“Good but Not Safe: The Promise of Heroic Re-enchantment” Faith, Film, Philosophy 2026

Ancient wisdom has it that there is nothing new under the sun. We have always told stories, and always yearned for the new and surprising as well as the comforting and familiar. The child’s refrain of “Tell it again!” or “Show it again!” testifies to our hunger for heroic portrayals of courage, nobility, and virtue. And yet the pervasive brokenness and radical evil of the world can tempt us to think of child-like wonder and heroism as merely childish, and naïve. Disenchantment beckons, as brilliantly portrayed by characters like Unforgiven’s William Munny (Clint Eastwood) and Gone Girl’s Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike). We should visit those disenchanted characters and places—they have lessons to teach too—but we should not live there. Heroic re-enchantment offers a better way, as seen through figures like Mattie Ross in True Grit (Hailee Steinfeld) and “the man” in The Road (Viggo Mortenson). Heroic re-enchantment acknowledges the brokenness without giving it the final word. This event is part of Faith, Film, Philosophy 2026: Reconsidering the Cinematic Hero. Events are held each night the week of October 12-16. All are FREE and open to the public. For more information see: https://www.gonzaga.edu/ffp2026.