Anti-heroes

Why are anti-heroes - such as Charlie Sheen - popular?

First I’ll clarify what I mean by an anti hero. This is a person who’s going against what is seen as normal behavior in society. An anti hero is not as famous as traditional heroes. They may be corrupt and put focus on themselves, or they may not have any unusual qualities whatsoever. They are not villains but not necessarily heroes. They may do bad things but they are not evil. Their actions are motivated by their personal desires. Their morals are not inevitably like many others. They take action and do not always think about the consequences.

One example of an anti hero is Charlie Sheen. He’s mainly known from the TV-show Two and a Half Men. In here he plays a rich uncle who’s known for being interested in women. He’s not interested in a long a serious relationship but more the short ones. He’s not willing to commit to a serious relationship. He’s living in a luxurious beach-house and rarely gets up before noon. He’s drinking, sleeping late and do not care what other people think of him. Not even his mother or brother.

Another example is the character Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother. He’s a womanizer and he – like Charlie Sheen – is not willing to commit to a relationship but prefers one night stands. He’s having a lot of confidence and he does what he wants. Barney Stinson is a very likeable character that many people would enjoy hanging out with. He's doing things his own way and he’s trying to be different from the rest of society. For example in the way he dresses.

A quite different example is the character Homer Simpsons from The Simpsons. His personality is very different to Charlie Sheen and Barney Stinson. He’s not the smartest person but his positive attitude and funny comments makes him a very likeable character. His lack of knowledge makes for amusing and humorous remarks about everyday life.

On the surface - of especially the two first characters mentioned – they are sticking out of the normal crowd of people and deliberately or not, do things that are against the norms of society. They are personalities with attitude who is social, and on the surface seems very sure that they are simply awesome. But under the surface there are problems that are suppressed and pushed down. Like having childhood problems and not being able to trust other people because they have been led down.

In today’s society we normally surround ourselves with people that in some way are like us. People in which we have common interests and we can relate to. But then, why can we relate to characters like Charlie Sheen, Barney Stinson and Homer Simpsons in which we don’t necessarily have much in common? In my opinion it’s because they possess qualities in which we all somehow wants, but these qualities are not always wanted by society. Many of our desires are suppressed because we are expected to behave in a curtain way. These people do not follow the norms and the rules but does what they want to. That’s an ability that we all in some way find desirable and wishes that he had. The ability to ignore the responsibilities that at a very young age are put on our shoulders. All the things we are supposed to be doing and all the obligations. These characters urges are not as covered up as others and they are better at acting and doing what they want instead of only thinking about the things that we feel like we have to accomplish in life. Like getting a good education, a wife and kids and be morally responsible.