SXSW2015 - Holding Out For A Hero

What makes a popular (fictional) hero? One that people want to read about? Is it the act of sacrificing oneself for others, or for the greater good? Does it matter what setting the heroic actions take place? You may say no, but I believe trends and data will show otherwise.

I believe that due to the ease of accessing worldwide information (the Internet) - and violence and hardships constantly in the headlines - people are less interested in reading stories with traditional heroes and more interested in the fictional, fanciful. sci fi or extremist situations where people become heroes. Extreme-escapism.

I will show this changing trend by looking at (1) the frequency in which both traditional hero stories and the more modern, sci fi stories are written, (2) the popularity of these books based on the New York Times best seller lists, and (3) current events and headlines to see how the correlation has changed over time.

#HeroData