"The Hero"
Within each of the three movies there is a hero of some sorts in each. In "The Pledge" there was Jerry who is a retired cop who becomes obsessed with an old case. In "The Searchers" there is Ethan, a criminal, who spends years of his life chasing after he niece who had been taken by Indians. "Hardcore" has a very similar character with Jake who searches for his daughter who was "taken" into the porn industry. Each character has lovable qualities that originally could make them a decent hero such as Jerry's love and compassion towards the family he made. Or Jake and Ethan's motivation and dedication towards finding their "lost girls". However each character actually represents more qualities towards that of an "anti-hero". Each character has qualities that push the audience away from idolizing these characters. For me, in "The Pledge" it was the idea that everything Jerry had worked towards creating was nothing but a lie to catch the murder. Or how in "The Searchers" Ethan was actually a murder and racist who would have killed Debbie just because she was adapting to the Indian lifestyle. In "Hardcore" Jake was a dedicated father but his anger and lack of control really makes him something less of a hero.
The Pledge"The Pledge" was a movie that told the story of a man who became too consumed with his job. Jerry was a detective his entire life and after retirement he became obsessed with a final case. The case was closed but Jerry didn't believe that it was actually solved so he went out and started to create a life in order to catch the actual murder. In the process we get to see how Jerry seems to be building a life, loving this little girl and her mother. However we find out in the end along with several now obvious scenes that show how Jerry was faking it all in order to use the girl as bait and capture the murder. Obsessions are things that can make people do things they normally wouldn't do. They become consumed and in this case Jerry becomes completely dedicated to redeeming himself and finding the actual murder that he basically ruins his life and goes from "a great" and "respectable cop" to something else, or rather someone else. Jerry's development is very similar to that of Jake's from "Hardcore"
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Hardcore and The SearchersJake and Ethan are extremely similar characters in resemblance to the "hero" concept but in my own opinion I believe that they each take a turn in development. Jake from "Hardcore" supposedly starts off as this failure of a father who has had to separate from his wife and ends up pushing away his daughter. However as the story progresses Jake starts off making an attempt to be better. He hopes to "save" his daughter and dedicates his time looking for her, but he is thrown into a world that is far from what he knows. So he learns how the system works and ends up making a friend who helps him find his daughter. At the end of the film we see how Jake has changed when he is in the storage room with his daughter. He realizes how bad he has treated his daughter and even tries to repay the girl who helped him find her. In "The Searchers" we see a very similar change in Ethan's transformation. Ethan dedicated 5 years of his life to find Debbie, his niece, however we really get to see how immoral or "evil" Ethan is as he almost kills Debbie because of the fact that she was becoming like the Indians he hated. However it is again Ethan's partner who helps him to change from this racist and anti-hero standing to someone more respectable, someone who cares for his remaining family. As opposed to Jerry; Ethan and Jake are false heroes that have room and actually start to change for the better.
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