Role Of Heroism In Citizen Kane

When does a hero become a villain?
What defines a character as a hero or a villain? A cape and tights? An evil plot? This is not necessarily the case in what contributes to this distinction between the two. In both “Metropolis” and “Citizen Kane”, a narrative of heroism and villainy is presented and developed. These films address these topics of heroism and villainy, are defined by the people who experience the hero or villain. In some aspects, it is clear who is the hero in the story and who is not. Whereas in others, characters cannot be discussed as purely heroic or villainous, due to the complexity of the character and how that situation around them shifts. Each film provides a narrative of the relationship between this idea of a hero and
This creates a forced perspective from the point of view of the workers having to look up to her literally, while they look up to her figuratively as well, for they believe she is a savior. The only light filling the room is seen to be coming from above Maria’s head, as if in another reference to God and religion as she delves into the story of The Tower of Babel. This is another technique used to show her role in conveying this message to the workers and associating human Maria with good. Essentially, all these references to religion and the workers seeing her as a savior set the narrative of her to be a hero for she works and to help them from being enslaved to working on this
Susan Alexander can be considered to be more of a tactic to see the heroism and villainy in Charles Kane in the film, but it can be seen that she plays with these roles as well. “Citizen Kane” crosses the lines of morals compared to the distinction of good and evil in “Metropolis”. Susan Alexander meets Kane on the street and invites him in. While this can be viewed as being polite, Kane is married man and they have a slight flirtation that increases the more time they spend together. Susan Alexander even opens the door after Kane closes it and states that her landlady prefers for her to keep the door open when she has a “gentleman caller”. Kane could even be seen as influencing her to become villainous by trying to close this door, and getting her to partake in some of the “sins” so often referenced in “Metropolis”. Susan Alexander’s response of keeping the door open can be seen as her trying to hold on to that pureness before her affair with Kane