Jason Bourne V. Puddleglum: Who is the Better Hero?

Last week my wife and I enjoyed a mid-week date night.

“Jason Bourne is still in theaters. I’d love to see that,” she said.

So we did. The final shaky-camera-car-chase nearly made her throw up. And I had to close my eyes as Jason, again, brutally beat then strangled his nemesis. No music, just gasps. Intimate death.

In the car I asked her, “So why do we like these movies? What is it about Jason Bourne that keeps us coming back for more?”

“We empathize with him,” she replied. “We like to root for him to get revenge.”

Hollywood loves the revenge story. Revenge won the Best Actor Oscar last year: The Revenant. Apparently heroes are more compelling when they have a score to settle, and someone to bludgeon with the wooden leg of a chair.

But Hollywood confuses heroism with egoism.

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