is a hero good or bad ?

Question

in every book we read and every film we see the hero is a bad man doing bad things for a good reason

does this mean that in todays society it is excepted that the ends justifies the means ?

ie one flew over the cuckoos nest. A prisoner sacrificed his life to cure mental patients by teaching them to misbehave and therefore became more acceptable to society was he good or bad

personally i think a hero is a person that fights for what he believes to be right regardless of cost or consequence .

all answers so far relate to who might or might not be your own hero .

Answer 1

A hero can be good because they save the world for all the people

Answer 2

Literally, a hero is a character that rises above a situation and changes the situation - while other characters do not, but are of course caught up in this change. Really. A supervillain is just another type of hero, and no hero is ever 100% good or 100% bad. In comic books, most heroes are challenged by a dark side they suppress.

It is not true that every hero nowadays is a bad man doing bad things - while this may in your view be true, other people have a different set of values. If your question therefore is whether these different views are now generally accepted while yours are not, it'd be wise to elaborate further on what you find bad chaarcters, bad behaviour and such. I do not think 'society' (that's: the population at large) nowadays thinks their objectives warrant any means, though some political leaders seem to have a lack of certain qualms. Which in turn is expressed in some media. "V for Vendetta" for example is a graphic novel heavily inspired on Thatcherite England, while it's film version also takes inspiration from the current political situation around war and terrorism. In both the comic and the film V is the hero, i.e. the one who makes and changes the situation everyone is in, and while some may find V sympathetic there certainly are unsympathetic sides to him as well. Exactly what characteristics are good or bad though, is something only the reader or film-goer can decide, based on his own set of values and his/her reaction on how these values are strenghtened or challenged.

Lastly, as I am already far too elaborate, the arts and media don't usually represent 'society' in full. Proper art and proper journalism challenges society to change or ascertain views - so in other words if a film is about a hero killing people to create a communist state, perhaps the film might not ell you to murder people, nor would it be communist propaganda per se. It'd be there to reflect on society and make people think. The conclusions people draw after having made to think are not the responsibility of the media.

Answer 3

a hero is a person who does things for a good reason.

Sometimes, in real life, to achieve the good in our society the hero has to do the bad things.

If a girl is about to molested in a street corner at night. People pass by and some will try to call the police but Only a hero will stand up to fight and save the girl.

Of course, according to the law, he should report to the police and let them handle the case. But for him that does not solve the problem quick enough so if he is uses an iron rod to strike one of the molestors and scares the other three.
What would you call him?

The problem is that our society is too complicated so the tasks of our Hero's also become complicated.

EnjOy

Answer 4

The classical archetype of a Hero is someone that holds what a society considers as "good" traits. Heros were needed in times of affliction.

What you are describing is an anti-hero, and they are more popular today, because our society, after WW2, realized that there were actually no real Heros; so, someone not perfect at all, but that somehow performs an heroic act, is much more believable, and that´s an anti-hero.

So, it is not that our society accepts that the end justifies the means, it is just that an anti-hero is more believable than a true Hero.

Answer 5

the word "hero" means different things in different contexts. in historical, legendary contexts it usually refers to people who were immensely strong, brave, daring, and successful. These people are often involved in exploits that would appear to us to be downright immoral, for example the 'hero' Odysseus going on a slaughtering raid in the Trojan camp. Often these Heroes lie, cheat, or steal, to accomplish their goals.

In literary contexts, the 'hero of the story' may not be the one who does good things, or who comes out well in the end, but is the person whom the story is about. Don Quixote is the hero of the story by Cervantes, but he is insane, quixotic (as the name implies), and comes to a very sad end.

Popularly, people call heroes those whom they admire. So usually there is at least one excellent trait in these people. But they could be sporting heroes who are good, pop icons who are good at music or acting, and so on, and they could be, on the whole, really despicable human beings (as the posthumous biography usually proves!).

In that case, the only true heroes are moral heroes: people who had a humane moral code and practised it, as best they could, throughout their lives. Maybe there have been a dozen such people in all of history.

Answer 6

What you're taking about is called the anti-hero. The hero by defintion does good things for good reasons. Not all films or books or other media is filled with anti-heroes. The hero is still alive and well.

Answer 7

I generally think of a hero as someone who does whatever for teh right reasons. Now what those right reasons might be and how others percieve are notnecessarily one in the same. But a hero to me generally believes he is right and generally has a followingwho support his actions.

Answer 8

Heroes are always considered good for some reason and in some cases i would imagine that they are but it depends on the situation. If the hero does a bad thing like you said its for a good resason so i assume that makes them good

Answer 9

The question contains the seeds of its own answer. That is, if he is a hero. he must be good, at least in our eyes.

Answer 10

Helen,

A Hero is supposed to inspire one.
A Hero that makes you become obsessed
is a deviation, thus, in today's society,
like you well point, the end seems to justify
the means.

It seems our parameters are misplaced
or have gone haywire....

But, in the midst of all, there are the sane
people who bring everything back to reality --
at great personal expense....

So, for today, you will be my hero.
But only for today, until midnight.
Have a super weekend! ':)