Heroism In M. Night Shyamalan's Film Unbreakable

M. Night Shyamalan’s film Unbreakable tells the story of a man, David, who, after being the sole survivor of a tragic train wreck, is confronted by man named Elijah who suggests the idea that he is a superhero. Doubtful at first, David eventually realizes that Elijah is right and goes on to discover his superhuman abilities. In the end, it is revealed that Elijah has been the cause of many terrorist attacks, including the train wreck David was in. This film touches on themes of heroism that closely relate to Franco and Zimbardo’s essay, “The Banality of Heroism,” about how everyone has the ability to be heroic. Unbreakable depicts heroism as a quality more likely to come out of someone with a privileged background rather than someone who grew

There is a scene where David thinks that a man trying to enter a football game has a gun on him and gets him to leave, but refuses to investigate further when Elijah wants him to. Frustrated, Elijah goes after the man himself and in doing so, ends up falling down the stairs. While falling, his glass cane shatters against the stairs, symbolizing Elijah’s bones, which we also hear break as he hits the staircase. The sounds of shattering glass and the echoed cries of Elijah’s pain makes this scene hard to watch and easy for the audience to feel his pain. This sympathy is followed by a sense of defeat later as we see the look on Elijah’s face with his eyes staring off into the distance as he lays in a hospital bed and the only dialogue is from a doctor listing off all the injuries Elijah sustained. The sympathy the film brings out in the audience for Elijah makes it understandable why he doesn’t end up a hero. When the only reward he receives any time he attempts to do something good is broken limbs and a wheelchair, why should he bother? Elijah's broken bones symbolize the way socially unprivileged groups' voices are silenced by society when trying to speak up about matters of concern. It makes it difficult to make any changes for the better when no one is willing to listen. Society is ironic in this way; the people who are aware of the problems are incapable of

This is best shown through a scene towards the end of the film when David is finally applying everything he has learned about his abilities. David stands casually among a crowd of people and when he his hand brushes against a person, he gets flashes of the crimes they have committed. The most important part about how this scene was shot is the coloring. The lighting is dim, the people in the crowd are shadowed, the color of their clothes are dull, and David’s are no different. The people who have committed crimes, however, have an article of clothing that is vibrant, making themselves stand out in contrast to the rest of the washed out crowd. This says two important things about heroism to the audience. The first is that heroism is not about the hero; David blends in with the crowd because while his superhuman abilities make it easier for him to be the hero, he is doing something that needs to be done regardless of who is doing it. The second important part of this scene closely follows the steps written in Franco and Zimbardo’s essay that it takes to becoming a hero. Franco and Zimbardo state that in order to be heroic, a person has to be aware of any possible situations that might need attention and to overcome any doubt that they have in themselves in order to take the action needed to fix the situation, which is exactly what David did. He used the knowledge that he gained from people’s