Does America Still Need a Hero?

Sweeny Todd is not a hero.  Americans thrive on heroes: Batman, Spiderman and Terminator all of these films have strong, delineated heroes.  But as the success of National Treasure and National Treasure: Book of Secrets shows, Americans are turning to a more flawed hero, more complex characterizations than the traditional stereotypes, even Spiderman became a dark figure in its latest box office extravaganza.  Sweeny Todd is a dark figure, tragically flawed, morphed by hate and revenge; his salvation is his love for his wife, his devotion to his daughter.  We can relate to his tragedy.

The ability to relate to the character’s primal drives, also carries the story of National Treasure: Book of Secrets.  The character, Ben Gates, is flawed in his own way, divorced from the ‘love of his life’ as set up in the first film, his parents too, divorced and irreconcilable, but no one is the villain, the villain in National Treasure is the ‘upstanding’ citizen, Mitch Wilkinson.   In the latest ‘Treasure’ film, Ben  Gates kidnaps the President of the United States for a seemingly minor personal quest.  Gone is the black and white, good and evil, melodramatic character of the old Hollywood, audiences must now delve into the story to understand the protagonist and the ‘All-American good guy’ with great looks is not always winning, as demonstrated by the mass audience appeal of  Jack Sparrow in opposition to Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean films.  Is this possibly a reflection of the changing morality of the American people? 

With Jack Sparrow I think we became tired of the predictable, and the charisma of actor Johnny Depp cannot be discounted. But women have always had the attraction to the bad boy, so what about men, what about a hero for the young American male?  I believe the success of the anti-hero can be attributed partly to a more diverse audience appeal of films like Pirates and National Treasure, more women are going to see ‘action’ films and ‘action’ films are diversifying the old recipe to appeal to women as well.  I think that’s part of a newer trend.  

In the wake of  the success of films filled with anit-heroism, the question becomes will American audiences ever be able to accept the All American Hero of old?  One important element in each film, none of our flawed heroes gets away with his sins, each pay a heroic price in the end, and young men will always need a strong male lead they can look up to.