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Alexis Noga
Professor Lewis
English 115
12 December 2014

What Makes a Hero?

There are many ways to seek information from people with different opinions in different
environments. A person who takes part in these activities is known as an ethnographer. For this
assignment, my goal is to determine what makes a hero in movies, comic books, or in society. In
order to be effective and efficient, I started the project by creating a survey with five descriptive
questions asking what a hero should be like in general. I took this survey questionnaire to my
neighbors within my gated community to get their responses. Then I created a completely
different survey with questions for people who often go into a comic book store, or someone
who is very interested in comic books. The focus of these questions centered on talking about
the Marvel or fictional heroes, rather than actual heroes in society. My goal for both surveys is to
understand the different opinions of people outside of the super hero realm versus the opinions of
people who view fictional characters as their heroes.
The environment for both groups was totally different. The first group, my neighborhood, is a
gated community with five houses within it, and I interviewed individuals from four houses. I
then decided I wanted to know more about the views of people who read comic books, so looked
up a place in Northridge and found a comic bookstore by the name of Continental Comics. It is a
very small store in a little mall shop area. Within this store, there were walls and walls of new

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comic books as well as ancient comic books, which maybe only avid comic book readers would
have heard of. Additionally, the store had super hero statues, key chains, etc. besides the various
comic books.
Id now like to describe my analysis and define how the two groups had very different and
similar opinions on what heroes are about. As I stated earlier, the first place I began my
ethnography was my neighborhood. I interviewed four people who were all adults in their
sixties, and asked certain questions that they really had to think about when answering. The first
question was about the qualities they think a hero should possess. They all responded with
qualities that talk about strengths within a person such as truthfulness, bravery, intelligence,
kindness, trustworthiness, loyalty, helpfulness, love of others, consistency, predictability, good
leader, likeable, and a super human who asks for forgiveness if he or she does something wrong.
Every neighbor that I interviewed was very excited about talking about who their hero was. It
wasnt a Marvel character. It was heroes in society, mostly. Many of them answered saying
names of leaders like Ronald Reagan and Winston Churchill. There were also answers like, the
Special Forces, and a husband. Many of the heroes they chose were very personal and linked to
their life. The person who responded with Ronald Reagan spoke about how they believed he did
well for the country. He was an actor as well as a politician who ended the Cold War. Mr.
Reagan did not have to help the U.S. He had money as well as fame, but he still chose to help
our country. The heroes that people chose all linked to the types of qualities they see in a hero in
general.
Another thing that I noticed when interviewing people in the neighborhood was that half of
the people could not name movies with a hero lead. The only movies that were mentioned were

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Dead Poets Society and all the James Bond movies. In Dead Poets Society featuring Robin
Williams, Robin was a professor at an all boys school, who taught the boys how to have a sense
of dignity and truthfulness. The neighbor, who chose James Bond movies, was the one who said
hero should have a commitment to their values, and have bravery as a product. This is related
to James Bond, since James is a guy who is very prepared in any situation he goes into and is
committed to saving the world. The rest of my neighbors chose television shows like The Kelly
File, Megyn Kelly, and Blue Bloods., which has a hero within. The movies and shows that
were chosen truly fascinated me though, because I imagined the responses to be all about Iron
Man, Superman, Captain America, etc. On the contrary, each person chose a character that has
done heroic things in their life, but was not a super hero.
Lastly, the question that really spoke to me was whether heroes make a difference in peoples
lives. All of my neighbors responded by saying yes. A hero is someone who people look up to,
and also someone who can give them hope. A hero can help people extend beyond themselves
and they can try to act like those heroes. A hero can also be someone who can keep track of you
and mentor you. As one of the interviews was coming to an end, a neighbor said Super heroes
should not be worshiped. I admire more people who can ask for forgiveness. This caught my
attention the most throughout the interview because I noticed how he looked deep into what truly
makes someone heroic, honesty. Interviewing the people I have known for a very long time was
a good experience and it helped my understanding of their beliefs in what a hero should be like.
The second environment, a comic book store in Northridge, involved an interview with people
about comic book heroes. I interviewed two people in the store, a customer who came into the
store often, and the manager/owner who has worked there for 25 years. My questions were what
are some qualities a hero should possess? Who is your favorite hero in a comic book and why?

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Do you have a hero outside of the comic books? And what type of genre in a comic book are
you interested in? The customer really caught my attention. He was honest and answered the
questions because comic books really help him in his life. He said that the reason he looked into
comic books was because it helped him when his dad wasnt around. He told me that heroes
should be noble, selfless, thinking about others, intelligent, and fighting for a cause. Like my
neighbors, the customer in the store linked his hero qualities to his favorite super hero,
Spiderman. His hero outside of the comic book realm would be his uncle, who grew up being a
drug addict and dropped out of high school. He then got his life together and became a professor
at Notre Dame University. He said that he looks up to his uncle and that his success gives him
hope he will be successful as well.
Regarding the manager, I put together some more questions towards the end to learn more
about how he came across the comic book store. His responses were similar to his customer,
saying that heroes should have integrity, a natural understanding of right and wrong, and an
ability to hold themselves with good morals. His favorite super hero is Captain America because
he looked back in time and thought of him as truth, justice, and liberty. He likes the idea of the
American Dream--that people can fight for what they want and not be afraid of being shot down.
When I asked the question who his hero would be outside of the comic book world, it was tough
for him to come up with an answer. He has always been surrounded by comic books and the idea
of super heroes, so it was difficult for him to find someone in society that could be a hero. He
said that there are not very many people that are heroes nowadays, other than New York police
officers and the LAPD. He said you can almost put a cape on these people, they are the same as
super heroes but do not get enough credit for what they do. Since he was a kid he has always
loved the super hero genre of comic books.

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The last questions I asked the manager was how business is going for his comic book store.
He said that sometimes weeks are profitable than others, it is hard to predict. During the summer
the super hero movies come out so many people come in to buy the comic books. But during the
school year, people are paying for their dues and cannot afford comic books. When he was
younger there were less comic book companies so he held events and many people showed up.
But now he works a whole lot more, but for far less profit.
The last two people I interviewed were people who are very interested in comic books, but go
to my school rather than a comic book store. They are close friends, and go to comic book stores
together at times. They both agreed that a hero in a comic book should be brave, selfless, and
have wit to make them entertaining to read. One of the girls said that they loved the super hero
genre of comic books, and the other said she preferred the cute little kid comic books, like My
Little Pony. They both had similar favorites in comic books, namely Batman and Bat Woman.
The girl who responded with Bat Woman loves it because the character plays a college student,
and she feels like she can relate to her. Batman was a response as well because she believes that
he is a tough character, and she is intrigued that Batman does not kill anyone resulting in a very
suspenseful feeling. Lastly, if they could be any hero they would be Dead Pool and Super Girl.
Dead Pool is a character that is also a touch character but is very likeable. He is not the main
hero but is helpful. Super Girl was chosen because she can fly and she is strong.
Both of the environments I chose for my surveys really helped me to understand how people
feel about heroes, not only in the comic book realm, but in real life as well. The people in my
neighborhood related more to heroes in real life then ones in a comic book. They described how
a hero does not have to save lives, but can be someone who is trustworthy and honest. The
people in the comic book store related their life to the comic book world, resulting in them

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thinking of a character in a comic book as a hero. From my interviews, it appears that people
regardless of environment and regardless of real or fictional heroes, like and need heroes in their
lives. What makes a hero? There are many words to describe a hero but this seems to sum it up.
We all want someone we can look up to--because that gives us hope!