While heroes are recognized for their greatness, excessive pride is not a quality associated with heroism. For example, Irene Sendler, a woman who saved countless children during the Hollocaust while risking her own life, denies her label as a hero because she believes what she did was ordinary and that she could have saved more lives. In her humility, Irene Sendler is all the more heroic as she exhibits the selflessness that defines true heroism. In contrast, villains are people who crave and demand and the worship of others. Caught up in the egotism that characterizes villainy they are boastful and always hungry for attention. Kanye West is an example of a villain whose huge musical talent is unfortunately eclipsed by his even bigger ego.
Kanye West had a difficult childhood similar to the start of many potential hero narratives. The child of a broken home, Kanye was raised by a single working mother. Kanye was able to overcome childhood adversity and pursue his interests in the arts. By 2002 before the launch of his own solo career, Kanye established himself as a well renowned hip-hop producer, creating beats for artists such as Nas, DMX, T.I and others. In 2002 Kanye was also involved in a near fatal car accident. Kanye used this personal struggle to inspire his music and produced his first hit single "Through the Wire" detailing his near fatal ordeal.
By 2004 Kanye released his first album as a solo artists, The College Dropout, which went triple platinum. By 2008 he had released four albums, which had earned a total of 12 Grammy Awards including best rap album and best rap solo performance. Kany West has also been the recipient of numerous people choice awards both in the US and abroad. Kanye has also had to face further hardship as an adult as his mother, with whom he was extremely close, passed away unexpectedly during complications from cosmetic surgery.
While overcoming adversity and achieving tremendous musical success the question remains why is Kanye West perceived as a villain and not a hero?
Unfortunately, while Kanye has had a career colored with accomplishments it has also been filled with controversies. In 2005 Kanye sparked his first media upset by inappropriately deviating from a script during a Hurricane Katrina benefit to say, "Bush doesn't care about black people" to the live audience of millions of Americans. Kanye has become famous for voicing personal opinions at inappropriate times. In 2006 he went on stage during an acceptance speech by the artists Justice to argue that he was more entitled for the award for Best Video at the MTV European Music Awards. In 2009 at the MTV Video Music awards Kanye went on stage during Taylor Swift's acceptance speech and grabbed the microphone from her to exclaim that Beyonce should have won the award. Kanye has also been on record stating he will "really have a problem" if he is not the recipient of certain awards and will not return to certain award ceremonies if his work is not properly recognized. Altogether, Kanye's excessive egotism and selfish behavior cloud his artistic success. Kanye's example serves as a important reminder that ones merits as a hero may quickly be overshadowed by ones qualities as a villain.
The following is a clip of Kanye West's interruption of Taylor Swift at the MTV Music Awards: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LtSX_6on7g
With the premiere of the movie 127 hours the world has been reminded of the incredibly heroic story of Aron Ralston. Ralston's rise to heroism is perhaps one of the most pronounced illustrations of a triumphant underdog. Ralston was Canyoning in Blue John canyon in Utah in May of 2003 when he became trapped by a dislodged boulder that crushed his lower right arm and left him hopelessly pinned against a canyon wall.Ralston remained trapped in the Canyon for five days during which he endured a 127-hour struggle for his life. Having failed to inform anyone where he had gone hiking, Ralston knew his odds of being rescued were slim to none. He was therefore forced to rely on his own recourses, ingenuity, and will to live in order to survive.
While trapped in the Canyon, Ralston only had a days hike worth of food and water. Ralston managed to ration his recourses wisely but eventually had to resort to drinking his own urine. Battling extreme temperatures, sever dehydration, and an open wound, it was miraculous that Ralston kept himself alive for five days. By the fifth day however, Ralston had begun to loose hope. He carved his name, birthday and presumed date of death into a Canyon wall and videotaped a farewell to his family.Here in the darkest moments of Ralston's struggle is where his heroism was born. He had been attempting to chip away the boulder that was trapping his arm with a less then equipped knife he received as a free gift with a flashlight. Already of low quality the knife had been severely dulled by his chiseling efforts. Nevertheless, Ralston made the incredible decision to amputate his own arm. Devising a tourniquet to staunch the blood flow, Ralston managed to break both his arm bones with a rock and use the dull knife to cut through his flesh. Already incredibly weak, Ralston managed to stay conscious during his efforts and succeeded in severing his arm. After his makeshift surgery, Ralston had to hike out of the canyon, rappel down a 65-foot drop, and hike out in the sun until two hikers happened to come across him. Ralston was finally rescued by a helicopter six hours later thus successfully concluding the battle for his life.Since his accident, Ralston has made a full recovery and continues to mountain climb with the aid of a paraplegic device. Additionally, he appears as a motivational speaker and explains his near death experience as a turning point that has allowed him to better appreciate his life and the people in it.While Ralston's story is a gruesome tale it is nevertheless heroic as it reminds us of the extreme suffering an individual can endure in order to triumph in the end.The following is a trailer for the movie 127 hours: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDT0wM6aDXU&NR=1
Batman is one of the worlds most famous and favored superheroes, but he is also once of the most unusual. Appearing in comics, television, and major motion pictures, Batman hides behind the identity of Bruce Wayne, a playboy billionaire and industrial tycoon. As a child, Wayne witnessed both his parents murdered in front of him and vowed to revenge their deaths by fighting crime. Undergoing a journey for both physical and mental excellence, Wayne transformed himself into the dark hooded and caped Batman. Batman's transformation into a hero is unique as it is relatively realistic and purely self-motivated.
As quoted in the 2005 film “Batman Begins,”: "if you make yourself more then just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal then you become something else entirely."
While Batman is one of the world's most famous superheroes, his archenemy the Joker is one of the world's most famous villains. Known for his iconic appearance, the Joker resembles a terrifying clown with white skin, green hair, and red lips. His face is also scared into a freakish smile, and is often a trait he inflicts on his victims. The Batman comic book explains the Joker got his appearance after falling into chemical waste. Other versions of Batman, such as the movie, "The Dark Knight", depict the Joker having no recorded name, fingerprints, address, or any other known source of origin.Regardless of his background, the Joker is universally recognizable for his characterization as an extremely intelligent but wildly insane psychopath with a very sick sense of humor. The Joker thrives on violently twisted pranks and gimmicks and routinely involves his victims in sadistic games meant to physically and mentally agonize them. The Joker is considered a superior criminal to others as his crimes are driven by complex motivations. While most crooks are motivated by simplistic desires of money and power, the Joker is a different breed of criminal. As articulated by Batman's butler and sidekick, Alfred, in the movie "The Dark Knight", "some men aren't looking for anything logical like money, they can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with, some men just want to watch the world burn."A self-proclaimed agent of chaos, the Joker is the ultimate terrorist, as his crimes are not meant to achieve material gain but rather to insight fear and terror. 
For example, in the Dark Knight the Joker threatens to blow up a hospital if a named individual is not murdered within an hour. Gotham is immediately thrown into a frenzied panic. Regular citizens concerned for their loved ones in hospitals begin making assassination attempts on the innocent victims life as they are driven to desperation by fear. Such behavior is exactly what the Joker wishes to achieve as he thrives on individuals turning to madness and violence when faced with incredible adversity. The Joker's power comes from his ability to tap into the darkest corners of the human psyche. His crimes are meant to break the spirit and hope of individual's leading them to believe there is no control in the world, no hope, and no point to ones actions. There is no right and wrong simply chaos. There is nothing more terrifying to the human mind then a world without reason.In the absence of reason and order people succumb to fear and in a world driven by fear there is only anarchy. As a figure of insanity it is ironic that people are drawn to the Joker because of the truth and logic, which underlines his actions. In the face of the constant adversity and tragedy that is human life, everyone experiences a point where they wonder why they try, why they don't just give up or give into madness and corruption. As a villain the Joker thrives on this loss of faith. Individuals will always be faced with the choice between right and wrong when encountering life's obstacles, there will always be those who choose to be heroes and those who give into villainy.Below is a clip from “The Dark Knight” in which the Joker threatens to blow up a hospital causing chaos to ensue.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRG1tWQN6e8&feature=related