[Watch the video interview on Youtube here]
Film Courage: What is an anti-hero?
John Bucher, Writer and Narrative Consultant: An anti-hero is a character who has perhaps become disconnected from the heroic qualities that audiences might expect of a protagonist. Now an anti-hero to be clear may be fully in line with their own code of living. They may be very heroic to themselves but the term “anti-hero” is really about the relationship of the audience to that hero, more so than that person’s relationship with themselves, at least on a conscious level. Maybe unconsciously they’ve got some conflict between who they are and who they want to be. I have really enjoyed the recent series The Mandalorian because it takes a character that is in many ways a classic anti-hero, especially in the way that many old classic westerns featured stories of anti-heroes, characters that maybe didn’t fit the mold of being the law and order person in the west or the galaxy but lived by their own code. Yet we see how that code is still honorable, we see qualities of Din Djarin who’s the character in the suit of the Mandalorian, we see qualities of that character that we say This is an honorable way to live even though this character in many ways has done things and continues to do things that we might find challenging or problematic.
I believe anti-heroes have become a very popular type of character for storytellers to work with because they force us to challenge aspects of ourselves about what’s good, what’s bad. Is it a binary? Are there lots of shades of gray in between and perhaps we can reconcile ourselves because I have been a good guy, but I’ve also been a bad guy. I’ve been many things in between. When we see a character that vacillates between the shadow and the light, it gives us a certain level of hope that perhaps we too have value in our vacillation between the shadow and the light.
The last thing I’ll say about an anti-hero…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
About:
John Bucher is a mythologist, storyteller, and writer based out of Hollywood, California. He serves as Executive Director for the Joseph Campbell Foundation and is an author, podcaster, and speaker. He has worked with government and cultural leaders around the world as well as organizations such as HBO, DC Comics, The History Channel, A24 Films, Atlas Obscura, and The John Maxwell Leadership Foundation. He has served as a producer, consultant, and writer for numerous film, television, and Virtual Reality projects. He is the author of six books including the best-selling Storytelling for Virtual Reality, named by BookAuthority as one of the best storytelling books of all time. John has worked with New York Times Best Selling authors, YouTube influencers with followings of more than 2 million, Eisner winners, Emmy winners, Academy Award nominees, and cast members from Saturday Night Live. He holds a PhD in Mythology & Depth Psychology and has spoken on 6 continents about using the power of story and myth to reframe how individuals, organizations, cultures, and nations believe and behave.
Advertisement – contains affiliate links
(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
More affiliates:
Check out Film Courage on Patreon!
Camera we use for interviews – https://buff.ly/3rWqrra
Sound we use for interviews – https://amzn.to/2tbFlM9
Other books on Amazon that Film Courage recommends – https://buff.ly/3o0oE5o
