JOURNEY FROM HERO TO VILLAIN AND ENJOYING TELEVISION ANTIHERO NARRATIVE
The author examines how the former binary opposition between heroes and villains neutralizes and transforms inside the television fiction. While heroic and villainous characters in the past used to be based on the contrast between the absolute Good and Evil, today, their definitions are in continual transformation. This paper also attempts to provide insights and redefine aspects of anti-heroism. Popular TV series subvert the idea of heroism, as well as the idea of morality which is present in classical genres, based on duality of the world, the struggle between Good and Evil, temptation, a pact with the devil, suffering etc which culminates in redemption, catharsis and salvation. For the antihero, there is no rescue. In the second part of this paper, the author comprehensively discusses the theories that have appeared since the second half of the 20th century which have addressed developing emotions towards media content and media characters defined as anti-heroic, primarily affective disposition theory which explains how a viewer refocuses moral positions of the protagonists, as well as moral defense mechanisms, developed for the purpose of pleasure.
