Carrying on a bit more (r) -- La Femme Nikita Fan Fiction Message Board

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Date Posted: Sunday, January 29, 03:27:08am
Author: JayBee
Subject: Carrying on a bit more (r)
In reply to: Swatkat 's message, "Re: Well, I dunno (r)" on Saturday, January 28, 10:47:43am

And it's also not merely 'being moral', although it's certainly another important part of it.

I guess what I was responding to was the statement in your original post, where you said that:

In an ideal world, the Hero is someone who does the Right Things for the Right Reason.

I thought you were supplying a definition of heroism there -- in essence saying that "heroism" = "doing the Right Things for the Right Reason," which to me sounds pretty much like a definition of morality or an ethical code as opposed to heroism. If, for example, I am polite to my neighbors because I believe in a civil society, that's "doing the right thing for the right reason," but I would say that is by no means heroic.

You're right to distinguish the mythological/literary/archetypical "hero" from the idea of real-life heroism, though, and I think that's why we went in different directions: you were discussing the former, and I the latter.

To be honest, the hero archetype doesn't interest me, precisely because I don't see it as relevant in real life. What you describe as your reaction to Jack in Lost is my reaction to almost *all* such "hero" characters in fiction: I don't buy the premise of the archetype, and therefore the characters annoy the hell out of me.

Michael doesn't believe in a Hero.

I never thought I'd ever say this, but I'm with Michael! Or perhaps to put a different spin on it -- the only heroes I believe in are tragic (that is, examples of the fact that trying to live up to the archetype is doomed to failure).

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