Commander J.J. Adams of Fred Wilcox’s 1956 sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet is, in the most archetypical form of the word, a hero. Commander Adams is unlike most more complex heroes in cinema, and is an excellent example of a character with purely heroic characteristics on Burke’s “Hero-Villain” spectrum. Adams’ features allow him to play this part well, as a handsome, honorable, military man whose main objective is to protect the female lead and his crew from certain doom. The most essential part to Adams’ heroic personality lies in his protective role toward women. Altaira, the beautiful, blonde daughter of the film’s apparent villain, needs constant protection from the evils of the world, be it emotional or physical. This becomes most clear in the scene in which Lieutenant Farman tricks Altaira into kissing him, taking advantage of her ignorance. As the hero, Adams exercises his rank over Farman, then warns Altaira about the dangers of scheming men and dressing provocatively. In this way, the audience is made to root for Adams when he decides to kiss Altaira himself. By establishing himself as a defender of women’s honor, the viewer begins to see Adams as a hero.
Furthermore, Burke argues the importance of the protagonist in forming genre, and that “Super-Reality and Crime stories take in too much territory to be confined to a single genre; thus, they encompass several distinct plot types which can be understood in their relationships, as long as the protagonist emphasis is clarified” (68). It is truly Adams who drives the action, as evidenced by his unwillingness to leave the planet, and his forcefulness in coming in the first place. By firmly establishing Adams as the protagonist of the film, the genre and plot are more strongly and distinctly formed in order to give shape to the “futuristic guardian” (68) archetype of hero. The one shortcoming of Adams’ absolute claim to being the hero of Forbidden Planet lies in the complex character of Dr. Morbius. The relationship between Adams and Morbius is an interesting one, as one is made to believe that Adams is the hero and Morbius the villain. However, both Morbius and Adams portray heroic characteristics at times, yet Adams makes fewer moral errors than Morbius does. It is easy to say Adams is a hero on his own, but every protagonist needs an antagonist, be it man or nature, in order to form a gripping story. When one adds Morbius to the equation, it becomes less clear-cut that Adams is the only true hero of the plot. Certainly, Adams is the character whose actions and the plot of the film are driven by his goals, and Morbius tries to prevent these things, making him the antagonist. But, in some ways, Morbius is more morally reasonable than Adams and has a great deal more logic to his actions.
This goes hand in hand with Burke’s consideration of the time period, and the spirit of the mid-1950s are apparent in Forbidden Planet. As Burke considers in his article, the idea of cowardice and prejudice were included in even the shallowest genres during the 1950s, and the same is clear in this film. Cowardice was something of a theme, establishing Adams as the hero through his lack of cowardice and Marbius as the anti-hero due to the ultimate reveal of his cowardly character. It is also important to consider Adams’ role as a kind of strong, military force, which would have been viewed very positively by the audiences of this time period. Therefore, while Commander Adams is not necessarily complex in his heroic characteristics, his relationships with the time period and other characters throughout the film make for a powerful emphasis on the role of the protagonist.
Media Design and Criticism 