The Anti-Hero

I am sure I am not the first person to notice the trend in movies, comics, books, and other forms of media. The Anti-Hero. Years ago Captain America, and Superman were heroes, plain and simple, they did good and the thought of evil was never something they were troubled by. Kids wanted to be these White Knights. They strive towards being the king of person they saw in these images. Now we are in the age of the Anti-Hero. Hellboy, Wolverine, The Punisher to name a few. These are seriously flawed people, they have to work hard just to get the simple things right. They do good at great pain to themselves in most cases. For a glaring example X-3 in Which Wolverine has to kill the woman he cares for to save all his other friends. What has changed? Why is the Anti-Hero the norm now? Here is my idea. Our heroes have changed to match our own perceptions of ourselves. In those days (the time following WWII) I believe that most men thought they were basically good. Most able bodies men had been to war and knew what evil was and knew that they had stood their ground beside their comrades. They had proven that they were good, and strong, they had been asked to stand in the breech and had stepped up to the challenge. They knew who they were and knew they were good men. Things turned with their sons. war again came and asked out young men to fight, but this war was not only fought badly, but it was not supported at home. Men who should have come home feeling they had, like their fathers, stood in the breech, were ridiculed and spat on called. they were called baby killers, and murderers. They weren't Heroes, but they didn't feel they were villains either. So slowly from their psyches came the Anti-hero. He didn't have to be perfect, because they didn't feel perfect. He didn't have to be noble, because they didn't feel noble. He was the Anti-Hero. As these Anti-Heroes grew in popularity they became more believable to the next generation. a generation far more "self-aware" than any one previous. They had the anonymity of the Internet that allowed them to be a faceless creature on the web. evil became easier to find, you didn't have to look in dark alley or some seedy place. Evil could be seen streaming live to your PC. Even the kids that don't allow this into their heads feel that they are fight against it. So in their everyday life they struggle to be good men (in their own minds) They know that evil is out there and is as easy to access as a mouse click or a keystroke. so evil doesn't have to be sought out, you simply have to open a window and it floods into your life. The Anti-Hero is now embraced for the fact that he fights his own temptations and demons. for this young generation the Anti-Hero is easy to identify with, because they don't feel that they are basically good people. they feel that they are tempted often and that only through personal sacrifice will they be able to be good men. they no longer strive to be Superman with his shinning visage. They hope to be a flawed bus basically good person who makes mistakes but eventually does whats right. That is all they feel they can aspire to.
Now I am not condemning computer or the media or and of the wars that have been fought, I am simply saying that technology has created a conduit of evil that is hard to clamp shut. It has great things on it and great evils. It is a boon and a danger.