Another thing connected with James Bond is that before every film with James Bond in they show a 15 minute clip of the basic plot or an image of what you’re going to expect or not expect for the rest of the film.
James Bond is the type of person we admire because of his fantasy glamorous lifestyle and the fact that every girl would dream to be with him and a lot of men/boys would love to be him.
The next hero I am to look at is Indiana Jones. Indiana Jones consists of 3 films (a trilogy) made with action packed quests and weird characters.
Indiana Jones is the typical opposite to the hero in James Bond films. Whilst James bond is the wistful, sophisticated type Indiana Jones represents the rough, rugged unclean look yet he still is seen as a strong handsome hero, but in a different light to James Bond.
Just like James Bond and many other heroes in films, Indiana Jones has his own trademarks, which makes him the one and only Indiana Jones. These are things such as his scar on his chin, his bag on his right shoulder, his leather jacket and hat, but most of all his whip in which when he lassoes we know that something heroic or important is about to take place. Also another common, typical signal that is known in most of his films is that whenever the theme tune for Indiana Jones is heard we know that our beloved hero is going to be OK.
Indiana Jones’ mission is to always solve a mysterious, weird riddle or dangerous and outrageous expedition. Along with his quick mind and always seeming to hurt himself whenever something scary or bad is about to happen the quest, in which is always involved in every mission he does, or goal is to beat the baddy and let good appose evil and have the good to win. His mission, in a way, connects to how Lara Croft would do her mission in the fact that there is always some rare artifact to collect and keep from the villain.
So why is it that we adore and cheer on this character? The reason for this is the suspense and uniqueness or the plot and the hero himself. This means that because Indiana Jones is different and unpredictable the public will become fascinated and emotionally involved to the new way of seeing this hero in films.
Before Indiana Jones everyone was used to the typical smart clean-cut hero, when they introduced Indiana Jones it was like a new generation of heroes and the way the way they went about their missions and quests.
The third hero, or should I say heroin, I am going to look at is Lara Croft. Lara Croft, from the film Tomb Raider, is unlike other heroes seen in films.
Apart from being a female, Lara Croft is seen as the alpha-male to everyone around her. She is strong, slim and confident. All these qualities are usually for a male hero and that’s what makes Lara Croft stand out more than other heroes such as James Bond and Indiana Jones.
Lara’s mission is always to collect some important, ancient artifact or to prevent havoc from happening with the evil villain getting hold of the artifact, a lot like the missions and quests in Indiana Jones.
Just like James Bond, in a way, Lara Croft is very well known for the clothes she wears and the brilliant gadgets and cars she owns, but her clothes are not all smart and glamorous they are very much like the type of clothes that Indiana Jones would wear (i.e. exploring clothes especially her shorts and combat gear). Also a big show with Lara Croft is her long, dark hair that is usually in a long, tight plait.
We all admire Lara Croft not just for being a physically powerful woman, but also for her individuality and approach to life. All men like her for this and women aspire to be her. Lara doesn’t have all these big gadgets or fancy suites to protect her and make her the ‘big show’, but she has her faith and guns to get her through whatever mission lies ahead.
The fourth hero I am going to look at is not just known for her skill and bravery, but for being a very talented, heroic animal.
Lassie the dog is legendary to the public eye when it comes to being a hero and has charmed children as well as adults for generations. Lassie’s main audience however has always mainly been children due to the characteristics and the way the films have been publicized.
Lassie has been seen in many films for over half a century and remains one of the best known, adored and imaginative heroin’s of all time. Eric Knight created the original novels.
Lassie is known for her intelligence and selfless devotion to her masters. Also for her courage and tremendous amount of hard work for the community, which is unusual considering she’s a dog.
One of Lassie’s major trademarks is the white blaze on her face. This shows the audience that lassie is a unique animal apart from the fact that she can communicate with humans which makes her even more distinctive.
Although Lassie isn’t classes as a normal hero it is still seen that the admiration for Lassie is very much appreciated and shown within society.
The fifth and final hero I am going to look at is Superman. Superman unlike other heroes I’ve discussed is the typical hero with super powers and a funny looking costume.
Superman’s mission is to prevent evil over taking the world. A lot like all the other heroes missions except, once again, it is the typical way of showing a hero and villain comic or film.
Everyone associates Superman with his x-ray vision and the way he quickly changes from human to Superman. This is very common with comic or animated heroes as they all seen to have some sort of secret identity with their friends and public and then all of a sudden become someone who everyone loves and knows (a lot like Peter Parker from Spiderman who has to keep a secret identity). Also one of few trademarks, which Superman has, is his position in which he does when he sets of flying.
The reason why people admire Superman is because all what he does is to do with being in a fantasy. It’s out of this world and unordinary so therefore more people are attracted to him and feel they have to watch it more.
He is known for risking his life with extremely deadly chemicals and evil concoctions that, again, is very unreality like and interesting.
Everyone will remember him for his well-built power and the one thing he’s always been ‘allergic’ to: kryptonite.
The first villain I am going to talk about is the Child Catcher from the children’s musical ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”.
The child catcher is one of the cruelest and most evil characters within the film ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’.
His name gives away his mission. He doesn’t like children and therefore if any children were seen in his town he would lure them in very sneakily and then throw them in the dungeon, along with the other starved children, as if they were nothing, but rubbish to him.
The Child Catcher gives out an impression of hatred to his audience. He does this by scheming and weaving his skinny and hideous body around the little children in order to trick them into liking him.
People tend to be interested in this character because he’s mind scheming and underhanded horribleness, he has no special powers as a villain in which makes him more noticeable and his voice is so low and despicable that you just can’t simply turn away.
One of his trademarks is his exceptionally long and twisted nose, which sticks out by a mile. Also people can remember him by his few sayings which he is always saying to trap the children: “Lolly pops children, I have lolly pops.” Or “Come children look what I have here.” This is his way of catching the children in his cart, which is another one of his major trademarks.
The Child Catcher is effective because children are scared of him; he is almost ‘real’ because he doesn’t have any special powers.
The second villain I am going to talk about is the wicked witch of the west from another children’s musical The Wizard Of Oz.
The wicked witch of the west is a mean, deranged person who’s out to destroy a girl just because she has the shoes that she wants. She is to think of everyway she can of getting hold of this girl, and all her friends, and kill her so she can get what she wants.
We associate the wicked witch of the west as a jealous old ‘bag’ in a traditional witches costume.
She has many trademarks, but one thing that we’ll always remember about her is her green face and her evil cackle. Juts like a normal stereotyped witch, her weakness would have to be water splashed over her, as she would melt from it, which we find out at the end of the film.
The reason why we love to hate this character is because, just like the child catcher, she is very twisted and her face is remarkably like a traditional witches face, as said before, with the pointy nose and all the warts.
The third villain I am going to talk about is the Joker from the animated film Batman & Robin.
The Joker in many ways is like a boy who never grew up in the sense that he liked to play tricks on people whenever he wanted to. However these weren’t just your ordinary ‘knock on the door then run away’ tricks, they were big contraptions filled with the desire to take over the world through the evils of laughter and jokes.
The Joker’s mission is to try and stop Batman & Robin from preventing him to take over the world. He is always thinking up weird and powerful plots to wipe then out of the game and whilst doing this he makes a bit of a joke out of it, hence the name ‘Joker’.
Everyone knows the Joker for his clown face and brightly colored suites. He is never seen without a mask or make-up on his face and is always smartly dressed, but with a bit of difference.
We love to hate the Joker because he is always on the verge of something new and inventive to trap Batman & Robin with, but is always getting stopped by them. So in a way we kind of feel sorry for the character because he is never getting anywhere with his mission even thought we don’t want him to succeed.
The fourth and final villain I am going to talk about is Dr Evil from the film Austin Powers.
Dr Evil is a villain for his stupidity and angers on the world, hence the name ‘Dr Evil’. He has no particular reason to be, but he still wants to rule the world with his exceptionally odd crew. This is his main mission other than the traditional mission for all villains, which is to get, rid of the good guy, in this case Austin Powers. This is because Austin Powers has prevented Dr Evil from taking over the world in the past. This is much similar to the situation between the Joker and Batman & Robin since every time the villain tries to take over the heroes stop him.
The public sees Dr Evil as a greedy over the top person who is quite weird and gullible, in a sense.
People tend to like, but hate this character because he’s funny and out of the ordinary. Although he wants to rule the world he seems to have a side of him that the audience can get very confused about. It’s as if at times he’s normal then he’s not, which is what makes his character rather fun to watch.
In everyday life we can simply tell that a hero is someone that does good in the world and a villain is someone who commits ‘bad’ or evil deeds. However there are certain things in films and comics, which specifies and puts a fine line down on what makes a true hero and villain.
A lot of the time heroes might have a costume of some sort, which could have bright colors to represent a hero, and villains might have a sinful or low voice to represent a villain, but this is not always the case.
These days’ writers/actors etc… are coming up with various ideas as to how to keep their audience surprised or interested in the world of heroes and villains.
Each time we watch a film with a hero and a villain in we generally know which is which, sometimes a bit of a twist is added into the picture to ensure the audience of and action packed story of a mystery plot. This is why many people are hooked on films with this particular story line, because they keep us entertained even more each time.
We are always seeing new faces in the world of heroes and villains and that’s why we love to watch them or support them or the opposite. The public enjoys the typical smartly dressed good looking hero and the rebel type, evil eyed villain, but what makes them more interested is when you give them a taste of something new and more indulging. That is why we can’t keep our eyes off the heroes and villains film industry.
As we all know when you watch a film with a hero and villain in the hero will always come out on top, will always get the girl and defeat the villain. So why isn’t this like it in reality? Why is it that the heroes in films are portrayed differently to those in real life? It is all to do with being in a fantasy.
Heroes in films are always going to win because they are made to win; it’s in the script, they’re following something that already has a happy ending, something, which the directors/actors believe to be an attention-grabbing story line.
In real life you can’t just write what’s going to happen when a fireman risks his life to try and save people from a burning building, you have to expect the unexpected and that he might not come out alive. Where as in a film you will expect the hero to win and be safe.
That’s why heroes in films will always be remembered as people who risked their life for the world, but they didn’t did they? Not in real life they didn’t, not like the heroes in real life.
They didn’t have to do years of training and each day risks their life even more. They just had to do what the script said and look good, and then they are seen as someone whom everyone wants to be like. They are given more recognition than they should and are also seen as the handsome or pretty type with perfect looks, but that isn’t going to always happen in reality now is it?
True heroes don’t have time to make themselves look their best before doing their job; it’s not normal however it is in films.
This is why heroes in films are drastically different to those in the real world. Heroes in films are also treated differently to those in real life because everyone would rather see a life-based fantasy film being made up to have a happy ending. People would much rather prefer supporting and admiring people who wouldn’t be seen as heroes, yet they do a much more dangerous and life risking job.
In conclusion with this essay I feel that we admire the heroes in films far too much than we do with our everyday heroes.
It is like a tradition to want the hero to always win because without this who would we believe in, in the world of film? We always enjoy the thrill and excitement of all the action packed fighting and mystery solving.
It is intriguing to find out who’s going to win when deep down we know anyway, but its always fun to just keeping ourselves on a string.
Many people today are finding that heroes and villains keep on surprising us with new ideas and ways of portraying themselves and that’s why I believe that within films the battle of good v’s evil is something we just can’t live without, something we should have in a film and something which we simply must always have the hero winning in.