The Best Fictional Villains

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Best Fictional Villains Season 3, Episode 31: Deliciously Evil - The Best Fictional Villains Mon, 3/15 • 47:19 Meredith Monday Schwartz 00:10 Hey readers, welcome to the Currently Reading podcast. We are bookish best friends who spend time every week talking about the books that we've read recently. And as you know, we won't shy away from having strong opinions. So get ready. Kaytee Cobb 00:23 We are light on the chitchat, heavy on the book talk and our descriptions will always be spoiler free. We'll discuss our current reads, a bookish deep dive, and then we'll press books into your hands. Meredith Monday Schwartz 00:33 I'm Meredith Monday Schwartz, a mom of four and full time CEO living in Austin, Texas. And I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I love a good villain in my novels. Kaytee Cobb 00:43 And I'm Kaytee Cobb, a homeschooling mom of four living in New Mexico. And I'll read all the fantasy novels I want. Thank you very much. This is episode number 31 of season three. And we're so glad you're here. Meredith Monday Schwartz 00:54 It sounds like we're gonna have some big bookish opinions in this episode. I think we might from our bite size intros. Yeah, no, that's gonna be that's gonna be good. All right. So I'll let you know the top of the show that our deep dive this week is about the best fictional villains. Who are they? What makes a great villain? Do we like a villain? Do we not? Do we kind of wish that they didn't exist because they're yucky and we don't want to think about it. I'll let you guess how I feel about this later on in the show. But first, let's get to our bookish moments of the week. Kaytee, what have you got? Kaytee Cobb 01:29 My bookish moment this week, Meredith came from you. I got the mail yesterday. And I got a book shaped package from my Meredith and I don't think there's anything that can come in the mail that makes me happier than a package shaped like a book. Meredith Monday Schwartz 01:45 Oh, seriously, Kaytee Cobb 01:46 Right? - 1 - Transcribed by https://otter.ai Meredith Monday Schwartz 01:46 Absolutely. Yes. Kaytee Cobb 01:47 So I opened A Vow So Bold and Deadly yesterday. And then I immediately sat down on the couch. And I was like, everybody go away. Don't bother me. I don't need any of you right now. It has a map in the front. And this is part of a book train from Kate Marshall to you to me to any number of bookish friends that want to read this third installment in The Curse So Dark and Lonely series by Brigid Kimmerer. And I'm just I'm so thrilled to get to it. I just love getting bookish packages in the mail. Meredith Monday Schwartz 02:16 I love the idea of the book train. In fact, I was just talking to Johnny about this last night. So I guess book trains can happen all in all different ways. But in this, the way Kate started it was she wrote a little something for me in the front of the book. And then I wrote a little something and then Kaytee, you'll write a little something. And so I love the idea that as we pass these books along, we can kind of be marking it in a little way for each other. We're not doing anything spoilery or anything like that. But just you know, just a little as you can see who's been here. Alright, well, my bookish moment of the week is kind of also about the love of reading with another person. And I mentioned on Instagram a couple of weeks ago that Jackson was doing one of his classes, he's virtually learning right now still. And I had heard that they were having a conversation right at the beginning of the day, they always have like a topic of the day when they they first kind of get together. And this one, I heard out of the sort of corner of my mind that they were talking about the best book that they had read recently. And so I loved listening to Jackson, he had just finished Harry Potter six on audio. And so he was talking about that. But then afterwards, he came running out to me and he said, Mom, I heard about a book that sounds really, really interesting. Can I get it? And can you can we read it together? Because I really, really like it when we read books together. So that's something that I'm just absolutely loving. I've talked about this before Jackson is on the reluctant reader side of the spectrum, right? He's not an ink drinker. But he likes reading enough, especially when he's really interested in the book. And when we do it together, that seems to really help. So we're reading The Strangers by Margaret Peterson Haddix. And I have to say we're probably about 50% of the way through now. And it's really, really good. I'll definitely be talking about it on the show. But it's kind of creepy. It's got a really, really great premise at the start that really grabs you where there's three kids. You know, all within a couple years of each other elementary school aged kids and their read there, they find out there's this news story saying that three kids have been kidnapped. But those children have the exact same names and birthdays of the three children we're following. Kaytee Cobb 04:32 hmm... Meredith Monday Schwartz 04:33 All sorts of weird things start happening from there. So it's got a great premise. And Jackson is really really, you know, happy to be reading it. So we're excited about that. I love reading books with him and - 2 - Transcribed by https://otter.ai when he's into it when I don't have to drag him into it. All right, Kaytee, let's get into our current reads. What's your first current read? Kaytee Cobb 04:53 Okay, my first one I actually stole from my children. Speaking of reading with your kids, it's Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia. The story starts out pretty normally for middle grade. Tristen Strong is a kid that really likes boxing. His dad, his uncle are really into boxing. So that's kind of his little backstory. But he's going right now through a very rough time. His best friend Eddie died recently. And all that Tristan has left to remember him by his his journal. Because it's a rough time, he goes to visit his grandparents in Alabama on the farm. And they everybody's hoping that he won't be too overwhelmed by grief and by you know, walking around with memories of Eddie everywhere. But his very first night there, it gets a little crazy. He sees a small sticky creature steal the journal from the bedroom that he's staying in. And he runs off to try and catch it before it takes off with this one memory of his best friend. So they're struggling under this under this tree with and he's struggling with this weird sticky baby doll thing. And he punches the tree that they're wrestling under, which rips a hole in the sky and opens a chasm to MidPass, a completely brilliant, amazing fantasy world. There he gets to meet John Henry and his silver hammer, Br'er Rabbit exhausted from having to be cunning all the time. Anansi....the story we were all these amazing Black American legends are there inhabiting MidPass. So it's kind of like if you fell into a library and all the all the villains and all the heroes were alive inside that library, right? Tristan has to put aside his grief in order to help this kind of found family of creatures and friends and villains to repair the hole in their world, and hopefully get him back home. There's mythology, there's fairy tales, it's all woven in. I went to Google trying to find out more about what was happening there. They the stories here tied into other reading that I did in February, which is always great when it brings another book to life. And I thought that Kwame Mbalia did a great job creating a fully new and interesting universe. Couldn't put it down. Great map in the endpapers which we all need right? Love... The audiobook was excellent. But picking up the paper copy was beautiful as well, which is great because it was already on my kids shelves. So I really, really enjoyed it. It's Tristen Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia. Meredith Monday Schwartz 07:24 All right, so I am bringing a murderful story today. And this was one that I listened to on audio and it was fantastic on audio I This was one of those ones where it made me want my workouts to last longer. And this is what I'm looking for in my audio.
Recommended publications
  • The Dark Side of the Tune: a Study of Villains
    University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2008 The Dark Side Of The Tune: A Study Of Villains Michael Biggs University of Central Florida Part of the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Biggs, Michael, "The Dark Side Of The Tune: A Study Of Villains" (2008). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 3811. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/3811 THE DARK SIDE OF THE TUNE: A STUDY OF VILLAINS by MICHAEL FREDERICK BIGGS II B.A. California State University, Chico, 2004 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in the Department of Theatre in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Fall Term 2008 © 2008 Michael Biggs ii ABSTRACT On “championing” the villain, there is a naïve quality that must be maintained even though the actor has rehearsed his tragic ending several times. There is a subtle difference between “to charm” and “to seduce.” The need for fame, glory, power, money, or other objects of affection drives antagonists so blindly that they’ve no hope of regaining a consciousness about their actions. If and when they do become aware, they infrequently feel remorse.
    [Show full text]
  • 007: the World Is Not Enough 1080 Teneighty Snowboarding a Bug's
    007: The World Is Not Enough 1080 TenEighty Snowboarding A Bug's Life Aerofighter Assault AeroGauge Aidyn Chronicles : The First Mage All Star Tennis 99 All-Star Baseball 2000 All-Star Baseball 2001 All-Star Baseball 99 Armorines - Project S.W.A.R.M. Army Men : Air Combat Army Men : Sarge's Heroes Army Men : Sarge's Heroes 2 Asteroids Hyper 64 Automobili Lamborghini Banjo-Kazooie Banjo-Tooie Bassmasters 2000 Batman Beyond : Return of the Joker BattleTanx BattleTanx - Global Assault Battlezone : Rise of the Black Dogs Beetle Adventure Racing! Big Mountain 2000 Bio F.R.E.A.K.S. Blast Corps Blues Brothers 2000 Body Harvest Bomberman 64 Bomberman 64 : The Second Attack! Bomberman Hero Bottom of the 9th Brunswick Circuit Pro Bowling Buck Bumble Bust-A-Move '99 Bust-A-Move 2: Arcade Edition California Speed Carmageddon 64 Castlevania Castlevania : Legacy of Darkness Chameleon Twist Chameleon Twist 2 Charlie Blast's Territory Chopper Attack Clay Fighter : Sculptor's Cut Clay Fighter 63 1-3 Command & Conquer Conker's Bad Fur Day Cruis'n Exotica Cruis'n USA Cruis'n World CyberTiger Daikatana Dark Rift Deadly Arts Destruction Derby 64 Diddy Kong Racing Donald Duck : Goin' Qu@ckers*! Donkey Kong 64 Doom 64 Dr. Mario 64 Dual Heroes Duck Dodgers Starring Daffy Duck Duke Nukem : Zero Hour Duke Nukem 64 Earthworm Jim 3D ECW Hardcore Revolution Elmo's Letter Adventure Elmo's Number Journey Excitebike 64 Extreme-G Extreme-G 2 F-1 World Grand Prix F-Zero X F1 Pole Position 64 FIFA 99 FIFA Soccer 64 FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 Fighter Destiny 2 Fighters
    [Show full text]
  • Heroes and Villains M/W 1:00-2:15 Spring 2018 Texas A&M University
    English 4317: Heroes and Villains M/W 1:00-2:15 Spring 2018 Texas A&M University - Central Texas Instructor: Dr. Jeff Kirchoff Office: Founder’s Hall 217O Email: [email protected] (this is the best way to reach me) Office Hours: M/W 2:30-4:00; other times may be available by appointment UNILERT (The Emergency Warning System for Texas A&M University–Central Texas) UNILERT is an emergency notification service that gives Texas A&M University-Central Texas the ability to communicate health and safety emergency information quickly via email, text message, and social media. All students are automatically enrolled in UNILERT through their myCT email account. Connect at www.TAMUCT.edu/UNILERT to change where you receive your alerts or to opt out. By staying enrolled in UNILERT, university officials can quickly pass on safety-related information, regardless of your location. COURSE OVERVIEW AND DESCRIPTION Official Catalog Description An in-depth study of one major theme in literary history. Topics vary and the course can be repeated for credit if taken under a different emphasis. A Note from Dr. Kirchoff This reading-intensive class is an exercise in thinking about the role characters play in (and outside of) a text, paying particular attention to the rather flexible notions of heroism and villainy. Scholars have been fascinated by the notion of heroes and villains as far back as Aristotle (as he writes about this in his Poetics), and scholarly journals, conferences, and books remain devoted to the subject today; in fact, the notion of heroism has become particularly in vogue with the rebirth the superhero, thanks to a seemingly endless parade of superhero blockbuster films.
    [Show full text]
  • Renaissance Receptions of Ovid's Tristia Dissertation
    RENAISSANCE RECEPTIONS OF OVID’S TRISTIA DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Gabriel Fuchs, M.A. Graduate Program in Greek and Latin The Ohio State University 2013 Dissertation Committee: Frank T. Coulson, Advisor Benjamin Acosta-Hughes Tom Hawkins Copyright by Gabriel Fuchs 2013 ABSTRACT This study examines two facets of the reception of Ovid’s Tristia in the 16th century: its commentary tradition and its adaptation by Latin poets. It lays the groundwork for a more comprehensive study of the Renaissance reception of the Tristia by providing a scholarly platform where there was none before (particularly with regard to the unedited, unpublished commentary tradition), and offers literary case studies of poetic postscripts to Ovid’s Tristia in order to explore the wider impact of Ovid’s exilic imaginary in 16th-century Europe. After a brief introduction, the second chapter introduces the three major commentaries on the Tristia printed in the Renaissance: those of Bartolomaeus Merula (published 1499, Venice), Veit Amerbach (1549, Basel), and Hecules Ciofanus (1581, Antwerp) and analyzes their various contexts, styles, and approaches to the text. The third chapter shows the commentators at work, presenting a more focused look at how these commentators apply their differing methods to the same selection of the Tristia, namely Book 2. These two chapters combine to demonstrate how commentary on the Tristia developed over the course of the 16th century: it begins from an encyclopedic approach, becomes focused on rhetoric, and is later aimed at textual criticism, presenting a trajectory that ii becomes increasingly focused and philological.
    [Show full text]
  • SAFER at HOME in Select Theaters, VOD & Digital on February 26, 2021
    SAFER AT HOME In Select Theaters, VOD & Digital on February 26, 2021 DIRECTED BY Will Wernick WRITTEN BY Will Wernick, Lia Bozonelis PRODUCED BY Will Wernick, John Ierardi, Bo Youngblood, Lia Bozonelis (Co-Producer), Jason Phillips (Co-Producer) STARRING Jocelyn Hudon, Emma Lahana, Alisa Allapach, Adwin Brown, Dan J. Johnson, Michael Kupisk, Daniel Robaire RUN TIME: 82 mins DISTRIBUTED BY: Vertical Entertainment For additional information please contact: LA Daniel Coffey – [email protected] Emily Maroon – [email protected] NY Susan Engel – [email protected] Danielle Borelli – [email protected] ABOUT THE FILM Synopsis Two years into the pandemic, a group of friends throw an online party with a night of games, drinking and drugs. After taking an ecstasy pill, things go terribly wrong and the safety of their home becomes more terrifying than the raging chaos outside. Director’s Statement Making Safer at Home was challenging. Not just because of the technical hurdles the pandemic mandated, but because of the strange new features life had taken on in those early months of the pandemic. I found myself having unusual conversations, and realizations about myself and friends — things that only this type of stress could bring out. I noticed people making major, sometimes life changing decisions, quickly. Brake-ups, pregnancies, divorces, fights-- this instigated them all. Almost everyone I knew was caught in an indefinite cycle of every day feeling the same. And then we started working on this film. Safer at Home plays out essentially in real time, and shows what a long period of lockdown could do to a group of friends.
    [Show full text]
  • Villains – the Necessary Evil? Capt
    PROFESSIONAL GROWTH Villains – The Necessary Evil? Capt. Chris Quaid, USAF • Capt. Dan Ward, USAF fter exploring the removable component of topic of heroics what make these actors vil- (Program Man- lains in the first place. ager, Sept.-Dec. 2003), it seemed The Evil Genius Aonly natural to investigate This type of villain is intent the flip side—villainy. Just on domination and con- as heroes and heroines are trol: Darth Vader, Cruella essential to organizational DeVil, Superman’s Lex success, so too, villains, bad Luthor, and Adolf Hitler. Al- guys, enemies, and mon- though they are often ex- sters play an important role ternal to an organization, in the plotlines of our orga- PMs sometimes encounter nizational dramas. the Evil Genius within their organizations, typically in According to the late Army a different division. Col. Frank B. Shutts, founder and owner of the Evil Geniuses always have Miami Herald, “One very an Evil Plan, and their pri- important ingredient of suc- mary weakness is their ar- cess is a good, wide-awake, rogant overconfidence in persistent, tireless enemy.” that plan. Arrogance is al- Since villains are so signifi- most never useful, and cant, program managers when exercised to a vil- would do well to under- lainous degree, it makes in- stand the types of villains herent weaknesses and they may encounter and flaws virtually invisible to the various contributions of their owner. Evil Geniuses those villains to program- cannot comprehend that matic success. The most their Evil Plans might be fortunate and effective PMs flawed, nor can they en- will square off against a persistent arch enemy who is tertain the possibility of a fatal weakness in their own abil- strong enough to be a challenge—and flawed enough to ities.
    [Show full text]
  • Hero Or Villain?"
    IR - PERPUSTAKAAN UNIVERSITAS AIRLANGGA CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY In fictional works, in this case, interactive fictional works like video games, there are characters in the narrative, and the characters consist of protagonists and antagonists. A protagonist is described as the center of the story, the one that is close to the audience and the one who makes a decision and experience the consequences, however not necessarily the same as the hero. (Duncan, 2006). A hero is defined as the person that the audience will root and support. (Vogler, 2007). In many medias especially video games, a hero is often associated with having a strong sense of justice and always doing for the sake of greater good (GamesRadar, 2018). The opposite of a hero is a villain, in which Vogler (2007) describes it as the enemies and the one who stands against the hero, and the audience will root for their loss. Antagonist, on the other hand, is defined as someone who stands in opposition to the protagonist, who will also become the force for the protagonist to develop and move in the story, usually takes the form of villain but not necessarily has to be one (Blaisdell, 2018). From the definitions, it is certain that the protagonist, hero, antagonist, and villain, have different definitions. These definitions mean that everyone who is the center of the story is a protagonist, but not all protagonist is a hero. The same as an antagonist, who is someone that stands in opposition side of the protagonist, but not all villains are 1 SKRIPSI "HERO OR VILLAIN?"..
    [Show full text]
  • Gender and Bodies in the Netflix Series "YOU" Morgan Bates Longwood University
    Longwood University Digital Commons @ Longwood University Spring Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry Research & Publications Spring 2019 From Desire to Obsession: Gender and Bodies in the Netflix Series "YOU" Morgan Bates Longwood University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.longwood.edu/rci_spring Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Bates, Morgan, "From Desire to Obsession: Gender and Bodies in the Netflix Series "YOU"" (2019). Spring Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry. 10. https://digitalcommons.longwood.edu/rci_spring/10 This Poster is brought to you for free and open access by the Research & Publications at Digital Commons @ Longwood University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Spring Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Longwood University. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. From Desire to Obsession: Gender & Bodies in the Netflix Series “YOU” Morgan Bates Longwood University Thesis Abstract The show YOU exhibits how stalking is gendered and how it The intention of this poster presentation is to display a Supporting Point 3: further exemplifies the ceaseless male necessity to control personal interpretation of the show as well as the themes, • Connection to Gender and Bodies: women particularly once romantically involved. The series issues, and a connection to gender and bodies allows for the audience to see how easy stalking can be in our throughout the series. The show exemplifies how stalking is a gendered obsession modern age and how it generally involves toxic masculinity for male control over women. Joe believes, as a male, his intertwined with femininity.
    [Show full text]
  • EXPLORING the CHARACTERIZATION of SHAKESPEARE's VILLAINS by Olawunmi Amusa BA
    EXPLORING THE CHARACTERIZATION OF SHAKESPEARE’S VILLAINS by Olawunmi Amusa B.A (Eastern Mediterranean University) 2015 Submitted in partial satisfaction for the requirements for the degree of MASTERS OF ARTS in HUMANITIES in the GRADUATE SCHOOL of HOOD COLLEGE Accepted: ----------------------- -------------------------- Terry Scott, PhD. Corey Campion Committee Member Program Director ---------------------- Didier Course, PhD ------------------------ Committee Member April Boulton, PhD Dean of the Graduate School ------------------------- Heather Mitchell-Buck, PhD Portfolio Advisor ii CONTENTS INTRODUCTION--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 CHAPTER ONE: LANGUAGE USED BY FOUR OF SHAKESPEARE’S VILLAINS-------- 11 CHAPTER TWO: INCLUDING A COMIC THEME TO A TRAGEDY: THE CASE OF SCOTLAND, PA-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 CHAPTER THREE: DUAL REPRESENTATION OF PROSPERO’S EPILOGUE------------- 44 BIBLIOGRAPHY------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 58 1 Introduction When we watch a movie or read a book, we tend to watch out for the hero or villain. For those of us who grew up in the Disney era, we have been trained to watch out for good and evil, with the belief that the heroes will come to save us. Despite anything that happens, we always know that the heroes will always win, and the villain will fail. However, a story does not seem to be complete without the villains. If the heroes do not have any villain to fight, then how do we define their acts as being heroic? Villains provide a conflict that intrigues the audience as well as readers because it gives the heroes conflict and something to look forward to. Without the conflict of the villains, there will be not much to the backstory of the heroes. Therefore, villains are a great addition to the success of a piece of work.
    [Show full text]
  • Writing a Good Villain and Interesting Characters
    Writing a Good Villain and Interesting Characters JF Garrard, Deputy Editor, Ricepaper Magazine ● The villain is the person in conflict with Why do you need a the main character with opposite needs villain? and wants ● Villains are the antagonists, they move the plot along and they challenge the hero to do better ● Villains that are purely evil are one-dimensional and not believable, they need to have a motive and are the heroes in their own stories ● Motives are important because opposite motives cause conflict and the conflict drives the story ○ Why + Motive = Villain Action ○ Villain Action = Hero Reaction ● Villains can take many forms, but Different types of generally are either abstracta, are humans villains or have human characteristics ● An abstract villain can be a setting, a society, something supernatural or even the protagonist’s self. ● It may be difficult for readers to connect with an abstract villain, so sometimes a person is assigned to represent it ● The villain is someone that the reader loves to hate and elicits strong emotions ● Without the villain, there is no hero 1. Connect them to the hero - the villains What Are the actions are what makes the protagonist grow Characteristics of a 2. Clear moral code - the villain believes they Good Villain? are doing the right thing and it is clear what they will do and not do 3. Let the Villain win sometimes - this shows that they are a real threat to the hero and a worthy opponent 4. Strong backstory - this connects the readers to the villain and elicits sympathy to make them seem realistic 5.
    [Show full text]
  • The Seldom Sung Heroes
    Seldom Sung Heroes By Olympic Champion Ben Peterson #54 As a season progresses for most any sport, team leaders begin emerging. When the accolades are handed out the leaders are recognized and indeed they should be. After all, they illustrate and symbolize for us the best of our striving and achievements. However, there are some who may not set records and be consistent winners. Others may far out-do them in the record book. But in our minds, if we are honest, there are others that should be recognized and honored because they also exhibit the best of our strivings. Please enjoy 3 of my “Seldom Sung” memories. 1) I had been coaching for a half-dozen years or so at a small college here in Wisconsin called Maranatha Baptist Bible College. The college had between 500 and 700 students. We had some very good, hard working wrestlers and I felt we could prepare them to compete with the very best on a college level. But without scholarships I had little thought that we could gather a team to beat a D1 team. We set our schedule accordingly. Almost every dual would stretch us and I picked some tournaments where all could compete and a couple that would stretch our very best wrestlers. In the mid 1980’s we had strong team balance. Several wrestlers were talented but not necessarily driven in wrestling. They had many other goals as well, but they did like to wrestle. The next thing I know we are winning each dual. The toughest dual for us was Loras College.
    [Show full text]
  • Collective of Heroes: Arrow's Move Toward a Posthuman Superhero Fantasy
    St. Cloud State University theRepository at St. Cloud State Culminating Projects in English Department of English 12-2016 Collective of Heroes: Arrow’s Move Toward a Posthuman Superhero Fantasy Alyssa G. Kilbourn St. Cloud State University Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/engl_etds Recommended Citation Kilbourn, Alyssa G., "Collective of Heroes: Arrow’s Move Toward a Posthuman Superhero Fantasy" (2016). Culminating Projects in English. 73. https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/engl_etds/73 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of English at theRepository at St. Cloud State. It has been accepted for inclusion in Culminating Projects in English by an authorized administrator of theRepository at St. Cloud State. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Collective of Heroes: Arrow’s Move Toward a Posthuman Superhero Fantasy by Alyssa Grace Kilbourn A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of St. Cloud State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Rhetoric and Writing December, 2016 Thesis Committee: James Heiman, Chairperson Matthew Barton Jennifer Tuder 2 Abstract Since 9/11, superheroes have become a popular medium for storytelling, so much so that popular culture is inundated with the narratives. More recently, the superhero narrative has moved from cinema to television, which allows for the narratives to address more pressing cultural concerns in a more immediate fashion. Furthermore, millions of viewers perpetuate the televised narratives because they resonate with the values and stories in the shows. Through Fantasy Theme Analysis, this project examines the audience values within the Arrow’s superhero fantasy and the influence of posthumanism on the show’s superhero fantasy.
    [Show full text]