anti-hero

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anti-hero,

principal character of a modern literary or dramatic work who lacks the attributes of the traditional protagonist or hero. The anti-hero's lack of courage, honesty, or grace, his weaknesses and confusion, often reflect modern man's ambivalence toward traditional moral and social virtues. Literary characters that can be considered anti-heroes are: Leopold Bloom in James Joyce's novel Ulysses (1922), Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman (1949), the bombardier Yossarian in Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22 (1961), and the protagonists of many of Philip Roth's and Kurt Vonnegut's novels.
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The portrayal of heroes and anti-heroes in the Coen brothers' films work in a similar dialectic or space 'between the notes.
Homeric heroes in Ethan and Joel Coen's The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), The Big Lebowski (1998) and No Country for Old Men (2007)
We like the second because we want our anti-heroes to get away.
Inside Man
An all-dayer at the Academy today celebrates the 30th anniversary of punk by calling up all the anti-heroes.
PICK OF THE WEEK: BEST GIG; ACADEMY IN THE UK Today, 2pm onwards Carling Academy, Birmingham 0870 771 2000
It's OK that Lyman is unlikable: American drama is crowded with anti-heroes.
'MT. MORGAN': A DESCENT INTO MID-LIFE DISTRESS
Other anti-heroes to make the top ten include Silence of the Lambs killer Dr Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) and Jack Carter (Michael Caine) from movie classic Get Carter.
Are you givin' that award to me?
According to the foreword written by Vadge Moore of the Dwarves, "Touring musicians are like sick anti-heroes, and this collection of stories forms an infernal bible for those who don't have the guts to live like we do .
Zine thing
With Hustle, the blood is flowing all the time,both fake and real,as our anti-heroes carry out some deliciously inventive stings.
Telly: Hustle writer Tony keeps the blood flowing fast; Hustle (BBC1,9pm)
We are definitely back in the 1970s, when the uncertain anti-heroes of Canadian films screwed up and failed to get the girl.
Luck
Fusing the raw energy of punk with the narrative power and grit of hard-edged western rock, it's easy to see why the US critics have been praising these anti-heroes.
Best of the West
The protagonist of Invisible Man runs through as many constructed masks or identities as the more absurdist anti-heroes of Pynchon, et al.
Prophets of Recognition: Ideology and the Individual in Novels by Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison, Saul Bellow, and Eudora Welty
Recent Seven Arts Pictures films include STANDER, which follows the infamous career and life of one of South Africa's most popular anti-heroes, and ASYLUM, based on Patrick Marber's celebrated novel and starring Sir Ian McKellen, along with Marton Csokas and Hugh Bonneville.
Genius Products Secures Exclusive U.S. Distribution Rights to Highly Anticipated Slate of Upcoming Live Action Feature Films from Seven Arts Pictures; Genius to Release up to Six Films Per Year
After introductory discussions of primal fears, their place in culture and storytelling, and key considerations in writing complex, believable "bad guy" characters, Morrell explores a variety of character types and situations including unlikely protagonists, anti-heroes, dark heroes and bad boys, bullies and mischief makers, villains, sociopaths, heroes versus villains, dangerous women, monsters, creatures, lost souls, and bad guys for younger readers.
Bullies, bastards & bitches; how to write the bad guys of fiction

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