Anti Heroes Analysis

The Ends Justify the Means – Anti-Heroes in Media

“If nobody hates you, you’re doing something wrong” – Gregory House. Anti-heroes have been emerging ubiquitously in the media of modern society, but what exactly are anti-heroes and what does their dominating manifestation in society mean? Anti-heroes are defined as a prominent character in a play, book, movie, etc that that has characteristics opposing that of a conventional hero. The traditional hero-type protagonist is honoured for their bravery, strength, cunning and other favourable traits, whereas the anti-hero promotes both negative and positive qualities. This leads anti-heroes to be described as ‘misunderstood’. The reflection that this contemporary class of heroes has on society is

Michael states within the article that “Brokenness is a part of humanity, and we can more easily relate to the choices that a character makes on a TV show if they are broken too.” This is presenting anti-heroes as a manifestation or reflection of the dystopian state that society is in. The world presented in these anti-hero mediums are increasingly relevant in contemporary society as opposed to the traditional view of an ‘ideal world’ portrayed by outdated heroes. This change from hero to anti-hero in the past few years is a mirror of the events of the previous years. So far the 21st century has experienced the historical 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Iraq, Syrian and Ukraine Wars, countless school shootings and many other horrific events. The article goes on further to explain that, as it is in human nature to not be perfect, a seemingly perfect hero with strict moral and ethical codes is just not relatable to anyone. Anti-heroes, however, are a better representation of human nature and flawed traits, as exemplified by

House is a brilliant diagnostician who is given medical cases no other doctors can resolve. He solves his cases through controversial and radical methods until he achieves his desired outcome. House has many characteristic traits of an anti-hero, being irascible, rude, misanthropic, selfish and an overall jerk. House exists in a dystopian world that isn’t far from reality. Ultimately house will do whatever it takes to get what he wants, which is usually to find a diagnosis. In the first episode, titled Everybody Lies, he tasks his assistants with breaking into the patient’s home, medicates the patient for unconfirmed conditions to “see what happens” and avoids that patient at all costs. The House character removes the hero-like status of doctors in the media that supposedly have upstanding morals and ethics, and in doing so saves lives that no other doctor can. He is effectively a traditional doctor stripped down of all codes of conduct, which is relatable to a contemporary audience living in a dystopian reality. House MD often challenges the viewer’s perceived sense of right and wrong, reflecting the often morally grey modern world. House is relatively tame in comparison to