The Vigilante: A Reoccurring Archetype in American Entertainment

The vigilante is a reoccurring archetype in American entertainment and can be seen from comic books from the early 20th century to films released in 2010. Robert B. Ray in his piece about the vigilante makes it clear that the vigilante is a large part of American entertainment and culture. The vigilante is one that believes that they are above the law and that the law is inadequate. This idea that the law is inadequate or unjust stems from Henry Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience. Thoreau believes that when the government is unjust, that we should do what we believe is moral or right, even if it means breaking the law. The vigilante often takes violent and dangerous measures to create justice in their world and in doing so raise a moral question about our society. If we often idolize the vigilante in films and comic books, do we do the same with vigilantes that have been seen throughout our history and that are currently “creating justice” in our cities? Although the vigilante is a popular archetype in our entertainment the vigilante is not seen in the same light when it comes to reality, the “real” vigilante in American society is seen as a threat or danger and are disbanded in most cases. This idea poses a serious problem’s to Thoreau’s belief because the negative perception of vigilantes is proof that problems in society shouldn’t be solved by the individual, but through legal and civil means set up by our government.

When examining the vigilante it is clear that the ideals and actions of the vigilante stem from Thoreau’s ideas put forth in Civil Disobedience. Thoreau begins Civil Disobedience by claiming “That government is best which governs not at all” (). This quote is important because a major part of Thoreau’s argument is t...

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...xists that believed things such as, all blacks should be armed. Conflicts caused by The Black Panthers often caused shoot outs and other violent outbreaks in California, New York and Chicago. The Black Panthers quickly lost support because of their violent tactics and were essentially disbanded by the 1980’s. The disbandment of the Black Panthers shows that when individual morals , even ones that are just, when left unchecked do not enact positive change, they do the opposite. Political leaders who formerly supported The Black Panthers, after the disbandment, started enacting change in black neighborhoods using methods such as providing social services. The Black Panthers show a serious flaw in Thoreau’s logic. The belief that when people are left to individual morals it will lead to a better society than one where morals are set forth by society or the government.