Emma's Reflections: From Heroes To AntiHeroes

by emma ugarelli

​Today I feel nostalgic, remembering when I was a little girl watching television or going to the movies with my dad to admire heroes. My dad was very proud to take me—even to war movies, or to watch programs like Combat! or The Lone Ranger.
Looking back now, with what I understand about social psychology, I can see how clearly the figure and personality of the hero were portrayed. These characters were designed to model the behavior and values that young people were expected to follow in societies like the one in which I grew up.
The hero was not only fictional, like Superman or Batman, but also more realistic figures—soldiers, cowboys, or police officers. They were brave, honest, and willing to fight injustice. They were kind to the poor and those in need. Even in war, they protected children and defended the powerless even when they face their "enemies."
These heroes represented important moral values: justice, ethics, kindness, generosity, empathy, and courage. Although their portrayal was sometimes exaggerated, the moral message was clear. We recognized them easily as people we could trust and admire.
However, there is something else I understand now that I could not see as a child. Even without realizing it, we were being conditioned. The media predominantly presented heroes as white, strong, and handsome men, while villains were often portrayed as darker, foreign, or different. At the time, I did not question it—I simply absorbed it.
Today, I do not miss that aspect of those stories. I now understand that it was a tool used to associate goodness with certain physical characteristics and evil with others. It was a simplified and harmful way of defining who the “good guys” and “bad guys” were.
The problem today is that, instead of correcting this and using the power of media to strengthen the true values those stories once carried—values like integrity, empathy, generosity, and respect—we seem to have moved in the wrong direction. We have kept and even reinforced the focus on physical appearance, often presenting the image of a strong, tough man, but without the moral depth that once defined a true hero.
In doing so, we are not only failing to evolve—we are, in some ways, reinforcing the same stereotypes of the past, but without the values that once balanced them.
There is now a clear dissonance between what we were taught and what we see today. Instead of pursuing the values those heroes represented—justice, empathy, and compassion—we sometimes unconsciously associate those values with appearance. We judge based on image rather than character.
This confusion can lead to harmful beliefs, such as assuming that certain groups are better than others based only on how they look. In this way, we continue a cycle of bias that began long ago, shaped by media and cultural conditioning.
How did we, as a global society, arrive at this point? Instead of evolving toward greater understanding, it sometimes feels as though we have lost our moral compass. We see behaviors that lack empathy and compassion—and we ignore it or even praise it, we normal them that is almost like a social illness.
When I was young, admiration for heroes inspired us to follow positive values. Today, admiration for some public figures seems to encourage the opposite—behavior more aligned with antiheroes than with true heroes.
We appear to live in a world of false heroes and a weakening sense of morality. Even the definition of morality seems to shift over time. For me, morality is simple: respect others and treat every human being fairly. True moral values cannot be built on lies or on the mistreatment of others.
​Oh, what a world we live in today.
“As we reflect on the heroes and antiheroes of the past and present, we have a choice: to teach future generations that true heroism comes from values, not image. We can celebrate courage, empathy, and integrity—regardless of what someone looks like. In a world full of stories, let us choose the ones that inspire goodness, not just admiration for appearance.”