The hero soldier: Portrayals of soldiers in Filipino war films

Abstract

In Greek mythology, heroes were either demigods or mortals favored by certain gods and goddesses who performed great deeds for humanity and overcame adversity on epic journeys. Nowadays, heroes are becoming more generic than ever mainly due to the fall of tragedies as an accepted form of story-telling, and it is not acceptable to have a hero die except in a noble sacrifice, or to be murdered by evil. Even then, it is demanded that the hero's actions must lead to a happy conclusion. This study focused on war films and the hero soldiers and their actions portrayed in those films. It must be stressed that this study was exploratory in nature and sought to understand the portrayals of heroes and understand whether that conception has evolved over time. The films were analyzed from both the perspective of the filmmakers as well as the audience by taking each film and examining the plots, actions, situational interactions, stories told, as well as the social context of each film. These films progressively showed more and more flaws within the hero. This could be a product of a focus on honesty. The decline in heroes could well reflect this attitude. Though the results of this study cannot be generalized beyond the films in question, they can, on one level, be thought of as examples of a small portion of contemporary culture and an insight into hero mythology in film, its relationship with culture, and ultimately our perception of the hero and the hero soldier.