Beyond Heroes and Villains: Moving White Men Past Playing Characters in Social Justice Education

Abstract

The authors use the popular film The Dark Knight (2008) and the character Harvey Dent/Two-Face as a lens for examining attitudes of undergraduate White men. We contend that Harvey Dent/Two Face’s binary mindset of heroes and villains reflects a growing sentiment of undergraduate White men. When undergraduate White men are exposed to stories of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, they must contend with stories where they are not main characters. These men then place themselves in relationship to those stories in which they situate themselves as simultaneous heroes and villains. We deconstruct the ways that undergraduate White men do this by drawing on different theories of masculinity and concepts surrounding whiteness. We present praxis for educators to challenge undergraduate White men to extend beyond this binary of hero and villain through authentic introspective reflection.