Can We Be Heroes Again? Confronting the Banality of Modern Evil

Summary

The video essay asks whether traditional stories of heroism can still guide us when modern “evil” is embedded in the systems and everyday choices that shape society. Stories often present morality as a clear, urgent choice: a hero confronts an identifiable villain and accepts a personal cost to do what is right. This model can inspire audiences, but it may also make evil seem distant and easy to defeat.

The essay argues that globalization and the “treadmill of production,” a concept described by sociologist Allan Schnaiberg, have connected ordinary consumption to harms such as worker exploitation, environmental damage, and animal mistreatment. Because these systems are vast and difficult to oversee, responsibility becomes dispersed—a condition Ulrich Beck calls “organized irresponsibility.” Ethical consumer choices can matter, but placing the entire burden on individuals risks overwhelming them and allowing corporations and governments to evade accountability.

Drawing on fear-appeal research, the essay notes that warnings are unlikely to prompt action when people cannot see a viable way to address the threat. Feeling powerless can lead to avoidance, denial, or a focus on smaller problems that seem manageable. In this sense, the “banality of evil,” as discussed by Hannah Arendt, is not only about extreme historical crimes; it also describes how harm can spread through ordinary thoughtlessness and systems in which no one feels responsible.

The essay also examines how stories portray resistance. Revolution narratives often give audiences an obvious enemy, while characters who challenge contemporary injustices may be cast as villains once they cross a clear moral line. This can end discussion of their original grievances and imply that radical change inevitably leads to violence. The essay argues for stories that acknowledge structural complicity without portraying people as inherently sinful, and that imagine meaningful ways to act.

Its proposed direction is to keep moral concern alive, avoid placing responsibility solely on individuals, hold powerful institutions accountable, and pursue change collectively. Stories can help by connecting moral awareness to purposeful action and showing how people can build power together.

Artistic Techniques and Concepts Discussed

• Moral-choice storytelling: Heroes face a decisive, visible test of conscience, often at personal cost.
• Externalized villains versus structural evil: Many narratives make evil identifiable and defeatable; the essay contrasts this with harm produced by interconnected systems.
• Documentary approaches to globalization: Samsara takes an abstract approach, while Home presents a bird’s-eye view of humanity’s development and global interdependence.
• Depicting historical atrocity: The essay contrasts Shoah director Claude Lanzmann’s minimalist use of present-day images and eyewitness testimony with filmmakers who argue that fiction can also examine the Holocaust.
• Comfort and moral identification: Schindler’s List is discussed as a powerful film that may also let viewers feel safely on “the right side of history.” David Mamet’s criticism is used to question that reassurance.
• Revolution narratives: Stories such as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Game of Thrones are examined for how they frame radical demands for change and what happens when would-be liberators cross a moral line.

Creators and Contributors Named

• Closing Nebula creators: Philosophy Tube, Lindsay Ellis, Hbomberguy, and Lessons From The Screenplay, along with other unnamed creators.
• Other creators and contributors discussed: Allan Schnaiberg, Ulrich Beck, Kaylene C. Williams, Kim Witte, Mike Allen, Hannah Arendt, David Mamet, Leigh Singer, Claude Lanzmann, Tim Blake Nelson, Theodor Adorno, and Ivie.
• Video creator: Like Stories of Old.