and follow the normal role of a female. The females in this culture are not directly involved in violence ad are not allowed to have a say in the communal matters of the society. The restricted power of the women in the culture does not allow them to contribute in any political or interpersonal life of the society. Consequently, the queen doesn’t follow the rules of the typical feminine role but through her benevolence and effort there was a stop of unnecessary bloodshed in the society. Moreover, she evolves the typical female role like the passing of the mead cup in the court and easily permit Beowulf to kill the beast.  Nevertheless, not every female is seen with respect when she doesn’t follow her typical feminine role like Grendel’s mother Judith who was killed by Beowulf. She takes revenge of her son when he was killed by the hands of Beowulf. This shows the difference in gender roles due to politics (Lundt, 2016).

Contemporary Super Hero:

1. Batman:

Batman is among the contemporary heroes, a modern hero that fights crime and help the people of Gotham. The Batman franchise is seventy years old and is depicted in many forms like movies, comics, novels and television books. He fights evil in the city; on one hand he lives under a cave trying to protect the people from danger. On the other hand, he sits in his office wearing expensive suits in a skyscraper building. There are two different personalities in one human being, he is different from other super hero because every other super hero has some super power but Batman is a normal human being who protects the people with no inner super power (Dantzler, 2009).  Batman cannot be a female, poor, dumb or someone who is free from guilt and living a happy life with his parents. When the researcher talks about gender roles, he explained that in the earlier prints and movies of Batman the hero was a proper gentleman as well as an athlete. However, in 1980 he was shown as muscular and pure manly characteristics through portraying him as masculine than ever (Dantzler, 2009). During the 1980s the television showcased violence and terror to the families while globalization was on the rise but the children from very young ages were experiencing terror and abuse by watching television. In 1980 a new movie of Batman was produced; he was shown as the protector of the females in the city. Moreover, the portrayal of Batman is of a stereotypical superhero who showcases his masculinity through his strength. He considers women as weak, fragile, easily mistreated and are not capable to perform a task like men (Salyers, 2013). Nevertheless, the introduction of Batgirl in the comic book tried to break the typical gender stereotype in the superhero journeys. The Batman movie, comic books and video games are shown to portray “a damsel in distress” moment where women like Dr. Stacy Baker, Fiona Wilson, Cat woman and many more were saved by the hero (Kirkpatrick & Scott, 2015). Since a young age, children are taught to play with toys accustomed for their gender, dolls for girls and trucks, cars or superheroes for boys. These young children are influenced by their parents, media and schools, likewise Batman’s action figure has been seen to be played largely by the boys. These young boys then have thoughts of these stereotype throughout their lives and are socially built in in their minds through superheroes’ movie and comics (Simmons, 2010).

Conclusion:

In conclusion, there are many heroes and superheroes till date that have whole myths, folktales and movie made revolving around them. These depictions portray how they save the world through their powers and talents. In this essay Hercules, Beowulf and Batman are discussed as heroes, the first two are traditional and the last is a contemporary hero. Hercules is among the earliest hero; everyone is aware about the famous stories of Hercules. The animation displayed on Disney showed how Hercules was so powerful with a brawny build and huge muscles. Hercules was known for his masculinity and now for a man to be masculine he should have good muscles. Hercules was portrayed as an anti-feminist who considers women to perform their typical feminine roles. Beowulf was a poem based on an Anglo-Saxon culture and was known as the killer of ferocious beasts. In the Anglo-Saxon culture women weren’t considered to take part in the political matters of the community however, the queen took part in the matters in a way that acceptable by the society and the people. Although, it was shown that women of higher stature can break feminine restrictions like Grendel’s mother who was killed by Beowulf for avenging her son. Batman is a seventy-year-old franchise and is a modern superhero, the difference between him and other superheroes is that he doesn’t have any extraordinary power. He is just a normal human being trying to protect the Gotham city. However, he is also portrayed as anti-feminist and showcases his masculinity through his strength and muscles. The girls and boys are brought up with socially built in stereotypes that they follow till adult hood.

References:

Manifi, M. (2019). Beowulf as a Typical Masterpiece Anglo-Saxon Epic, Conference Paper, 1-3, reviewed on 6 April 2020 < https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334049688_Beowulf_as_a_Typical_Masterpiece_Anglo-Saxon_Epic?>