Heroic fantasies: A cross-generational comparison of two children's television heroes

Abstract

Two children's television programs, Roy Rogers of the 1950s and Brave Starr of the 1980s, were analyzed to determine whether cross-generational differences occurred in the television hero children choose to emulate in their play. Results indicated that the modern hero and his followers appeared to be more fearful and self-critical than their 1950s counterparts, and the modern villain and his followers expressed more hostility toward others and made more negative references about others. Differences were found in social behaviors of the two heroes and in characteristics of the struggles in which the two heroes were submerged.