A Hero in All of Us?: Heroism and American Political Thought as Seen on TV(Politics and Contemporary Television)

Is heroism possible for everyone? Should it be? What kinds of stories do we tell when we talk about heroes and what do these stories reveal about how we view ourselves? This book takes up these questions and more by reflecting on twenty-first century American television shows. Among the shows examined are Only Murders in the Building, Game of Thrones, The Good Lord Bird, The Boys, and Severance. What we find is an entertainment landscape unsure about what a hero is or even what qualifies as heroic. In a nation uncertain about heroism, we see a dramatic rise in the popularity of the anti-hero and even in worlds without heroes. This fragmented variety highlights how the American political mind is similarly fragmented in what it believes are its highest aspirations—and its deepest anxieties. It is this fragmentation that may help us understand why twenty-first century entertainment has elevated the heroic to the supernatural while simultaneously democratizing heroism to the point where anyone may become one. A Hero in All of Us?: Heroism and American Political Thought as Seen on TV explores this multifaceted landscape to better understand how Americans view their heroes and themselves.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: The Nature of a Republican Hero By Stephen Clouse and Aaron Kushner Part I: Heroes Chapter 1: Letting the Devil Out: Anger, Mercy, and Justice in Marvel’s Daredevil By Martin Claar Chapter 2: John Brown: American Hero By S. Adam Seagrave Chapter 3: Heroes for a Democratic Age: Friendship in Only Murders in the Building By Catherine Craig Part II: Anti-Heroes Chapter 4: We Ain’t The Walking Dead By Aaron Kushner Chapter 5: Defiant Jazz By Jacob Boros Chapter 6: The (Larry) Davidic Anti-Hero: The Problem of Heroism in Sitcoms By Benjamin Slomski Part III: Tyrants Chapter 7: Five (un)Heroic Days at Memorial: Desire, Crisis, and Dubious Democratic Heroism By Trevor Shelley Chapter 8: Madmen in a Boring World: The Boys and a World Without Heroes By Aaron Kushner Chapter 9: There is No Justice Unless We Make It: Game of Thrones and Tyranny By Stephen Clouse Conclusion By Stephen Clouse and Aaron Kushner

About the Author :
Stephen Clouse is assistant professor of political science and McMaster professor of constitutional studies at Defiance College. Aaron Kushner is teaching assistant professor and director of undergraduate studies at the School of Civic & Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University.

Review :
At a time when the comforting and comfortable end-of-history narrative is being upended by a rapid succession of threatened emergencies, crises, and conflicts, and as the twin temptations to totalitarianism and rebellion are on the rise, A Hero in All of Us? offers a much-needed reflection on the meaning and status of heroism in an era of liberal democracy in peril. Through philosophical treatments of contemporary popular culture, this volume pits many of our commitments, longings, and circumstances against each other, putting them to the test, exploring the tensions between egalitarianism and excellence, agency and vulnerability, pride and vanity, justice and revenge, dignity and suffering, duty and interest—further considering the difference between coming to someone’s assistance and assuming authority over them. Formidably applying their thoughts to the realm of the imagination, the combined insights of these intrepid scholars yield a valiant and valuable contribution to the analysis of power’s well-intended uses and regrettable abuses by those who stand apart by standing up and standing out. Every society needs heroes to help itself imagine how to act with excellence. And morally serious people in every society need to reflect on what their dominant culture is teaching them about heroism. A Hero in All of Us? is to be commended for helping us do just that by providing valuable analyses of some of the most popular shows shaping present day American culture. A Hero in All of Us offers a lively and scholarly investigation into American conceptions of heroes, anti-heroes, and tyrants by analyzing a variety of different genres of contemporary television ranging from horror, science fiction, and superheroes to situation comedies and historical dramas. The variety of texts explored from a fairly common set of themes offers insights that will be of interest to students of American studies, popular culture, philosophy, and critical television studies and to anyone interested in how Americans conceive of justice, heroes, and heroism.