Post Cold-War Stories

A friend of mine is writing a novel.  The lead character is a somewhat fallen knight who is trying desperately to save his daughter by taking her to the ends of the earth in search of a cure.  I asked him the book was going to be a Cold War story, or a post-Cold War story.  As there are no Soviets found in this sort of medieval setting book, he asked me what I meant.

"Well, if they get they find the cure, and the girl lives, its a Cold War story.  If they get there, find a cure, but the girl dies anyway, its a post-Cold War story," I said.

'"What in the world do you mean?" he asked.

So here is my explanation, and theory about why most hero movies are so different than the ones that came out 15-20 years ago.  During the Cold War, the US was in an epic battle with the Soviets- good vs. evil, freedom vs tyranny, us vs. them.  With all our foibles, we still were right, and they were wrong.  As a nation, we hoped to some day defeat communism, and then experience joyful victory.  The movies reflected this anticipation of glorious victory- the Death Star blows up, the hero gets the girl, and rides/flies/drives into the sunset.   We fully expected winning would be grand.  Then we did win the Cold War, but the fulfillment wasn't what we expected after conquering our foe.  Victory didn't equal contentment, and now Hollywood reflects that.  Take any of the big hero movies of late- Superman, Spiderman, Batman.  All of them represent pyrrhic victories.  The hero may defeat the villain, but at what cost to his soul?  He becomes so fouled up and has to break so many rules in his efforts to defeat evil that he can no longer enjoy life. Heck, you can even throw Disney/Pixar's Incredibles into the mix.  Spiderman decides he's so messed up that he can't be with Jane.  Ditto for Batman and Superman.  Much better to be the guy on the sidelines than the guy in the spotlight.  And these movies resonate with us, otherwise they wouldn't do so well.  If one of these movies had come out with a triumphal victory at the end, they wouldn't be taken seriously.   We'd just say, 'that's so unrealistic' (as if flying, web-shooting wrists, and the Batmobile are), and let the movie bomb.  If a 'hero' movie isn't bittersweet, its not a 'real' hero movie.

So as Americans, does that mean if we win, we lose?  I don't think that's true, but I do think that's a prevailing mood.   As an American, I think its very important to strive for victory, but as a Christian, I know that military, economic, or cultural won't bring fulfillment.