Heroism in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Despite only totaling 45 minutes in length, Joss Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is an exceedingly rich film. One of the many themes explored in the musical is the question of what makes a hero. Three paradigms of heroism are presented in the persons of the "worst villain ever," Dr. Horrible, "Justice's other name," Captain Hammer, and their mutual love interest, Penny.

Although the titular character, Dr. Horrible, is consistently referred to as a villain, his motivations and methods make him less a model of an evil genius than of a revolutionary. The mad scientist figure only wants to "change the world" - and get the cute girl from the laundromat (Penny) to notice him. Unable to overcome his awkwardness to either work within the political system to improve the world he despairs of ("Any dolt with half a brain can see that human kind has gone insane") or to speak to the girl he desperately longs to have a "real, audible connection" with, he turns instead to the building of a trans-matter ray to steal gold bars out of a bank vault and a freeze ray to stop time so he can "find the time to find the words" to talk to Penny. Dr. Horrible represents the extreme but good-intentioned hero, overlooked but powerful in his own right.

In contrast, his nemesis, "Captain Hammer - Captain Hammer, corporate tool," represents the celebrity hero, lauded by the system and motivated less by the opportunity to improve the world than by the fame and women that come attached. In his memorable introductory scene, Captain Hammer foils Dr. Horrible's van heist, announcing "Captain Hammer's here, hair blowing in the breeze - the day needs my saving expertise." This expertise calls for the hero to punch and destroy the device Dr. Horrible is using to control the van, before abandoning the careening vehicle in order to flirt with a cute female bystander, proudly informing her that, "the only doom that's looming is you loving me to death." The viewer's opinion of Captain Hammer and what the city perceives as his heroics only diminishes as he is shown wiping off his hand after being greeted by a homeless man, cruelly mocking Dr. Horrible with his relationship with Penny, and beating up an unarmed Dr. Horrible (pausing so a tourist can get a picture), culminating in his horrifyingly satirical number, "Everyone's a Hero." Set at the dedication of a homeless shelter, the song, sung in lieu of a speech, informs enraptured citizens in the audience that they're all heroes in their own ways as they've "all got villains they must face," and if those villains are not as cool as his then "it's fine to know your place" before assuring them that if they're "not a frigging 'tard" they "will prevail."

The third paradigm of heroism is shown in the the "quiet, nerdy" Penny. Called neither a hero nor a villain, Penny is the Every Man character, dressed in colorful clothes where Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer wear either black or white. But while the two men spend the duration of the musical squabbling over her, Penny is dedicatedly working with the homeless, making a small but tangible difference in the world when she successfully campaigns to get the city to donate a condemned building as a new homeless shelter. However, Dr. Horrible dismisses her efforts as "treating a symptom while the disease rages on" and Captain Hammer engages in her cause only because he "might just sleep with the same girl twice." Penny represents the sincere, everyday hero, unacknowledged as she works within the political system to improve society, aspiring not to rule the world ala Dr. Horrible or garner fame ala Captain Hammer, but to be "hope." Indeed, the crowning tragedy of the film is that Penny is killed in the midst of Captain Hammer and Dr. Horrible's power struggle, and is summarily ignored by the press as "Whats-Her-Name" and "Heroes Girlfriend, (sic)" representing the ways in which our society overlooks similar heroic figures.

Whereas Dr. Horrible embodies an extreme hero working outside the system and Captain Hammer personifies a hero so integrated into the system he has ceased to be effective, only Penny's brand of heroism, using the system to further her ends, seems to get results, thus answering the question of what makes a hero.