Narrative and Genre: Idea development

In today's lecture we discussed 'The Hero.' This is a term used alot in society but with a lot of misconceptions. When you first think of the term hero you think of a person, male or female, with the following qualities:

• Exceptional courage and nobility
• Displays the will for self sacrifice
• Protects the 'Greater Good'
• Idealised for these superior qualities.

The people that come to mind when you think of typical heroes are, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman etc. These are the typical superheroes.
However there are lots of different types of heroes that need to be taken into consideration:

• Stiff Upper Lip Hero- A good example of this, is Hugh Grant's character Charles in 'Four Weddings and A Funeral.' Typically his lip will never quiver, he will never complain about what he does.
• The Working Hero- These are the working class heroes, that were never shown until halfway through the 20th century. Delboy from 'Only Fools and Horses,' is a working hero as even though he has no 'stiff upper lip' or no scruples he would do anything to protect his family.
• The Outsider- The Outsider do not wish to be heroic eg Spiderman continuosly fights this status.
• The loser- This type of hero only suceeds through failure. A good example of this is Bridget Jones.
• The Anti Hero- This hero does everything contrary to the archetypical hero, eg Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver.

The type of hero that I am most interested in for my essay research is the 'Reality Hero.' This type of hero/heroine is unique to reality television shows and entertainment programmes. They are presented as real people, they give the audience the realisation that they could be like their hero. In my chosen program 'The Million Pound Drop,' Davina Mcall acts as the reality hero. She helps the contestants and offers them the chance to win money that could potentially change their lives. She is a loveable character that is never seen in a bad light because of her amazing personality. The contestants look towards her for guidence and answers, even though she cannot give them answers she acts as a shoulder to lean on, even offering then hugs and consolences. Audiences can relate to her as she acts just like a friend would.

Although I see her as the hero of the program it could also be seen that the contestants are the reality heroes, as they are the ones actually 'overcoming the monster' (the questions) and winning the money in a 'rags to riches' way.