Film and Media Studies Commons^™

The Stories We Tell Matter: Finding The Real Hero In American Pop Culture, Madisyn Dowdy

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Joseph Campbell in his historic work The Hero with a Thousand Faces, argues that the stories and myths a culture tells demonstrates the ideals, fears, and morals of that culture and the heroes they hold up are representations of the ideal human. Heroes are inherently personal role models and ideals, but the collective understanding of a hero is representative of a culture's ideals, fears, and morals.

So, what does it say when a culture's heroes are usually violent, traditionally attractive white men? And what does it mean when a culture rejects heroes with non-traditional values and traits, specifically traits coded …