Themes And Ideologies In The American Society Case Study - 1

Themes And Ideologies In The American Society - Case Study Example In Hollywood, the outlaw hero’s view of civilization is portrayed as a life in marriage with a woman. A woman helps a man to settle down and attain calmness in his life. Only those women that allow their husbands to proceed with their self-determined and adventurous lives are deemed as female outlaw heroes. In terms of characterization, the outlaw hero is seen to be against societal standards and in preference of defining justice at the individual level and not by the society’s collective law. Contrary to this, the official hero is more modernized, civilized, and quaint. In his description, Robert Ray points out that the official hero may be portrayed as a lawyer, teacher, farmer, politician, or family man. In this case, the official hero represents collective action as part of the American belief and the legal processes that replace individual definitions of right or wrong. As such, this is the kind of hero that each parent wants their children to grow up to be one who embraces law in solving life’s injustices. This paper review the description made by Robert Ray concerning how Hollywood portrays the competing values of the official hero and the outlaw hero. The outlaw hero is depicted as childish and having the tendency of tantrums, whims, and emotional decisions that have been derived from the cult of childhood among Americans(Ray, 1985). Ray reviews Fielder’s observation of how American literature tends to uphold the view that an individual that falls short of adulthood is guaranteed innocence and insight. American literature offered privileges to children, and they were not confined by societal rules. Such a notion set in motion the outlawed actions as related to daily affairs. According to Fielder, the developed childhood image has created a new approach to adult life outside the law, yet permissible in society.