What do you think defines a villain or a hero? Use your own thoughts, backed up with experience and references, and ideas from the readings we did in class.

I think that a hero is someone who is able to make a difference for the betterment of society. A villian on the other hand is someone who takes away from the normality of that society, they create a sense of chaos. In the Dark Knight, the Joker was labeled as the villain because of what he brought to the community around him. He thought it was always the right time to “Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order and everything becomes chaos.” He made sure that other people’s lives were out of their own control and under his. Meanwhile Batman knew that the city needed some kind of hero, “Gotham needs a hero with a face.” He was comfortable staying in the shadows while Harvey put on a face for the people. Batman set aside himself to give someone else the center of attention, a selfless act like that shows true heroism.

Compare the Joker with V. What makes one a hero and another a villain? Explain with quotes/examples from V for V and the Dark Knight.

When comparing the Joker to V there are very obvious qualities that stick out, making them villains. However, when picking apart their behaviors and actions more closely an argument can be made that one is actually a hero rather than a villain. Both the Joker and V push to be in charge, to introduce some kind of chaos into the world around them. The Joker states, that “the only sensible way to live in this world is without rules.” He knows that his actions have consequences but he plans them out so that he reaps the benefits and no one else does. In a similar way, V thinks that he can control all of knowledge simply by his own hand, “Knowledge is like air, is vital to life. Like air, no one should be denied it.” He wants people to know the truth, but he spends so much time altering it to what he wants it to be so that he, like the Joker, reaps the benefits. There is one very obvious distinction that separates the Joker and V. The Joker knows his limits, he knows he can’t kill Batman without completely throwing off the balance of society. In a way that awareness and conservation for Gotham gives him some hero like qualities. On the other side of things, V isn’t concerned about the society at all, he will stop at nothing to make it exactly what he wants, keeping no one else’s interests in mind. Ultimately this leaves V as a villain, with no chances of being a hero.

Why did the Grand Inquisitor take such an issue with Jesus? How did the GI see the Church as the hero? What did it offer the people that differed to what Jesus offered? When Jesus looks at society today, do you think he takes the perspective of V or Batman?

The Grand Inquisitor was so concerned with the thought that Jesus was denying people their own freedom. He was concerned that people were incapable of living for themselves, that the concept of free will was being distorted because of the evil humans brought into the world. The Church was a place that people could go to find a sense of security for what was going on in the rest of the outside world. They were the ones working to fix that idea of free will that had already been distorted and since it was a solution to what the Grand Inquisitor posed as a problem, the people were along side of it. I think that when Jesus looks at our society today, he takes on the perspective of V. V thought that he was the only one to fix the brokenness in the society around him, while Batman passed the torch on to Harvey because he thought he would do a better job as a hero. Jesus isn’t going to pass the torch of “hero” onto any of us because we are clearly sinful human beings who can’t do anything to save ourselves. Jesus will mimic the actions of V, taking the problems on by himself because He is the only one who can truly fix them.

What heroes does our modern day society have? Why do you think our society values these people?

I think heroes in our modern day society are ones that stand out above everyone else, and that isn’t necessarily the right idea when it comes to heroism. Our society has morphed into one that needs to see something in order to believe it, which makes the concept of “the bigger the better” much more of a problem than it was generations ago. Everyone is competing to be the best, to be the one who saves all the rest of the world. We look up to those who have money and power because they seem to be the ones who are the heros. After all, their lives are successful, so they should be the ones looking out for the rest of us, right? As a whole, we value power and that makes us more inclined to value those who possess power and look up to them for some kind of guidance, a key quality of a hero.