Good Guys Wear Black, Part 2: From Tragic Antiheroes to Inverted Heroes

From Tragic Antiheroes to Inverted Heroes

The 21st century American film protagonist doesn’t need to be decent. He or she needs only to be effective. The assassin earns admiration because she is the finest assassin in the world. The criminal mastermind commands respect because he outwits everyone around him. This paradox defines the shift from tragic antiheroes to inverted heroes in film since the late 1990s.

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