What is it about the anti-hero that Americans are so enamored with? Is it the freedom that they embody, that I'm-doing-things-my-way sort of attitude? Is it because there's some deeper subconscious appeal to our sense of our history, like these men are the new Davy Crocketts or mountain men? It might just be that we love a character with, when done correctly, as much depth as the anti-hero embodies. I don't know.
All I know is that some of our favorite film characters are anti-heros (Although many will go so far to say that exemplar characters such as Peck's Atticus Finch are just as loved, and I may agree with them). Think of some of the most famous roles and characters in American film, keeping in mind that my being only 21 years of age has kept me from seeing a lot of American film:
Why is this? Hell if I know. I seem to remember something from high school, a film trying to give an overview of the 70s for we kids of iGeneration. One of the things that the film mentioned was discontent and mistrust towards the government in the aftermath of the one-two combo of Vietnam and Watergate, and that following this film in America took a dark turn. I don't know if this is a scapegoat, or just some sort of over-all, but it does seem today that our villians are, more often than not, embodiments of the former hero or exemplar. Suits. Well-off. Stylish. Culturally elite. These men are now the enemies, the villians, the Man.
Interesting. I guess the pinstriped gangster has been revived, in a way.
¹when presented in some other manner than the the camp that just seems to be cursed to make the Dark Knight a joke.
²fanboys, unite!
³L4yer Cak3, peeps. Not that Vin Diesel BS
†At first!
All I know is that some of our favorite film characters are anti-heros (Although many will go so far to say that exemplar characters such as Peck's Atticus Finch are just as loved, and I may agree with them). Think of some of the most famous roles and characters in American film, keeping in mind that my being only 21 years of age has kept me from seeing a lot of American film:
The Boondock Saints. Bullitt. Any protagonist from Sin City. Dirty Harry. Sam Spade. Batman.¹ Travis Bickle. Snake Plissken.² The Dude. Tony Montana. V. The Man With No Name. Mr. XXXX.³ Max Rockatansky. Beatrix Kiddo. Han Solo.† Neo.
Why is this? Hell if I know. I seem to remember something from high school, a film trying to give an overview of the 70s for we kids of iGeneration. One of the things that the film mentioned was discontent and mistrust towards the government in the aftermath of the one-two combo of Vietnam and Watergate, and that following this film in America took a dark turn. I don't know if this is a scapegoat, or just some sort of over-all, but it does seem today that our villians are, more often than not, embodiments of the former hero or exemplar. Suits. Well-off. Stylish. Culturally elite. These men are now the enemies, the villians, the Man.
Interesting. I guess the pinstriped gangster has been revived, in a way.
¹when presented in some other manner than the the camp that just seems to be cursed to make the Dark Knight a joke.
²fanboys, unite!
³L4yer Cak3, peeps. Not that Vin Diesel BS
†At first!
posted by .venganza. at 1:57 PM
1 Comments:
Yeah, there's something that runs much deeper in American culture that makes anti-heroes so attractive. The disaffection of the 1960s-70s certainly boosted the attraction, as did our modern cynicism, but the gangsters were anti-heroes. So were a lot of the dime-novel cowboys. And so on.
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