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Has anyone else noticed that very few stories now, be it in books or movies or TV have characters set in a modern time that can truly be considered "heroic", putting everything and everyone else before themselves? At least not to the same extent as you see in both the tales of old and a lot of stories set in the far future.
I mean, take for example Lord of the Rings, Frodo after hearing of what the ring is, doesn't hesitate to ask "what must I do" and gives up everything to do it, or even the countless nameless characters who ride into battle without a second thought of their own lives, knowing the battle is not in their favor. Looking at the far future, you can see examples in shows such as Babylon 5 where during the Earth-Minbari war pilots went into battle knowing the were going to die, but went anyway because it might mean even one more civilian would make it off the planet alive. Hell, don't even have to go that far back in time or forward, look at the world war 2 era, stories of soldiers going behind enemy lines to rescue captured comrades without a second thought of their own safety.
Yes, there are some heroes in modern shows, but it is a small scale, one person type thing, you don't see the massive shows of heroism that are set in other time periods. Am I just not watching/reading the right things, or is it really something that you don't see anymore.
I believe human nature is still somewhat selfless when it comes to times of need and crisis... just look at any natural disaster how quickly people rush in to help those in need, after the terror attacks people rushed in to try to find survivors, and as every city dweller is well aware, when someone falls on train tracks there's always at least one person who will without hesitation jump onto the tracks to get them. So why is it that entertainment has seemingly limited itself to protagonists (in the current time period) who do what they do because it's their job, not because it's the right thing to do?
I mean, take for example Lord of the Rings, Frodo after hearing of what the ring is, doesn't hesitate to ask "what must I do" and gives up everything to do it, or even the countless nameless characters who ride into battle without a second thought of their own lives, knowing the battle is not in their favor. Looking at the far future, you can see examples in shows such as Babylon 5 where during the Earth-Minbari war pilots went into battle knowing the were going to die, but went anyway because it might mean even one more civilian would make it off the planet alive. Hell, don't even have to go that far back in time or forward, look at the world war 2 era, stories of soldiers going behind enemy lines to rescue captured comrades without a second thought of their own safety.
Yes, there are some heroes in modern shows, but it is a small scale, one person type thing, you don't see the massive shows of heroism that are set in other time periods. Am I just not watching/reading the right things, or is it really something that you don't see anymore.
I believe human nature is still somewhat selfless when it comes to times of need and crisis... just look at any natural disaster how quickly people rush in to help those in need, after the terror attacks people rushed in to try to find survivors, and as every city dweller is well aware, when someone falls on train tracks there's always at least one person who will without hesitation jump onto the tracks to get them. So why is it that entertainment has seemingly limited itself to protagonists (in the current time period) who do what they do because it's their job, not because it's the right thing to do?
), but the Ben Kingsley movie, it was big... that sort of stuff just doesn't attract people any more - we're in a different society.. and frankly, one where guns, violence, and 'heroism' is a pretty standard day to day thing for us... in movies, on tv, and video games. Especially the latter, when you can be your own hero - so why bother paying to see someone else do it??
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